Liz Chase

Liz Chase's interest in literature, pedagogy, and information fluency, combined with her inclination towards planning and organization, led her to a variety of roles in archives, undergraduate libraries, teaching, and administration. She began her work at Emory University as the Head of Research Services in the Stuart Rose Manuscript, Archives, & Rare Book Library, before joining Stonehill College as the Head of Collections, Assessment, and User Engagement for the MacPhaidin Library. In addition, she was Program Director for Irish Studies prior to serving as the Assistant Dean of General Education and an Assistant Professor of English at Stonehill, before joining Emerson in 2021.

Liz brings a focus on identity-conscious facilitation and equity-minded leadership to her work in assessment. She uses resources including Liberating Structures to enhance opportunities for all faculty to share their expertise in community conversations. Through academic assessment, she helps faculty develop approaches to pedagogical puzzles that have a direct impact on student engagement and success.

For Liz, the purpose of assessment is accountability: assessment highlights how we live out Emerson’s mission. By collecting diverse data that can be meaningfully disaggregated in order to create equitable, scalable, and sustainable assessment reports that are shared with the Emerson community, we empower faculty, departments, and community leaders to make informed decisions to close the opportunity gaps between our practices and our ideals.

In addition to her background in libraries and administration, Liz has taught a range of writing and literature courses; most recently, her teaching has been focused on introductory literature courses that explore concepts of national identity and immigration in Ireland. Her course “Whose Ireland?” places works such as Synge’s The Playboy of the Western World in conversation with Melatu Uche Okorie’s This Hostel Life and the site-specific work of Kabosh Theatre Company.

Her research and teaching interests include the socio-political role of twentieth- and twenty-first century Irish literature by “New Irish” immigrants into Ireland, post-Celtic Tiger literary concepts of nation and national belonging, and Irish women’s literary contributions to Irish memory and the commemoration of Ireland’s contested history.

Liz is a first-generation college student who received her BA in English & Political Science from Williams College, her MSLIS from Syracuse University, and an MA & PhD in Literature from Emory University, with a certificate in Women’s Studies.

Photo Credit: Ashley Weeks Cart