Lara Smith Sitton
Dr. Lara Smith-Sitton is Associate Professor and Associate Chair in the Department
of English. Dr. Smith-Sitton joined the KSU faculty in 2015, where she served as
the Director of Community Engagement (2015–2021), in line with her teaching and scholarship
that largely focuses on High Impact Practices initiatives where students can explore
community-based learning and professionalism with non-profit and corporate partners.
She earned her PhD in Rhetoric and Composition from Georgia State University, with
concentrations in Writing Program Design and 18th- & 19th-Century Rhetoric. Her dissertation,
Internships in Writing and Rhetoric Programs: Opportunities, Locations, and Structures, employed a mixed methods approach to better understand internships and professional
opportunities for students in writing and English studies. Previously, she has also
served as the Student Engagement & Success Coordinator for the Radow College of Humanities
and Social Sciences (2024–2025) and the Director of Undergraduate Studies in English
(2021–2023, 2023.–2024).
In addition to community-based pedagogies and practices, Dr. Smith-Sitton’s teaching
and research includes courses focused on professional writing and editing; nonprofit
writing and communications; feminist rhetorical practices; and 18th- and 19th-century
rhetoric. She teaches in both the undergraduate BA in English and the MA in Professional
Writing. In 2022, Dr. Smith-Sitton was the recipient of the KSU Outstanding Teaching
Award.
Publications include Green Card Voices: Immigration Stories from an Atlanta High School and an array of articles and book chapters in outlets including Reflections; Peitho; Community Literacy Journal; The Journal for Global Initiatives: Policy, Pedagogy, and Perspective; Journal of Community Engagement and Scholarship, and Double Helix.
Prior to her academic career, Dr. Smith-Sitton had a career focused on professional
writing and employment practices. She is an experienced nonprofit administrator and
board member working with literacy, the arts, and education. For a number of years,
she was the Associate Director of the South Atlantic Modern Language Association and
Managing Editor of South Atlantic Review.