Dr. Iris M. Lancaster earned her Ph.D. from Texas A&M-Commerce in 2009. Her dissertation analyzes the cultural metaphor in Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God. Since receiving her PhD, she has written: “Nanny, Signifying Empowerment: The Evolution of the Dispirited Black Woman in Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God” published in Cultural Intertexts - Academic Journal of Literary Studies; Queen Sugar: A Book Review published in the CLA Journal; and “The Rose that Grew from a Legacy of Hope: A Study of Tupac Shakur’s Poetry” published in THE GRIOT: The Journal of African American Studies.
Currently, Dr. Lancaster is writing a chapter on the writings of Tupac Shakur for Reading Between the Lines: A Genealogy of Racial Discourse in American Literature from the 17th Century to the Present (A Critical Collection). Since 2004, Dr. Lancaster has taught several classes. American Literature, World Literature, Women's Literature, Graduate Writing Seminars, Studies in Literary Biography and Non-Fiction, Literature and Film, and African American Fiction. The courses Dr. Lancaster enjoys teaching the most are the Honors English 1301 and 1302 courses. Her teaching philosophy reflects her interest in collaborative authorship. Instead of the “sage on the stage” teaching method, she prefers student-centered teaching that encourages learning by both students and teachers. She favors classroom dynamics that permit dialogue and foster a degree of student input. Also, she supports students thinking about the class as a community. The students spend a fair amount of time in smaller groups in which they talk, think and write together. Her teaching philosophy fits the Honors student dynamic well because these students are excited to learn about writing, and they are ready to work in a collaborative setting. In the Honors English courses, collaborative work is strongly encouraged. Honors students are ready to share their ideas and their insights, so the coursework is structured to foster this type of learning environment. In Honors courses, special attention is given to the six core levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy: Knowledge, Comprehension, Application, Analysis, Synthesis, and Evaluation. Students are taught these various levels and then asked to connect each level to the various assignments. The pace is rigorous, but steady, and the students enjoy being challenged at every level.
For Dr. Lancaster, teaching the Honors’ students is more than a privilege; it is a joy!