Profile | Utah Valley University

Faculty Member

Mandy Luszeck

Send a Message
Phone: 801-863-8790

Biography

Dr. Luszeck completed her BA at Brigham Young University in English Teaching and then spent five years in the secondary classroom. One year in Spanish Fork, UT teaching 7th grade and four years in Mesa, AZ teaching 10-12 English, Speech and Debate, and We the People. She completed a Master's in Education from Northern Arizona University in 2015, then completed a PhD at Arizona State University in English Education in 2019. Dr. Luszeck's area of research has focused primarily on teacher retention and Young Adult Literature.

Teaching

ENGL 2800

Introduction to the English Major, Spring 2026

EDSC 4850

Student Teaching Secondary, Spring 2026

EDUC 6203R

Student Teaching Graduate Licensure, Spring 2026

EDUC 6203R

Student Teaching Graduate Licensure, Spring 2026

ENGL 4220

Teaching Reading and Literature, Spring 2026

ENGL 4250

Young Adult Literature, Spring 2026

Presentations

Luszeck, Mandy (Co-Presenter), Nelson, Liz (Co-Presenter), M. Van Deventer, Megan (Co-Presenter), Utah Council of Teachers of English 2026 Annual Conference , "Why New Books Matter—and What Teachers Can Do About It", Utah Council of Teachers of English , Sandy, Utah. (February, 2026)

Luszeck, Mandy , Nelson, Liz (Co-Presenter), National Council of Teachers of English 2025 Annual Conference, "Real Stories, Big Dreams_ Transforming Learning Through YA Nonfiction", National Council of Teachers of English, Denver, CO. (November, 2025)

Luszeck, Mandy (Co-Presenter), ByBee, Kristina (Co-Presenter), The Assembly on Literature for Adolescents of the National Council of Teachers of English 2025 Workshop, "Divergent Characters_ Examining Identity in Young Adult Literature through a Thematic Novel Unit ", National Council of Teachers of English , Denver, CO. (November, 2025)

Luszeck, Mandy (Moderator), Nelson, Liz (Co-Presenter), For the Love of Reading 2025, "How to Host an Author at your School", UVU Forum on Engaged Reading, Provo, UT. (September, 2025)

Luszeck, Mandy , National Council of Teachers of English 2024 Annual Conference, "Changing the World through Confronting Biases with Ghost Boys", National Council of Teachers of English, Boston. (November, 2024)

Luszeck, Mandy (Co-Presenter), ByBee, Kristina (Co-Presenter), National Council of Teachers of English 2024 Annual Conference, "Defying Expectations and Following our Hearts in Anatomy_ A Love Story", National Council of Teachers of English , Boston. (November, 2024)

Scholarly/Creative Works

Luszeck, Mandy , (2026) "To Become More Fully Human" (Issue: 1, vol. 54). Orem, UT: The Utah Council of Teachers of English. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/uej/vol54/iss1/1/

Nelson, Liz , Luszeck, Mandy , (2026) "We Need New Books" (Issue: 1, vol. 54). Orem, UT: The Utah Council of Teachers of English. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/uej/vol54/iss1/13/

Luszeck, Mandy , (2026) " Confessions of a YA Syllabus" . Dr. Steve Bickmore. https://www.drbickmoresyawednesday.com/wed-posts/confessions-of-a-ya-syllabus

Luszeck, Mandy , ByBee, Kristina , (2025) "Divergent Characters_ Examining Identity in Young Adult Literature through a Thematic Novel Unit" (Issue: 3, vol. 52). United States: The ALAN Review. https://alan-ya.org/publications/the-alan-review-tar/

Luszeck, Mandy , (2025) " Conversations in a YA Classroom_ Is ACOTAR porn and should we have rating systems on YA books?" . Dr. Steve Bickmore. https://www.drbickmoresyawednesday.com/wed-posts/conversations-in-a-ya-classroom-is-acotar-porn-and-should-we-have-rating-systems-on-ya-books

Luszeck, Mandy , (2025) "Turning Pages, Turning Hearts" (Issue: 1, vol. 53). Provo: The Utah Council of Teachers of English. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/uej/vol53/iss1/36/

Awards

Journal of Excellence Award 2025

The National Council of Teachers of English - October, 2025

The purpose of this award is to honor outstanding affiliate journals and their editors and to encourage excellence in these publications. Journals selected represent models for affiliate journals to emulate.

The NCTE Standing Committee on Affiliates noted_
"This journal offers a nice balance of pedagogical and scholarly articles from a variety of contributors. The pieces are timely and relevant to the field."

Faculty Senate Distinguished Employee Award for Teaching

Utah Valley University Faculty Senate - April, 2025

The purpose of the Distinguished University Employee Faculty SenateAward is to recognize full-time and adjunct faculty who have made significant contributions to UVU's mission through demonstrated excellence in teaching, scholarship, and service. Through this award, UVU intends_
To publicly acknowledge the achievements of its faculty members in creating an academically engaged environment at UVU.To demonstrate to the community the exemplary standards of academic professionalism to which the faculty members of UVU are dedicated;To encourage faculty within UVU to pursue the highest levels of excellence in every aspect of their work (consistent with the best of academic traditions).

Journal of Excellence Award 2024

Luszeck, Mandy (Co-Presenter), Nelson, Liz (Co-Presenter), Summit on the Research and Teaching of Young Adult Literature, "Centering Social Justice Pedagogy with Nonfiction Young Adult Literature", , Oklahoma State University, Online. (March, 2024)

Luszeck, Mandy (Co-Presenter), Nelson, Liz (Co-Presenter), Utah Council of Teachers of English 2024 Annual Conference , "Nothing Textbook about This Nonfiction_ Finding and Using Engaging Nonfiction Texts", , Utah Council of Teachers of English , Sandy, Utah. (February, 2024)

Luszeck, Mandy (Co-Presenter), Bybee, Kristina (Co-Presenter), National Council of Teachers of English 2023 Annual Conference, "Conexiones in Teaching Young Adult Literature_ For love of place_ In the Wild Light", , National Council of Teachers of English, Columbus, OH. (November, 2023)

Luszeck, Mandy , Bybee, Kristina (Co-Presenter), National Council of Teachers of English 2023 Annual Conference, "Engaging Students with New Media", , National Council of Teachers of English, Columbus, OH. (November, 2023)

Luszeck, Mandy (Co-Presenter), Nelson, Liz (Co-Presenter), For the Love of Reading 2023, "Not a History Book_ Nonfiction books that students WANT to read", , UVU Forum on Engaged Reading, Midway, UT. (October, 2023)

Luszeck, Mandy (Co-Presenter), Andruski, Austin (Co-Presenter), Pinkston, Kyle (Co-Presenter), Cobabe, Ammon (Co-Presenter), For the Love of Reading 2022, "Reading for Me_ Using Reader Response Theory and Uncoventional Assessments", , Utah Valley University, Midway, UT. (November, 2022)

Luszeck, Mandy (Co-Presenter), Bybee, Kristina (Co-Presenter), National Council of Teachers of English 2022 Annual Conference, "From the Depths of a Cave to the Light of Global Cooperation_ Using All Thirteen to Shed Light on Community and Global Interconnectedness", , National Council of Teachers of English, Anaheim, CA. (November, 2022)

Luszeck, Mandy , Bybee, Kristina (Co-Presenter), Simpson, Darby (Co-Presenter), National Council of Teachers of English 2021 Annual Conference, "Divergent Characters_ A Look at Intersectionality and Complex Identities in Young Adult Literature", , National Council of Teachers of English , Online. (November, 2021)

Luszeck, Mandy , Bybee, Kristina (Co-Presenter), National Council of Teachers of English 2021 Annual Conference, "Dreaming of Equity and Justice in The Marrow Thieves ", , National Council of Teachers of English , Online. (November, 2021)

Luszeck, Mandy , Brown, Terry (Co-Presenter), For the Love of Reading 2021, "Picture Books Aren’t Just for Kids_ Using Multimodal Novels in the secondary Classroom ", , UVU Forum on Engaged Reading, Midway, UT. (October, 2021)

Luszeck, Mandy , Smith, Tom (Co-Presenter), Summit on the Research and Teaching of Young Adult Literature, "Creating a More Caring World_ Identifying and Developing Empathy with YAL ", , University of Nevada Las Vegas, Online. (June, 2021)

Luszeck, Mandy (Co-Presenter), Scholes, Justin (Co-Presenter), Glerum, Michelle (Co-Presenter), Simpson, Darby (Co-Presenter), National Council of Teachers for English 2020 Annual Conference, "The Swirl and Swing of Words_ Grammar's Potential to Foster Expression ", , National Council of Teachers for English, Online. (November, 2020)

Luszeck, Mandy (Co-Presenter), Crowe, Chris , Blasingame, James , Bickmore, Steve , For the Love of Reading 2020, "Where are we going_ Examining Trends and Projecting the Future of Young Adult Literature", , UVU Forum on Engaged Reading, Orem, UT. (October, 2020)

Luszeck, Mandy , (2024) " Identity and Acceptance in Jeff Zentner's In the Wild Light" . Dr. Steve Bickmore. http://www.drbickmoresyawednesday.com/weekly-posts/identity-and-acceptance-in-jeff-zentners-in-the-wild-light-by-mandy-luszeck

Luszeck, Mandy , (2024) "Dreams, Empathy, and Stories" (vol. 52). Provo, UT: Utah Council of Teachers of English. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/uej/vol52/iss1/27/

Luszeck, Mandy , (2023) "Using Academic Literature Circles to Foster Discussion in the College Classroom" . Utah Valley University. https://www.uvu.edu/chss/teachingblog/academicliteraturecircle.html

Luszeck, Mandy , (2023) "The Multiplicities of Multimodal Texts_ Exploring YA Graphic Novels for Secondary Readers" (vol. 1). Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield. https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/increasing-visual-literacy-and-critical-thinking-skills-through-graphic-novels-9781475868104/

Bybee, Kristina , Luszeck, Mandy , (2023) "Creating Opportunities for Digital Writing_ Multimodality in Argument Writing Tasks" (vol. 44). Missoula, Montana: Montana English Journal. https://scholarworks.umt.edu/mej/vol44/iss2023/5/

Luszeck, Mandy , (2020) "Striving for the lightbulb_ A ‘struggling’ reader observation" (Issue: 48). Provo, UT/ Utah Council of Teachers of English: The Utah English Journal.