Heather Holleman, Ph.D.

Professional Bio

Dr. Heather Holleman is an associate teaching professor with over 25 years of experience in the college classroom. Her students have called her a "walking exclamation point," and she's best known for her community building skills and her love of vivid verbs and semicolons. She is a national public speaker, podcaster, and award-winning author of 10 books, including a bestseller in the Christian inspirational market and a winner of Christianity Today's Book of the Year 2024 for her young adult novel.  Dr. Holleman attended the University of Virginia where she graduated with highest distinction for her thesis on the poetry of Emily Dickinson. She won the Wagenheim prize for the best essay written by an undergraduate for her work on the Romantic Sublime. She then earned her MA and Ph.D. in English Literature from the University of Michigan for her doctoral work on shame and narcissism in 19th century poetry. Dr. H currently teaches for the Schreyer Honors College and develops the curriculum for the advanced writing students. She has received numerous teaching awards in the past ten years, including Rackham’s Most Outstanding Graduate Student Instructor Award, the Moscow Prize for Excellence in Teaching Composition, the Residence Life Mentor Award, and the Nancy Lowe Excellence in Teaching award. Heather blogs daily at heatherholleman.com and writes both fiction and nonfiction. She has two daughters, three cats, and a fantastic backyard garden with plum trees, blackberries, and lilacs. In her free time, Heather writes, listens to her Spotify playlists, goes to Planet Fitness, or prunes her plum trees.

Her current research interests include improving pedagogy, minimizing shame and embarrassment in a composition classroom, savoring life, and having better conversations.