معرفی
Rachel Norman is an Associate Professor and Department Chair in the Department of English at Linfield University, where she also serves as Director of Writing. She specializes in Middle Eastern diasporic studies and North American literary and cultural studies, with research focusing on multilingual texts from Arab communities across Canada, Mexico, and the United States.
Her educational background includes a B.A. in English and Spanish from Linfield College and a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Norman's research centers on translingualism and language politics in multiethnic literature, intersecting with queer studies, disability studies, and comics/graphic novels. She examines identity formation through food studies, embodiment, and diasporic narratives while analyzing sociolinguistic elements in Caribbean and Arab American texts.
Her publication trajectory demonstrates growing emphasis on comparative diaspora frameworks beyond U.S. exceptionalism, with recent work decentering American perspectives in Arab American Studies. She consistently explores how marginalized communities navigate language politics through poetry, fiction, and oral histories.
Norman actively mentors first-generation students and provides graduate school/job coaching within the English Department. Her professional service includes board membership with the Arab American Studies Association and judging the Arab American Book Award.
As Director of Writing, she leads campus-wide initiatives including faculty development workshops on writing pedagogy and alumni panels connecting classroom writing to professional contexts across disciplines.
