Teaching Medal Award Winner

Paul Lyons
Manoa

Paul Lyons is an associate professor of English at UH Manoa. Lyons fosters in students an appreciation and respect for the power of words to create change, whether in the form of awakening critical consciousness about culture, politics and ecology, or finding languages with which to better describe their own experiences.

In his composition classes and graduate seminars, he teaches a variety of literary periods, movements, genres, and theoretical approaches. Over the past 12 years, Lyons has taught 27 courses, including 10 courses he created. His primary passion is American literature and he finds Hawai‘i’s literature a valuable vantage point for reflecting on regional and national literatures. Lyons frequently introduces "local" or Hawaiian materials in his courses.