From Creative Writing studies to now working as a teaching specialist academic, Dr Lauren Butterworth  has remained an enthusiastic and energetic fan of the Flinders community.  She shares her expertise with a new generation of Flinders students – and also shares her love of literature and good stories with her two-year-old son.

Tell us about your role at Flinders.

I’m a teaching specialist academic in the Student Learning Support Service, which means that I work with a wide range of students from all different backgrounds and at all levels of study. My job is to help students understand how they learn, improve their communication and critical thinking skills, and give them the tools to succeed. I create a lot of resources and learning content, such as learning guides and videos, and get to be creative about how we share this with students.

One of my favourite projects in this role was creating the Like a Boss Vlog series during COVID, which helped students stay connected to the university, its community and support services while studying from home. I also coordinate and teach into some of our transition and enabling programs, including the Military Academic Pathway Program and for students in the Introductory Academic Program for Australia Awards.

What journey led you to Flinders?

I feel like I’ve been at Flinders forever! I started here as a Creative Writing undergraduate and continued through to my PhD. I always wanted to be a writer. Flinders has such an inspiring Creative Arts program and I desperately wanted to be part of it. Little did I know how intrinsic Flinders would become to my career, and my creative and personal life! During my PhD, I became co-president of Speakeasy, a creative readings event where students got together on campus and at the Wheatsheaf Hotel to share and perform their work. I became part of such an amazing community of writers and artists, many of whom are still my best friends. This community helped me to initiate a few other creative events and projects, including The Hearth, which is a more grown-up version of Speakeasy, and Deviant Women, a successful podcast. I have flourished creatively because of the people I’ve met at Flinders, and so why would I want to leave?

What led you to get into your field?

I began working in the Learning Lounge while I was doing my PhD, and fell in love with quite a different style of teaching than tutorials and workshops. Working with students one-on-one taught me a new range of pedagogical skills, and I quickly realised how so many of the things I’d learned as a creative writer could help me communicate complex elements of communication and style to my students. I think and see the world through metaphor and symbolism, and these can be powerful tools for understanding the mechanics of writing and communication. I also got to work with and know students from a wide range of disciplines and backgrounds, which developed my passion for transitional and transformational learning.

During this time, I was also doing a lot of work in other areas, as is typical of a post-grad – sessional teaching, editing at a small-press, publishing creative work and essays, and podcasting. This all helped me further develop my skills. My PhD was in feminist gothic literature, looking at ways we can subvert female archetypes through the genre. I spent a lot of time thinking and writing about witches and spiritualist mediums, their depiction in fiction, and how their cultural impact continues to influence us. It feels far away from what I do now, but no matter whether we’re writing creatively or academically, we’re always telling a story.

I began my ‘proper’ full-time academic role in my current position at the beginning of 2020, and I can see myself here for a long time!

Where is your favourite place on campus?

I love sitting in the sun by the lake at lunch time. We’re so lucky to have such a beautiful campus and there are so many spots you can disappear to, if you want to get away from the bustle on campus. It can be very peaceful by the lake with just the sound of the trees and occasional wildlife.

How do you spend your spare time?

I have a two-year-old child, so most of my spare time is spent with him. He’s into musicals, witches and dinosaurs at the moment, which I’m thrilled about, so we spend a lot of time ‘riding’ broomsticks, roaring at books, and dancing with Dick Van Dyke in the living room. When I’m not with him, I love swing dancing and try to sneak away after his bedtime to get to classes or to a swing event around the city. I also love reading, although I don’t have anywhere near as much time for reading as I used to. When we can, we escape to my parents’ place at Yankalilla, where I can relax in a hammock overlooking a field full of cows and finally get my nose into a book.

What’s an interesting fact about you?

I love to travel. I’ve been lucky enough to have adventures through more than 40 countries and I can’t wait to share this love of travel with my son.