My
area of specialization is nineteenth-century British literature,
with a focus on the earlier part of the century. In my work
I tend to traverse the traditional boundary between the Romantic
and Victorian periods as well as boundaries between disciplines.
My current project, Figuring Redemption in English Political
Economy, 1794-1857 , draws on a range of sources—economic,
religious, and legal—to examine the nature of contractual obligation
in Romantic and Victorian culture, and its capacity for economic
and moral redemption. I am particularly interested in how parties
that cannot legally make contracts, such as most women and children,
nevertheless are crucial figures in their fulfillment. My
article on Mary Shelley's novel Valperga
, contract, and redemption
is forthcoming in Studies in Romanticism.
I
have taught a wide variety of courses while at Marquette, including
Gothic literature, Victorian literature, Survey of Fiction,
Honors English World and Text I, and Rhetoric and Composition.
Next Spring, I look forward to teaching the second half of our
British Literature Survey. My other teaching interests include
Romantic colonialism and the interactions between Romantic and
Victorian literature and visual culture.
