• Master of Divinity Candidate: Harvard Divinity School

  • Thesis: Broken Covenant: Stories of Religious Trauma

• Master of Music in Music Theatre Vocal Pedagogy: Carthage College

  • Thesis: “Fundamentalism and Artistry: A Look at Religious Trauma and the Vocalist”

• Bachelor of Arts in Music Theatre, Minor in Dance: Carthage College

Interested in studying the impacts of Fundamentalist Christianity in America on psychological symptoms of PTSD, Anxiety, Depression, Scrupulosity, and other impairments to meaning-making . My prior experience in performing arts and humanities provides an interdisciplinary lens that inform my interest in researching the specific components of the psychopathology of religious disaffiliation through mixed quantitative and qualitative methods (including but not limited to ethnodrama and verbatim presentation)

Key Words: Religious and Spiritual Harm, Moral Injury, Psychopathology, Belief, Purity Culture, Fundamentalism, Disaffiliation, Deconversion, Ethnodrama

Harvard Divinity School and Carthage College

Independent Researcher, The Religious Trauma Verbatim Project

• Conducted semi-structured interviews of 18 self-selecting participants of religious harm

• Managed a team of researchers and subject experts

• Transcribed interview recordings and coded the qualitative data

• Developed an ethnodrama of the data through theatrical scripting conventions

• Presented results at Carthage College

• Gawel, L. (2023, January 17-21). Fundamentalism and Artistry: A Look at Religious Trauma and the Vocalist [Conference presentation]. Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival Region II Conference, West Chester, PA.

• Delle, S., Frenette, B., Gawel, L., (2022, July 28-31). Relationships and Pipelines: KCACTF/ATHE/Community Colleges [Conference Panel]. Association for Theatre in Higher Education Annual Conference, Detroit, MI.

• Gawel, L. (2022, January 5-10). Fundamentalism and Artistry: A Look at Religious Trauma and the Vocalist [Conference presentation]. Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival Region III Conference, Virtual.

The Wisconsin Conservatory of Music, Milwaukee, WI

Faculty Voice Department                  

• Managed a voice studio of over 30+ students ranging in age from 7-50

• Instructed General Music Courses in Partner Schools

• Developed and Executed Lesson Plans in accordance with state standards

Carthage College, Kenosha, WI

Graduate Assistant, Practicum Voice Instructor    

• Evidence-Based Vocal Instruction utilizing the Estill Voice Training

• Set individualized objectives with customized lesson plans

• Outcomes of student growth in vocal identity, vocal range, stylistic storytelling, and repertoire building

Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival / Association for Theatre in Higher Education Graduate Student Award for Innovation and Research (2022)

American Psychological Association (Student Affiliate))

• Division 36: Society for the Psychology of Religion and Spirituality (Student Affiliate)

National Association for Teachers of Singing (NATS) 2023-2025

Association for Theatre in Higher Education (ATHE) 2021-2023

Music Theatre Educators Alliance (MTEA) 2021-2023

Social & Behavioral Research Student Investigators: Basic Course, CITI Training

The Nervous System and the Arts: Trauma-Informed Arts Certification, MuscleMusic, instructed by Ruby Rose Fox

The Muscle of the Self: Using the Voice to Map Psyche, Harvard Divinity School, instructed by Anne Harley

Vocal Health Workshop, Wisconsin Conservatory of Music, instructed by Phillip Pearl

Kodály Professional Development Seminar, Wisconsin Conservatory of Music

Nonviolent Crisis Intervention, the Crisis Prevention Institute

Estill Level 2, Carthage College, instructed by Dr. Corinne Ness and Jeremy Ryan Mossman

Estill Level 1, Carthage College, instructed by Kim Steinhauer