Autobiographical Statement
Dr. Heidi Renée Aijala (she / her) is a passionate writer and educational leader. Her scholarly and pedagogical work is deeply invested in issues of access, inclusion, and social justice. Moreover, Heidi's academic research and applied pedagogy seek to understand and upend systems of inequity, particularly as they apply to student success. Additionally, as Heidi's career as an educator attests, she is a skilled writer and researcher with a passion for collaboration and service to her communities.
Currently, Heidi is the Director of Writing Support for the Ph.D. program at Saint Martin's University, where she also serves as the Education Director of Graduate Programs. Heidi has over a decade of writing center experience and has taught courses in the fields of literature, rhetoric, and composition at Pierce College, Kirkwood College, the University of Iowa, and Western Washington University. She holds a Ph.D. in English from the University of Iowa (2021), a master's degree in English from Western Washington University (2013), a master’s degree in teaching from Saint Martin’s University (2009), and a bachelor’s degree in English from Saint Martin’s University (2006).
In 2021, Heidi defended her dissertation, titled "The steam that is to work the engines:" Women’s Writing and the Rise of Steam Power in Victorian Britain, which explores the relationship between nineteenth-century women's writing and early energy science. Her project argues that, by concentrating on an expansive archive of nineteenth-century women’s writing, we might better understand steam energy as a foundation for issues of labor, environmental change, and women’s rights.
Heidi's current research explores women's writing communities in 19th-century Britain.
Currently, Heidi is the Director of Writing Support for the Ph.D. program at Saint Martin's University, where she also serves as the Education Director of Graduate Programs. Heidi has over a decade of writing center experience and has taught courses in the fields of literature, rhetoric, and composition at Pierce College, Kirkwood College, the University of Iowa, and Western Washington University. She holds a Ph.D. in English from the University of Iowa (2021), a master's degree in English from Western Washington University (2013), a master’s degree in teaching from Saint Martin’s University (2009), and a bachelor’s degree in English from Saint Martin’s University (2006).
In 2021, Heidi defended her dissertation, titled "The steam that is to work the engines:" Women’s Writing and the Rise of Steam Power in Victorian Britain, which explores the relationship between nineteenth-century women's writing and early energy science. Her project argues that, by concentrating on an expansive archive of nineteenth-century women’s writing, we might better understand steam energy as a foundation for issues of labor, environmental change, and women’s rights.
Heidi's current research explores women's writing communities in 19th-century Britain.