CV

All of my work is interested in exploring the social dimensions to literature, especially as it relates to public debates about welfare, climate change, and migration.

My book, The American Vagrant in Literature: Race, Work and Welfare (Edinburgh UP), reconstructs the lines of influence between Anglo-US sources on the subject of vagrancy, which was at once a pop cultural sensation and keen governmental problem at the turn of the century. I analyze literary depictions of tramping provided in sources from Mark Twain’s travelogues and Jack London’s ethnographic narratives to the films of Charlie Chaplin.

My recent research explores how literarry fiction and genre contributes to the social imagination around climate change and related issues (such as climate-induced migration). My recent work therefore understands science fiction, 'climate fiction', and other literary forms less as sources for informing readres about climate change and more as collaborators for co-developing knowledge with readers. 

These concerns inform my DFF-funded research project, "Using Flash Fiction to Address Climate Anxiety in the Classroom."