Lucy Lawrence, Ph.D.

My Story

I am a farmer’s daughter from eastern North Carolina where I dreamed of a world beyond the tobacco fields and sand hills of my youth. After working at a camp for children in the custody of the Department of Social Services, I knew I wanted to help people professionally. Combining my two dreams I have served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Costa Rica, coordinated a cross-country caravan of material aid to El Salvador through Oxfam America, integrated community work with sustainable development in Costa Rica, studied the establishment of NGOs in the former Soviet republic of Lithuania, developed bio-psycho-social-spiritual assessments of capital murder defendants in the Alabama Prison Project, and researched cultural comparisons of social capital between immigrant Latinos and Anglo and African Americans in northeast Alabama.

As director of the College’s higher education in prison program, Inside-Out, I facilitate the collaborative learning of campus-based and incarcerated students together in shared academic space is transformative—for them and for me. I love witnessing the courage, empathy, and insight that emerge when people learn across difference and discover common ground.

I love working at Warren Wilson because it allows me to teach in ways that honor dignity, curiosity, and community. The College’s commitment to experiential education aligns deeply with my own values—I get to create learning environments where students engage with real people, real systems, real issues, and real questions that matter.