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Julie Pal-Agrawal

Senior Lecturer, Writing & Communication

Area of Study

Writing & Communication

Bio

Julie Pal-Agrawal is the course lead for Interpretation and Argument (76-101) and a co-editor of WOVEN: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Dietrich College. Trained first in the natural sciences and then in literary studies, she has taught critical thinking, literature, advertising, and composition for more than twenty-five years. That early training in the sciences informs her work in Writing for the Health Professions (76-270), which she helped develop, as well as her preparation of pre-health students for the multiple mini-interviews used in medical school admissions.

Her scholarship explores how people come to see themselves as legitimate participants in research and public conversation. As a Provost's Inclusive Teaching Fellow, she conducted research on how self-reflection in the research process shapes students' sense of belonging in research. Through the Eberly Center's Students as Partners program, she mentors undergraduates preparing for careers in secondary education. A 2026 Character Initiative Grant from the Center for Leadership Studies supports her current work on character and discourse in first-year writing. Most recently, her writing appears in The Norton Guide to AI Awareness (2026).

Outside the university, Julie has helped nonprofits use classic storytelling to advance their missions and has worked with an orphanage in India, exploring how sustainable farming enables children in residential care to express themselves and advocate for themselves. She also volunteers to teach critical thinking and media literacy in a Pittsburgh high school and especially values guiding student authors as they prepare their writing for publication in WOVEN.

Education

• B.A., Natural Sciences, Johns Hopkins University
• M.A., English Language and Literature, Georgetown University
• Ph.D., English Language and Literature, University of Virginia