VICTORIA C. OLSEN
www.victoriaolsen.com
vcolsen@gmail.com
victoria.olsen@nyu.edu
Education:
Ph.D., M.A. 1994 Stanford University, Department of English
B.A. 1986 Barnard College, Magna Cum Laude
Major: English
Teaching Experience:
Senior Language Lecturer, Expository Writing Program, New York University,
2012-present. Teach two sections of “Writing Through Art/Art in the World” at
Tisch School of the Arts, mentor peer tutors placed in three courses in different
disciplines, act as a liaison between professors and the Undergraduate Peer
Writing Tutor Program. Teach Writing and Speaking in the Disciplines, spring
2013.
Language Lecturer, Expository Writing Program, New York University, 20062012. Taught three sections each semester of “Writing the Essay,” an intensive
writing and reading course required for all NYU freshmen. Taught “Writing
Tutorial,” a remedial version of WTE for students who failed the writing
proficiency exam, Spring 2009. Consulted with two advanced psychology
courses each semester as part of a Writing in the Disciplines curriculum, 2007-09.
Consulted ten hours/week at the Writing Center with students from all over the
university, Fall 2006 & 2010. Mentor to peer writing tutors, 2011-12. Participated
in staff development through an August orientation program, a fall practicum
for new teachers, a year-long mentor group, and regular staff meetings.
Adjunct Lecturer, "Women and Culture" and “Legacy of the Mediterranean,”
First-Year English seminar, Barnard College, 2003-6. Taught college-level critical
reading and writing skills through required revisions to classes of 16 students.
The course drew on a set curriculum of interdisciplinary canonical readings from
the Greeks to the Moderns, as well as field trips to the opera and museums.
Taught “From Little Women to Mean Girls: Growing Up in Fiction and Film,” a
five-week-long summer course in Barnard’s Pre-College Program for high school
students, 2006 & 2008.
Adjunct Instructor, “English 14,” Long Island University, Brooklyn, Fall 2003.
Taught basic writing through drafting, revisions, and grammar exercises using a
Victoria C. Olsen, page 2
multicultural anthology and a portfolio-based assessment.
Lecturer, "Survey of Victorian Literature," Stanford University, 1998.
Introduced the major issues and genres of Victorian literature, including poetry,
essays, autobiography, biography, and the novel, in a seminar format.
Freshman English Instructor, Stanford University, 1990-2.
Taught “Writing and Rewriting” and “Writing and Autobiography;” designed
the syllabi, led discussions, graded papers, and held individual conferences and
office hours.
Publications:
(details of other scholarly publications available upon request)
Book reviews, personal essays, and profiles for a variety of publications,
including Smithsonian Magazine, The Common Review, The San Francisco Chronicle,
The Chronicle of Higher Education, Open Letters Monthly, and Salon, 1996-present.
Word-Blind, a young-adult novel about a Victorian girl with dyslexia (Kindle
Direct, 2011).
From Life: Julia Margaret Cameron and Victorian Photography (London: Aurum Press
and NY: Palgrave/St. Martin's Press, 2003). Called “savvy” and “scrupulously
researched” by The New York Times, this is the first comprehensive biography of
the Victorian photographer.
Co-Editor, with Christina Boufis, On the Market: Surviving the Academic Job Search
(Riverhead Books, 1997).
Emily Dickinson (American Women of Achievement series. Chelsea House Press,
1990), a commissioned biography for junior high-school readers.
The Dutch-Americans (Peoples of North America series. Chelsea House Press,
1989), a commissioned history for junior-high-school readers.
Unpublished Works:
Dissertation: Representing Culture: Women and Cultural Politics in Mid-Victorian
England. Readers: Regenia Gagnier (chair), Robert Polhemus, Barbara Gelpi,
Michael Tratner (1994)
Related Experience:
Victoria C. Olsen, page 3
Freelance Multimedia Writer, 1996-2003.
Researched and wrote scripts for museum audio tours and interactive kiosks for
Acoustiguide, the J. Paul Getty Museum, Detroit Institute of Art, and other
clients.
Freelance Proofreader and Indexer, 1987-95.
Clients included Stanford University Press, Princeton Review, and others.
Copywriter, Oxford University Press, 1986-7.
Conferences and Seminars:
(details of other scholarly presentations available upon request)
Panelist for “Organizing Your Research,” annual conference of Biographers
International Organization, New York City, May 18, 2013.
Wesleyan Scholarship, Wesleyan Writers Conference, June 17-21, 2010.
Invited speaker on Julia Margaret Cameron at the Cantor Center for Visual Arts,
Stanford University, the National Museum of Photography, Film, and Television,
Bradford, England, and at Dimbola Lodge, Isle of Wight, UK, July-November
2003.
Invited speaker at the ADE's session, “Working Beyond the Academy,” at the
Modern Language Association's convention in San Francisco, December 1998.
Invited participant in “Literary Biography,” a NEH summer seminar directed by
N. John Hall of the City University of New York, 1996.
Professional Affiliations and Community Service:
Member, Women Writing Women’s Lives seminar, City University of New York,
2003-2010. Steering Committee member, 2011-12.
Affiliated Scholar, Institute for Research on Women and Gender, Stanford
University, 1997-2000
References and portfolio available upon request