Last Updated: 31 July 2019
II. EMPLOYMENT & VISITING POSITIONS
Colby College | Waterville, ME
Assistant Professor of English | 9/2015-present
University of Cambridge | Cambridge, UK
Visiting Scholar | History and Philosophy of Science | 6/2018-6/2019
Visiting Scholar | Downing College, Cambridge | 6/2019-6/2019
Georgetown University | Washington, DC
Visiting Assistant Professor of English | 8/2013-8/2015
Lecturer in English | 8/2012-8/2013
III. EDUCATION
University of Oxford | Oxford, UK
D.Phil. in English | 5/2012
Dartmouth College | Hanover, NH
M.A. in Cultural Studies | 1/2008
Bucknell University | Lewisburg, PA
M.A. in English | 5/2006
B.A. in Political Science with Legal Studies | 5/2004
IV. BOOKS
3. Understanding Science Denial
Johns Hopkins University Press | Monograph | Under advance contract
2. Empirical Knowledge in the Eighteenth-Century Novel
Cambridge University Press | Short Monograph | Under advance contract
1. A World of Disorderly Notions: Quixote and the Logic of Exceptionalism
University of Virginia Press | Monograph (232pp) | 2019
V. JOURNAL ARTICLES
8. “Fanny Hill and the Legibility of Consent”
English Literary History 86.4 (2019) (forthcoming)
7. "Perlocutionary Verse in Augustan England"
Modern Philology 114.3 (2017): 657-79
6. "Quixotism as Global Heuristic: Atlantic and Pacific Diasporas"
Studies in Eighteenth-Century Culture 46 (2017): 49-62
5. "Margaret Cavendish’s Anthropocene Worlds"
New Literary History 47.1 (2016): 49-66
4. "Toward a Counter-Poetics of Quixotism"
Studies in the Novel 46.2 (2014): 141-58
3. "Gender-Class Kyriarchy in The Female Quixote and Female Quixotism"
The Eighteenth Century: Theory and Interpretation 55.1 (2014): 77-96
2. "Re-Reading Gulliver as Quixote: Toward a Theory of Quixotic Exceptionalism"
Connotations: A Journal for Critical Debate 21.2-3 (2012): 278-303
1. "Quixotic Influence and the Underhill Legacy in The Algerine Captive"
Comparative American Studies 9.2 (2011): 119-30
VI. BOOK CHAPTERS
4. “Teaching Comedy versus Satire in Eighteenth-Century Contexts”
Teaching Comic Texts
Ed. Beverly Hogue | MLA Options for Teaching | (under consideration)
3. “Romancing the Sextant in Eighteenth-Century Britain”
Science and Storytelling in the Eighteenth Century: Knowledge, Narrative, Discipline
Eds. David Alff and Danielle Spratt | University of Virginia Press | (under consideration)
2. “Smollett’s Ramblers and the Law of the Land”
A Clubbable Man: Essays on Eighteenth-Century Literature in Honor of Greg Clingham
Ed. Anthony Lee | Rutgers University Press | 2019 (forthcoming)
1. “Teaching Literature in the Age of Trump”
Trumping Ethical Norms
Eds. L Sandy Maisel and Hannah E. Dineen | Routledge | 2018
VII. BOOK REVIEWS
6. Tita Chico, The Experimental Imagination: Literary Knowledge & Science…
Genre (forthcoming)
5. Andrew Franta, System Failure: The Uses of Disorder in English Literature
NOVEL: A Forum on Fiction (forthcoming)
4. Howard Marchitello, Evelyn Tribble, Palgrave Handbook of Early Modern Lit. & Science
The Scriblerian Spring 51.2 (2019)
3. David Alff, The Wreckage of Intentions: Projects in British Culture, 1660-1730
Digital Defoe 10.1 (2018)
2. Christopher Flynn, Americans in British Literature: A Breed Apart, 1770-1832
British Association for Romantic Studies Bulletin and Review 42 (2012): 56-7
1. John Nery, Revolutionary Spirit: Jose Rizal in Southeast Asia
Oxonian Review of Books 18.1 (2011)
VIII. RESEARCH GRANTS & HONORS
19. Lisa Jardine History of Science Grant | £3919
The Royal Society of London | 2019
18. Digital Humanities Summer Workshop Grant | $1393
Colby College | 2018
17. Faculty Research Grant | $4092
Colby College | 2018
16. Visiting Scholar | Department of History and Philosophy of Science
University of Cambridge | 2018-19
15. Visiting Scholar | Downing College
University of Cambridge | 2018-19
14. Humanities Division Area I Research Grant | $3000
Colby College | 2017
13. Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Fellowship | $6000
Huntington Library | 2016
12. Humanities Division Area I Research Grant | $2961
Colby College | 2016
11. Summer Academic Grant (declined) | $10,000
Georgetown University | 2015
10. Summer Academic Grant | $10,000
Georgetown University | 2014
9. Clark Fellowship | $2500
UCLA Center for 17th and 18th Century Studies | 2013
8. John Fell Fund Digital Humanities Grant (declined)
University of Oxford | 2012
7. Visiting Fellowship
Chawton House Library | 2011
6. Vice-Chancellor’s Dissertation Fellowship | £2000
University of Oxford | 2011
5. Bamborough Dissertation Grant | £1500
Linacre College, University of Oxford | 2011
4. Travel Grant | $300
American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies (ASECS) | 2011
3. Mary Blaschko Graduate Fellowship (tuition)
Linacre College, University of Oxford | 2010
2. Domus Research Prize
Linacre College, University of Oxford | 2010
1. James B. Reynolds Scholar (to the University of Oxford) | $20,000
Dartmouth College | 2009
IX. TEACHING GRANTS & HONORS
8. Center for the Arts and Humanities Course Development Grant | $3000
Colby College | 2019
7. Center for the Arts and Humanities Course Development Grant | $2500
Colby College | 2017
6. Center for the Arts and Humanities Course Development Grant | $2500
Colby College | 2016
5. Nominee, College Academic Council Faculty Award
Georgetown University | 2015
4. Initiative on Technology-Enhanced Learning Grants (2) | $5000
Georgetown University | 2014
3. Doyle Faculty Fellowship | $2500
Georgetown University | 2013
2. Institute for Writing and Rhetoric Teaching Fellowship | $6000
Dartmouth College | 2006-7
1. English Department Teaching Fellowship | $18,000
Bucknell University | 2004-6
X. INVITED TALKS
9. “Epistemology for Literary Studies”
Serious Metaphysics Group (Dept. of Philosophy) | University of Cambridge | May 29, 2019
8. “Early Modern History of Data and Epistemology of Form”
Cambridge Philosophy of Science Seminar (HPS) | University of Cambridge | May 15, 2019
7. “Blank Form and the History of Data”
Department of English | University of Albany, SUNY | March 27, 2019
6. “Marianne’s System in Sense and Sensibility”
19th-Century Research Seminar (Dept. of English) | Univ. of Cambridge | March 5, 2019
5. “The History of the Data Narrative”
Department of English | University of East Anglia | November 28, 2018
4. Faculty Respondent | “Legacies of the Enlightenment”
Michigan State University | October 6-7, 2018
3. “The Literary History of Data and the Question of Scale”
Re:Enlightenment Praxis: Scaling Enlightenment | Stanford University | April 6, 2018
2. “Fanny Hill and the Enlightenment History of Pain”
18th c. Lit. & Culture Seminar (Dept. of English) | University of Oxford | February 20, 2017
1. Panelist | “The Battle over Free Speech on College Campuses”
Institute of Politics | University of Chicago | March 10, 2016
XI. CONFERENCE TALKS
24. “The Logic of Novelistic Realism”
MLA Annual Convention | Seattle, WA | 2020 (upcoming)
23. “Scaling Lives in Joseph Priestley’s Description of a Chart of Biography”
ISECS International Congress on the Enlightenment | Edinburgh, Scotland | 2019
22. “Knowledge, Form, and Public Trust”
Changes in the Ecologies of Knowledge Work | University of Manchester | 2019
21. “Is Data a Realist Genre?”
ASECS Annual Meeting | Denver, CO | 2019
20. Panelist | “The Uses and Misuses of Academic Freedom”
MLA Annual Convention | Chicago, IL | 2019
19. “The Data Narrative as an Enlightenment Genre”
Eighteenth-Century Scottish Studies Society Annual Conference | Glasgow, Scotland | 2018
18. “Is ‘the Humanities’ A System? The Case of the Eighteenth-Century Novel”
ASECS Annual Meeting | Orlando, FL | 2018
17. “Fanny Hill, Consent, and the History of Erotic Pain”
ASECS Annual Meeting | Minneapolis, MN | 2017
16. Panelist, “Reinventing the Ph.D.: Celebrating Change, Rethinking Resistance”
Modern Language Association (MLA) Annual Convention | Philadelphia, PA | 2017
15. “Neoliberal Critiques of the Humanities Ph.D.”
EC/ASECS Annual Conference | Fredericksburg, VA | 2016
14. “Writing about the Eighteenth Century in Contemporary Political Media”
ASECS Annual Meeting | Pittsburgh, PA | 2016
13. “Epistemology and the Public Humanities”
Virginia Humanities Conference | Marymount University | 2015
12. “Quixotism as Global Heuristic”
ASECS Annual Meeting | Los Angeles, CA | 2015
11. “Active Functions of Poetic Form from Pope to Shelley”
Poetic Genre and Social Imagination | University of Chicago | 2014
10. “Crushing Doubt in the Transnational Study of Don Quixote”
ASECS Annual Meeting | Cleveland, OH | 2013
9. “Prefacing Character from Cervantes to Smollett”
Clark Library Summer Institute | UCLA | 2013
8. “Female Domestic Servants in the Fiction of Charlotte Lennox”
Chawton House Library Visiting Fellows Seminar | Chawton, UK | 2011
7. “Quixotism and the Politics of Travel”
Traveling Identities | Birkbeck, University of London | 2011
6. “Toward the End of Now: Obsolescence and Futurity in Literary Study”
Uncertainty: Theory in the 21st Century | Royall Holloway, University of London | 2011
5. “Natural Rights and Matrimonial Law in Gilbert Imlay’s The Emigrants”
Am. Soc. for Eighteenth-Century Studies (ASECS) Annual Meeting | Vancouver, BC | 2011
4. “Sanctioned Sentimentality in the 18th c. Quixotic Narrative” | presenter and convener
British Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies (BSECS) Annual Meeting | Oxford, UK | 2011
3. “Lineage and Identity in The Algerine Captive”
The Idea of Influence in American Literature | University of Oxford | 2010
2. “Alone in a Mad World: Reading Quixotes in Joseph Andrews and Modern Chivalry”
BSECS Early-Career Conference | University of Worcester | 2010
1. “Colonizing Crusoe”
Futures of American Studies Institute | Dartmouth College | 2007
XII. SEMINAR TALKS (AT HOME UNIVERSITY)
15. “Teaching Literature in the Age of Trump”
Trumping Ethical Norms | Colby College | 2018
14. “The Episodic Novel and the Systematic Eighteenth Century”
English Department Work in Progress Seminar | Colby College | 2017
13. Panelist | “Reporting and New Media Platforms”
Lovejoy Student Journalism Conference | Colby College | 2017
12. “Origins of the Royal Society, Origins of the Novel”
Origins Speaker Series | Colby College | 2017
11. “Is the Enlightenment a Closed System?”
The Public Sphere from Enlightenment to Post-Truth | Colby College | 2017
“A History of Data, Big and Little”
Continuing Revolutions Speaker Series | Colby College | 2016
10. “Learning to Fear”
Dissecting Violence: The Humanities Respond | Colby College | 2016
9. “Abraham Cowley and the Poetics of Objectivity”
Noontime Faculty Forum | Colby College | 2016
8. “A Quixotic Theory of World Literature”
English Department Research Roundtable | Colby College | 2015
7. “Matters of Interpretation, or Interpretation Matters: A Case Study in Law and Literature”
Law Faculty Interdisciplinary Discussion Group | University of Oxford | 2011
6. “What is Literacy? The Problem of Don Quixote”
The Linacre Seminars | Linacre College, University of Oxford | 2011
5. “Early American Exceptionalism and the Eighteenth-Century Atlantic World”
Rothermere American Institute Interdisciplinary Seminar | University of Oxford | 2011
4. “Myths and Dreams: Don Quixote in New York”
American Literature Research Seminar | University of Oxford | 2011
3. “Maids, Mistresses, and Monstrous Doubles”
Restoration to Reform Seminar | University of Oxford | 2010
2. “The Princeton Whigs and the Literature of Politics, 1760-1800”
American Literature Research Seminar | University of Oxford | 2010
1. “Madness and Measure: Visionary Quixotism in the Late Eighteenth-Century”
Faculty of English Graduate Conference | University of Oxford | 2009
XIII. TEACHING
Colby College
Courses Taught (Enrollment/Cap)
10. “The Enlightenment and the Anthropocene” | EN363 | S’20
9. “Literature Against Distortion” (Humanities Lab) | EN239 | S’18
Enrollment: 26/25
8. “Critical Theory” | EN271 | S’18
Enrollment: 16/15
7. “Age of Revolution” | EN 334 | S’17
Enrollment: 19/25
6. “Data and Literature in the Scientific Revolution” | EN 233 | F’16
Enrollment: 18/18
5. “Satire” | EN 235 | F‘16
Enrollment: 22/25
4. “Foundations of Literary Studies” | EN 200 | F’16, S’17, F’17, F’19 (2 sections)
Enrollment (F’16): 13/15
Enrollment (S’17): 15/15
Enrollment (F’17): 15/15
3. “The Complications of Jonathan Swift” | EN 413 | S’16, S’20
Enrollment: 7/25
2. “Dating and Relationships in 18th Century British Literature” | EN 318 | S’16, F’17
Enrollment (S’16): 20/25
Enrollment (F’17): 18 /18
1. “Styles of Persuasion” | EN 120) | F’15 (2 sections), F’17, F’19
Enrollment (F’15 S1): 16/16
Enrollment (F’15 S2): 7/16
Enrollment (F’17): 17/16
Independent Studies Supervised
7. Eleanor Jackson ’19 | “Kingsman Secret Service and 21st-Century Elitism” | EN291 | J’18
6. Ryohei Watanabe ’18 | “Postcolonial and Historical Metaphor” | EN291 | J’18
5. Holly Lauren Garcia ’20 | “Representations of Dance in the 18th Century” | EN492 | S’17
4. Siyuan Li ’17 | “History and Rhetoric of Data Visualization” | EN492) | S’17
3. Noah Tocci ’17 | “Gulliver’s Movements” | EN492 | S’17
2. Andrew Della Volpe ’17 | “Satire for the Screen” | EN491 | J’17
1. James Grote ’16 | “Literatures of Reform, 1660-1740” | EN491 | F’15
Honors Theses Supervised
4. Holly Lauren Garcia ’20 | Title TBD | 2019-20
3. Will Sideri ’20 | Title TBD | 2019-20
2. Ryanne Desjardins ’18 | “The Influence of 17th and 18th Century Transatlantic Literature on Developing America’s Viewpoints on Minority Groups” | 2017-18
1. Noah Tocci ’17 | “The Bodily Lens of Satire: Swift’s Satirical Use of the Body” | 2016-17
Honors Theses Second Reader
5. Scott Batchelder ’20
4. Nick Martin ’20
3. Alex Feingold ’20
2. Tyler Macdonald ’18
1. Grant Alenson ’18
Other Supervised Student Research
2. Grace Oh-Willeke ’21 | CARA Fellow | “The History of Data Visualization”
1. James Grote ’16 | Humanities Research Grant | “Writings of Abraham Cowley”
Georgetown University
Courses Taught
11. “Introduction to Critical Theory” | ENGL 260 | S’15
10. “Rhetoric of 18th Century Poetry” | ENGL 332) | S’15
9. “Restoration Drama” | ENGL 126 | S’15
8. “Satire” | ENGL 278/224 | S’14, Su’14, F’14 (undergraduate and graduate sections)
7. “18th Century Quixotism” | ENGL 333 | F’13
6. “18th Century British Novel” | ENGL 143 | Su’13, F’13
5. “Introduction to Transatlantic Studies” | ENGL 265 | S’13
4. “17th-18th Century Women’s Writing” | ENGL 141/128, WGST 141/128 | S’13, S’14, F’14
3. “The (Im)personal Essay” | WRIT 015 | F’14
2. “99 Problems: Writing as Problem Solving” | HUMW 011 | F’13, S’14
1. “Writing the Self” | HUMW 011 | F’12 (2 sections)
University of Oxford
Tutorials
3. “Topics in American Literature: Fitzgerald, Dos Passos, West” | Hilary ’11
2. “Philip Roth” | Michaelmas ’10
1. “Ralph Waldo Emerson” | Michaelmas ’09
Lecture Series
2. “British-American Literary Contexts” | Michaelmas ’10
1. “Literature and Identity in the New Republic” | Michaelmas ’09
XIV. SERVICE
Colby College
College Level
19. Grievance Committee | F’19-
18. Faculty Mentor | Colby Club Soccer | F’19-
17. Distribution Requirements Task Force | F’19-
16. Mentor | OCS Faculty Mentor Program (Global Engagement) | S’20
15. Speaker | Colby Veritas Forum (Christian student/faculty dialogue with non-Christian
speakers) | 3/14/18
14. Speaker | Office of Religious and Spiritual Life, SGA “What Matters to Me and Why Series” | 11/20/17
13. Speaker | Alumni College | “Is There a Data Revolution?” | 7/24/17
12. Presidential Task Force on Free Expression | F’17-present
11. Search Committee (outside member) | Faculty Fellow in Early American History | F’17
10. Search Committee (outside member) | Assistant Professor of Biology (cell biology) | F’17
9. Speaker | In Community address to Colby Class of 2021 | 8/31/17
8. Executive Committee | Center for the Arts and Humanities | F’17-S’18, F’19-
7. Faculty Resident | F’17-S’18, F’19-
6. College Affairs Committee | F’16-S’18, F’19-
5. Faculty Advisory Committee on Communications | F’17-S’18, F’19-
4. Advisory Board Member | Science, Technology, and Society Program | F’16-present
3. Search Committee | Director of Campus Life | S’17
2. First-Year Review Committee | Head Coach, Women’s Field Hockey | S’17
1. Search Committee (outside member) | Visiting Assistant Professor of Biology | S’16
Department Level
6. Search Committee | Faculty Fellow in Eighteenth-Century British Literature | F’17
5. Accreditation and Future Planning Committee | F’16-S’18
4. Curriculum Committee | F’15-S’17
3. Programming Committee | F’16-S’17
2. Search Committee | Visiting Assistant Professor (Poetry) | F’15-S’16
1. Convener, Miller Commons | F’15-S’17
Georgetown University
University Level
6. Lab Director | MLA/Mellon Connected Academics Grant | 5/15-11/15
5. Interviewer | Europe and Eurasia | Fulbright Program | F’14-S’15
4. Writing and Culture Seminar Design Working Group | F’12-S’14
3. Mentor (for faculty) | Initiative on Tech-Enhanced Learning (ITEL) Cohort | F’14-S’15
2. Speaker | Doyle Faculty Seminar | 5/20/14
1. Speaker | Georgetown Admissions Ambassador Program Faculty Showcase | 4/11/14
Department Level
1. Ph.D. Program Working Group | S’13-S’14
University of Oxford
University Level
1. Appointed Member | Race Equality Working Group | Hilary ’10-Michaelmas ’12
College Level
1. President | Linacre College Common Room | Hilary ’10-Trinity ’11
Peer Review
Manuscript Review
7. Yale University Press
6. Bucknell University Press
5. Digital Defoe
4. Genre
3. Eighteenth Century Fiction
2. Studies in the Novel
1. Women’s Writing
Postdoctoral Fellowship Review
1. Research Institute of the University of Bucharest
Mentoring and Professional Development
6. Mentor | The Doctor Is In (mentoring group for eighteenth-century studies) | S’19-
5. Mentor (for Ph.D. students) | MLA Eighteenth-Century Comparative Forum | S’19-present
4. Speaker | Oxford English Graduate Organization Session on the US Job Market | 2/20/17
3. Speaker | Georgetown English Graduate Association Panel on Publishing | 11/12/14
2. Speaker | Georgetown Professional Development Panel on Grant Proposals | 10/15/14
1. Mentor | Bucknell in London Study Abroad Program | F’09-F’11
Professional Affiliations
2. Modern Language Association
1. American, British, and International Societies for Eighteenth Century Studies
XV. PROFESSIONAL TRAINING & SEMINARS TAKEN
2. Materiality of Early Modern Optical Instruments | University of Cambridge | 1/22/19
1. Digital Humanities Summer School (Data Curation) | University of Oxford | 7/2/18-7/6/18
XVI. MEDIA & PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT
I have published 60+ articles in venues including
The New York Times (online and print)
The Washington Post (online and print)
The New Republic (online and print)
The Atlantic
Vox
Salon
Huffington Post
NBC
The Los Angeles Review of Books
Ploughshares Blog
The Chronicle of Higher Education (and The Chronicle Review) (online and print)
Academe (blog of the American Association of University Professors)
Everyday Analysis
Bangor Daily News (online and print)
Alternet
Real Clear Politics
MSN
TV, Radio, and Podcast Appearances
12. Guest | Adjunctification of the Professoriate
NPR Wisconsin Central Time | 2019
11. Guest | “Vet the Technique”
Tatter Podcast | 2019
10. Guest | Science and Fiction
Jedi Counsel Podcast | 2018
9. Guest | Free Speech Issues
Georgetown Free Speech Project | “Speaking Freely” with Sanford Ungar | 2018
8. Guest | “Do Campuses Need More Conservative Speakers, or Better Ones?”
NPR Wisconsin Central Time | 2018
7. Guest | Tucker Carlson Tonight
Fox News | 2017
6. Guest | Campus Politics
The Daily Pennsylvanian Podcast | University of Pennsylvania | 2017
5. Guest | Campus Politics
PROGRESS Channel | XM Radio | 2017
4. Guest | Campus Politics
POTUS Channel with Michael Smerconish | XM Radio | 2017
3. Guest | Legislation Affecting Campus Speech
Virginia Public Radio | 2017
2. Panelist | “The Infantilization of the American Undergraduate”
HuffPost Live (TV) | 2016
1. Panelist | “Rants, Punchlines, and Trust in the Media”
To the Point (KCRW and NPR) | 2015