PhD Student Research
Rachel Bryant studies northeastern North American literatures and literary cultures. Her particular interests include early modern colonial writings, canon formation, Indigenous literatures, and the ways in which regional discourses in Atlantic Canada and New England have worked to inscribe and reinforce national boundaries.
Sara Dunton focuses her research on the exploration of inter-connectivity between modernist poetry, design theory, and visual art. Her proposed dissertation will examine the mid-twentieth century poetry and prose of H.D. (Hilda Doolittle), with particular emphasis on H.D.'s fascination with the aesthetics of mid-nineteenth century Pre-Raphaelite artists.
Kitty Elton's main area of interest is nineteenth-century British writing that reflects the radical destabilization of traditional belief systems by scientific research and the widening tensions between the arts and sciences as they competed to authoritatively describe life. Her doctoral dissertation, "George Eliot's Mind/Marian Evans's Head: Nineteenth-Century Realism and Science," examines the rising influence of scientific thought and how it is reflected in both the writing and the life of the Victorian realist writer George Eliot (Marian Evans).
Lisa Jodoin's current research interests are gothic literature and contemporary Canadian literature, particularly by First Nations and Mixed-Blood writers. Her dissertation, tentatively titled "Homesick: The (Un)homely Body in First Nations and Métis Gothic Literature in Canada," examines the relationship between gothic conventions in First Nations and Mixed-Blood writing and the racial politics of 'Indian Blood' in Canada. Her other research interests include postcolonial literature, gender studies, and queer theory.
Rob Ross' research area is contemporary Canadian Literature, specifically, the interfaces and connections between urban space and issues regarding ethnic identity. His working dissertation title is "Negotiating the City and De/constructed Identities: Ethnicity in Urban Canadian Literature."
Patrick Toner's research area is drama. The proposed title of his dissertation is "Nationalism in the Drama of Post-1980 Quebec and Ireland."
