New Humanities Faculty — Lauren Uhl

Lauren joins The Northwest School with a deep passion for exploring the connections between identity and place through literature, history, and geography. Her research during both her bachelor's and master's degrees focused on trickster figures in Early Modern Drama. These characters, marked by their expressions of agency, were ultimately punished as their ambitions highlighted societal anxieties about the power to shape one's destiny. Inspired by these tricksters, Lauren encourages her students to challenge conventional boundaries, question the world around them, and discover their own place within it.

Lauren believes that this journey of self-discovery is never solitary but is enriched through community engagement and travel. Her experiences studying abroad at the University of Limerick and the University of Oxford, teaching English in Italy, and working in hostels across Ireland and Greece have shaped her belief that we truly understand ourselves and our aspirations by stepping beyond the familiar and embracing the unknown.

With extensive experience teaching English Language Arts, History, and TEFL in public, private, and charter schools across Washington, Lauren draws upon her academic credentials, international experiences, and love of storytelling to create a classroom where students are not only encouraged to envision a more equitable world but are also empowered to actively participate in its creation.

B.A. (English, Secondary Education, and Philosophy) Gonzaga University; M.Ed. (Reading Intervention) The University of Portland; M.A. (English) The University of Victoria.