Rate My Professor Lutgarda Cowan

Lutgarda B. Cowan is an Instructor of Writing in the Literature faculty at Portland Community College. She holds a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Arts in English from Portland State University. As a dedicated member of the Southeast English faculty, she co-edited Cinder Cone, a multilingual magazine of literature and art published in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, alongside Billy Merck. This publication showcased diverse contributions including poems, letters, essays, stories, graphic essays, PowerPoint presentations, photographs, and collaborations between ESOL and photography classes. It functions as an annual platform in conjunction with CultureSEast, providing space for voices across the Southeast campus community. In 2010, Cowan managed submissions for the Cascade campus literary magazine Pointed Circle, where students submitted poetry, prose, and artwork through forms in SC206a or email.

Cowan enriches her composition courses with real-world relevance by incorporating climate change and sustainability topics into Writing 121. She created an assignment requiring students to engage with Leonardo DiCaprio's documentary Before the Flood. During Earth Week in April 2010, students from her writing class presented their research discussions from 1 to 3 p.m. in the Student Center cafeteria. She has taught Community-Based Learning sections of WR 122 English Composition at the Cascade campus. Serving as SPARC Chair, Lutgarda Cowan promoted sustainability across the curriculum, facilitating faculty training, contributing to green course identification, and presenting SPARC outcomes in curriculum and general education committees.