Renee Shea

Renee H. Shea is a professor of English at Bowie Sate University, part of the University System of Maryland and one of the oldest Historically Black Colleges. Formerly Director of Freshman Composition, she currently teaches courses in world literature, women’s studies, autobiography, rhetoric, and composition studies. She regularly teaches both honors and graduate courses. She is a faculty sponsor of Sigma Tau Delta, the English honorary society, and is on the editorial board of BSU’s magazine.

Active is the Advanced Placement Program of the College Board for over 25 years, Dr. Shea is currently a member of the development committee of the AP English Language Exam. She has served as a reader and question leader to evaluate both AP Literature and Language and frequently conducts workshops for teachers. She leads summer AP institutes at Fordham University, the University of Central Florida, and Montgomery College. Her articles on the AP Exam and instructional approaches appear on AP Central, and she offers online workshops for teachers through AP Central. She is the co-author with Larry Scanlon of Teaching Nonfiction in AP English: A Guide to Accompany 50 Essays. The Language of Composition: Reading, Writing, and Rhetoric, a textbook she coauthored with Scanlon and Robin Aufses, will be published in 2007.

Dr. Shea frequently consults with public school districts on both assessment and instructional issues and offers professional development workshops on a variety of topics related to writing, rhetoric, literature, and literacy. She is a recognized scholar on Caribbean women writers, particularly Edwidge Danticat, and has published extensively on contemporary women (including Rita Dove, Edwidge Danticat, Sandra Cisneros, Grace Paley, Maxine Hong Kingston, and Naomi Shihab Nye) in such publications as Poets and Writers, Women in the Arts, and Callaloo. A frequent presenter at NCTE conventions, she is an author in the High School Literature Series and a member of the Commission on Literature.

Dr. Shea received her B.A. from Washington University, M.A. from Northwestern University, and Ph.D. from University of Pennsylvania.