Biography
Biography
Keith Lawrence specializes in Asian American literature and early American literature. At BYU he has taught courses in these areas as well as in world literature, advanced composition, and 19th- and 20th-century American literature. He is course coordinator for English 201/202; he also teaches Independent Study courses in early American literature and the American novel. Before coming to BYU he taught composition, literary analysis, and English as a foreign language at University of California, Riverside. He has also taught courses in business English, American cultural studies, and American and British literature at Nagoya University of Commerce and Josai International University, both in Japan. Dr. Lawrence is a founding director of the Circle for Asian American Literary Studies, a sponsoring body of the American Literature Association. His current scholarship focuses on Asian American literature, particularly on authors and texts before 1965. He grew up in Summit, Utah, a tiny southern Utah town between Cedar City and Parowan. He was one of 37 students who graduated from Parowan High School in 1972. He is married to Dr. Tracy Todd-Lawrence, Ph.D., a marriage/family therapist. They and their five children live in Orem. He enjoys spending time with his family, reading, writing, composing choral music, traveling, and watching old movies. To unwind, he runs, skis, lifts weights, and does yard work.
Degrees
PhD, U of Southern California, 1987
Interests
Early American, Asian American
Research Interests
Asian American literature and literary history; transnational Asian American literature; film adaptation; nineteenth-century American women writersTeaching Interests
Asian American literature; world literature; pre-1900 American drama; American women writers; American literature before 1800Honors and Awards
- President-elect, Utah Academy of Sciences, Arts, and Letters (2022 - Present)
- Literature Chair, Utah Academy of Sciences, Arts, and Letters (UASAL) General Board, Utah Academy of Sciences, Arts, and Letters (UASAL) (2013 - Present)
- Distinguished Teaching Award, 2023, BYU English Department (2023 - 2023)
- Clarence Dixon Taylor Historical Research Award 2020, Charles Redd Center (2021 - 2021)
- Fulbright Scholar Teaching Award, Fulbright Association (2017 - 2018)
- Alcuin Fellowship in General Education, General Education and Honors, Brigham Young University (1999 - 2002)
Memberships
- American Literature Association
- Association for Asian American Studies
- Circle for Asian American Literary Studies
- Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship
- Modern Language Association (2020 - Present)
- Utah Academy of Sciences, Arts, and Letters (UASAL) (2013 - Present)