Jan Lermitte, MA

Part-time Instructor of Leadership and English

Jan Lermitte teaches in the English and Creative Writing department at Trinity Western University in Langley, British Columbia and in the BA Leadership program for TWU GLOBAL. Her teaching and research focus on contemporary Canadian literary studies, with emphasis on depictions of Canadian involvement in WWI, especially by women and Indigenous Peoples. Her articles and reviews appear in journals such as Canadian Literature and international publications such as Transcanadiana: Polish Journal of Canadian Studies.   Her recent research on Dorothy L. Sayers explores the relationship between gender, war, and the theology of work.  Jan’s approach emphasizes life-long learning through an interdisciplinary exploration of literature and the arts.

MA, English (University of British Columbia)
Thesis Title: Returning to Vimy Ridge: Canada's Narrative of Battle and Remembrance
Supervisor: Sherrill Grace

BA, English (Trinity Western University)

Continuing Education:

Instructional Skills Workshop for Faculty: UBC Centre for Teaching, Learning and Technology (August 2015)

Indexing - An Essential Art and Science (November 2011). 

Simon Fraser University

English 841: Unsettling the Settler Within: Truth, Reconciliation, and Aboriginal Rights in Canada -- Audited (Jan. 2011 - Apr. 2011)  
Simon Fraser University

The Well-Trained English Tutor: Techniques for Effective and Ethical Tutoring (Fall 2010)   
University of British Columbia

Expertise

  • Twentieth Century Canadian Literature, Culture and Drama, with particular attention to the topic of Vimy Ridge as an iconic subject in Canadian World War I literature
  • Writing and research
  • Indigenous Literatures
  • Dorothy L. Sayers
  • Leadership theory
  • Cognitive Poetics literary theory

Awards & Honors

  • Invited Reviewer: The Vimy Trap: or, How we Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Great War, 2016.
  • Invited Guest Lecturer and Facilitator on Contemporary Canadian War Plays:  Miscellaneous Productions, Vancouver, BC. (with Elaine Carol, Artistic Director),  November 30, 2014 and March 15, 2015.  Discussed two plays in the context of WWI and WWII:  Vimy by Vern Thiessen and Burning Vision by Marie Clements.
  • Royal Canadian Society Scholarship (Oct, 2008)

Recent Publications

BOOK CHAPTERS:

“Dorothy L. Sayers: War, Women, and Work.” The Inklings and Culture: A Harvest of Scholarship from the Inklings Institute of Canada, edited by Monika Hilder, Sara Pearson, Laura Van Dyke, Cambridge UP, forthcoming.

JOURNAL ARTICLES:

“The Call to Duty:  Representations of Canadian WWI Nurses in Contemporary Canadian Literature.”  Transcanadiana: Polish Journal of Canadian Studies. 2016. Forthcoming.

 “Doing the Vimy Glide:  Intersections of Landscape, Art and Memory in Vern Thiessen’s Vimy.” Caliban: French Journal of English Studies.  2015.

REVIEWS:

IN PRINT. “Poetry Museums.” Review of three Canadian poetry collections. Canadian Literature. 237. (2019): pp. 128-29.

IN PRINT. “Asian Occupations.” Review of Translation of Love; The Homes We Build on Ashes. Canadian Literature. 235. (Winter 2017): pp. 156-57.

Lermitte, Jan. “Myth and Memories.” Review of: Carole Giangrande’s Midsummer and Maggie Dominic’s Street Angel. Canadian Literature. 225. (Summer 2015): 135-136.

Lermitte, Jan. “War: Secrets and Loss.” Review of Keith Inman’s The War Poems: Screaming at Heaven; and Frances Itani’s Tell.  Canadian Literature. 223. (Winter 2014): 128-129. 

Lermitte, Jan. “Obsession Examined.” Review of Dennis Bock’s Going Home Again; and Claire Messud’s The Woman Upstairs. Canadian Literature. 223. (Winter 2014): 158-159.

Lermitte, Jan. “Regional Threats.”  Review of Theodora Armstrong’s Clear Skies, No Wind, 100% Visibility and Tim Bowling’s The Tinsmith. Canadian Literature. 221 (Summer 2014): 130-31.

Lermitte, Jan. ”Family, Place, History.” Review of five Canadian poetry collections.  Canadian Literature. 221 (Summer 2014): 151-52.

Lermitte, Jan. “Women, Work and War.”  Review of Glassford and Shaw’s A Sisterhood of Suffering and Service.  Canadian Literature. 218 (Autumn 2013): 161-62.

Lermitte, Jan. "A Young Woman Hungers." Review of Maggie de Vries’  Hunger Journeys.  Canadian Literature. 214 (Autumn 2012): 152-53.

Lermitte, Jan. "Truth Embedded in Fiction." Review of Johanna Skibsrud’s The Sentimentalists. Canadian Literature. 209 (Summer 2011): 179-80.

Lermitte, Jan. "Rebellious Causes". Review of Vern Thiessen’s Vimy; Vittorio Rossi’ Carmela's Table; and Stephen Masicott’s The Oxford Roof Climber's Rebellion. Canadian Literature. 201 (Summer 2009): 192-94.   

CONFERENCE  PRESENTATIONS:

The Call to Duty:  Representations of Canadian WWI Nurses in Contemporary Canadian Literature

Presented to: Polish Association of Canadian Studies

At: 7th Congress of PACS: Canada and War. University of Nicholas Copernicus, Torun, Poland

Date Presented: May, 2016

The Sentimentalists: Analysis of the Frame of Casablanca  
Presented To: UBC Dept of English; American Comparative Literatures Association 2011
At: Literary Questions, Cognitive Methods, University of British Columbia, British Columbia, Canada
Date Presented: March, 2011

Faith and Art, Frames and Anchors: Annie Dillard's Holy the Firm  
Presented To: Poetics and Linguistic Association
At: 30th Annual Conference of PALA: The Language of Landscapes, University of Genoa, Italy

Date Presented: July, 2010

Doing the Vimy Glide: Interconnections of Art, Battle and Memory in Vern Thiessen's Vimy  
Presented To: Canadian Association of Theatre Research
At: Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Date Presented: April, 2010
 

Anchors and Frames in Annie Dillard's Holy the Firm  
Presented To: Christianity and Literature Study Group (Affiliate of ACCUTE)
At: Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences, Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Date Presented: May, 2009
 

Warring with the Past: Jane Urquhart's The Stone Carvers as Historical Novel  
At: North American Pacific Northwest Graduate Language and Literature Conference, University of British Columbia, British Columbia, Canada
Date Presented: March, 2009

GUEST LECTURES:

  • Dorothy L. Sayers on Work: “The Thing One Lives to Do”

January 30, 2020. Sponsored event: Inklings Institute, Trinity Western University.  

  • “Return to Vimy Ridge: A Century of Art, Myth and Memory.” 

June 03, 2019: Nicholas Copernicus University, Toruń, Poland.  June 05, 2019:  University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland.

  • “Are Women Human?” Dorothy L. Sayers.

January 22, 2019. Co-sponsored event: Inklings Institute and Gender Institute, Trinity Western University.  

Affiliations & Memberships

  • Association of Canadian University and College Teachers of English (ACCUTE) 
  • Christianity and Literature Study Group (CLSG)
  • Inklings Institute of Canada
  • Modern Language Association (MLA)

ENGL 103 Introduction to Fiction

ENGL 104 Introduction to Poetry and Drama

ENGL 290 Special Topics in English Literature: Indigenous Literatures

LDRS 301 Lifelong Learning in Leadership

WRTG 100  Writing in University Context