Marlen Elliot Harrison, PhD
"To love what you do and feel that it matters; what could be more fun?"
Welcome to my digital cv and website. Here you'll find information about my educational background, my teaching and work history, my writing and publications, and my current endeavors. Feel free to say hello via the contact page.
What I Do
Educator & Curriculum Developer
My student-centered and project-based approaches to language, composition, and humanities education have led me to teaching in over 50 different academic programs at more than 15 different universities across three continents. A current graduate instructor for Southern New Hampshire University and Tiffin University, Marlen has previously guest-lectured or taught at American University of Malta, Florida International University (FL), Indiana University East (online), University of Jyväskylä (Finland), University of Helsinki (Finland), University of Liège (Belgium), Aarhus University (Denmark), Doshisha University (Japan), and the George Washington University (DC) amongst others.
Education
Having earned a PhD in writing and language teaching from Indiana University of Pennsylvania (PA), I also earned a Masters degree in Education and Human Development (Counseling) from The George Washington University (DC) and a Bachelors degree in Psychology from Appalachian State University (NC). In 2020, I began the MFA in Creative Writing at Southern New Hampshire University, and in 2023 I began the MA in Public History.
Scholarship
I have delivered over 80 academic presentations at international conferences and symposia, and have published more than 30 academic manuscripts in journals such as The Qualitative Report (USA), Qualitative Research in Psychology (USA), Language Learning in Higher Education (UK), Writing on the Edge (USA), Reflections on English Language Teaching (Singapore), CALL-EJ (Australia), and The Language Teacher (Japan).
Recognition
I was recognized as OUTSTANDING INSTRUCTOR at both Southern New Hampshire and Tiffin Universities in 2024. I was also recognized with a President's Award from Indiana University of Pennsylvania in 2010 for campus service, and with a Best of JALT award for research on learner autonomy (Japan, 2006). I have received international grants/honoraria to teach in Canada (Simon Fraser University), Japan (Saitama University), Finland (University of Rovaniemi), Denmark (NordPlus; University of Aarhus), and Belgium (Erasmus; University of Liege).
Projects
In 2015, I was contracted to organize a group of international scholars to assist in the curation of a collaborative online exhibit among Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian, National Postal Museum, and the US Postal service. In 2017 I developed the Writing Center and EAP program for the new American University of Malta, and served as the Assessment Coordinator for the general education program. In 2020, I founded The award-winning AutoEthnographer Literary & Arts Magazine. Learn more by viewing my Portfolio.
Fragrance Journalism
I was a contributor to and Managing Editor of the Fragrantica family of websites, working with a staff of more than 20 international, multilingual writers. I have also contributed to BusinessInsider.com, Basenotes.com, NowSmellThis.com, The Washington Blade, MensJournal.com, MensFitness.com, Playboy.com, NYTimes.com, WSJ.com (Wall Street Journal), Forbes.com, and international publications such as Finland’s Anna andViva magazines and Canada’sGlow magazine. My writing has earned international recognition and invitations to speak at events such as the 2008 Symposium of the American Society of Perfumers in NYC and the 2016 Esxence Fragrance exhibition in Milan.
Testimonials
"Dr. Harrison pushes, prods, and teases new avenues of expression and academic work from his class. He is vigilant, involved, timely, stern, understanding, and above all: in favor of academic pantheons growing with each course he leads.”
Dan Burkhardt
“My final professor has been extremely helpful in allowing me to be creative and to think outside of the box of rules that we students are often corralled into either by our instructors or fear. He gave me permission to involve myself in my work and become a part of it in a way that I had not had permission to do so before."
Quo Votis
Educator
"I've learnt a lot during this course: How to plan and carry through a research? What kinds of congresses there are and how to find them? How to write a research paper for international audience? How to search information about a topic? etc.. I can't really take just one sector that I found out most useful because every smaller part of the course interacted with each other. Thank you for the inspiration you gave me."
Jenni Kankaanpää
Psychologist
"Dr. Harrison was unquestionably the most personal, invested teacher I encountered in my experience at SNHU. He made himself completely available for our needs as students and provided the enthusiasm and insight necessary to help me succeed in my creating my thesis. Using autoethnography really enabled me to reflect on my successes as a teacher and evaluate my methods in an analytical way that I have not done before.”
Laura Johnson
Educator