My research focuses on the literature and culture of Britain and Ireland from the mid-eighteenth to the mid-nineteenth century with a particular emphasis on affect theory, the sentimental tradition and the elegiac mode. My monograph project, “Writing the Dead: Epitaphs, Elegies and Communities of Sentiment in Romantic Ireland” addresses the relationship between Irish elegiac poetry in the long eighteenth-century and empiricist philosophy in order to demonstrate how the act of grieving served to circulate sympathy between England and Ireland, enriching the literary output of both nations.
I co-convene the Irish Studies Scholarly Seminar at the Newberry Library. At Loyola, I teach writing and literature courses. Social justice informs my teaching philosophy in that my goal is to create environments that aim to respect the human dignity of every person while cultivating social responsibility through lesson plans that are informed by different theories of justice. My aims and objectives are obviously (and necessarily) different for my writing classes than for my core literature courses, but my focus on the development of analytical skills through close reading of the text while framing these readings in their rhetorical and socio-political context remains constant.
Peer-Reviewed Articles:
Book Reviews:
Short Stories:
Public Writing:
Podcasts: