S. Rebecca Leigh

Professor
Department of Teaching and Learning

Office: 485K Pawley Hall
Email: [email protected]

Research Interests

A good teacher of writing writes. And yet, students are not always sold on the idea. That’s where I come in, blending visual arts with language arts to help pre-service and in-service teachers acknowledge their own writing histories and wounds as a pathway toward stronger understanding of writing and the teaching of writing.

When I look back on my teaching career which began as a high school English and French teacher, my love for freeing writing experiences that actually make students want to write really developed among adolescents. All of the things that I love about teaching can be traced back to those early days in fluorescent classrooms in the United States and Canada.

My main area of research focuses on understanding how illustration study, from the field of arts-based literacy, serves as a pathway to literacy learning from the field of writing. More recently, I have begun to study literature for children and teens, and I am enjoying studying the overlap of these three fields but, more importantly, showing my students how they intersect and affect writer identities.

Recent Publications

• Leigh, S.R., Matloob Haghanikar, T., Alexander, D., Mao, Y., Stein, K., Mendola, M., Luo, X., Wang, Q., & Li, Y. (2026). Joyful literacy experiences: Insights from the protagonist emotion inventory (PEI) in multicultural YA literature. Michigan Reading Journal, 58(3), 22-32.
• Leigh, S. R. (2026). Author Talks in a Virtual Graduate Literature Course. Michigan Reading Journal: Vol. 58(2) Article 9.Available at: https://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/mrj/vol58/iss2/9
• Leigh, S.R. (2024). Ideas unscrapped: Repurposing metal to support identity building in writing. In P. Hartman & J. Spanke (Eds.), Cultivating Democratic Literacy through the Arts: Guiding Preservice Teachers Towards Innovative Learning Spaces in ELA Classrooms (pp. 71-86). Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.

Courses Taught

• RDG 2200 – Literature for Children
• RDG 5542 – Teaching Writing in the Elementary/Secondary School
• RDG 4533/5533 – Literature for Middle and High School Readers

Education

• University of South Carolina: Ph.D. in Language and Literacy (2007)
• University of South Carolina: I.M.A. in French as a Second Language (2000)
• Clemson University: B.A. in Secondary Education with a minor in French (1997)

Teaching Awards and Nominations

• 2025, Teaching Excellence Award Nomination, SEHS
• 2023, Outstanding Faculty of the Year Award, SEHS
• 2019, Teaching Excellence Award Nomination, SEHS
• 2019, University Advancement Core Value Award for Dedication to Excellence, SEHS
• 2016, Graduate Mentor Award Nomination, SEHS        
• 2015, Teaching Excellence Award Nomination, SEHS
• 2013, Teaching Recognition Award, SEHS
• 2011, Helpful Faculty List, OU Senate Athletic Committee
• 2010, Teaching Nomination, SEHS
• 2009, Teaching Excellence Award Nomination, SEHS
• 2006, Letter of Recognition in Teaching, USC President Andrew Sorensen
• 2006, Letter of Recognition in Teaching, USC Student Affairs
• 2000, Excellence in Teaching Award, USC