Research

Research Interests

Romanticism, eighteenth- and nineteenth-century literature, Atlantic Canadian literature (especially L.M. Montgomery), digital humanities, public engagement, the novel, critical literary geography, (sub)urbanism (especially London, UK and Atlantic Canadian cities), domestic spaces, environmental criticism, women’s writing, medical/health humanities

Research Areas

L.M. Montgomery:

Projects:

• Journal of L.M. Montgomery Studies (founding editor of the online, multimedia journaloflmmontgomerystudies.ca) (SSHRC funded)
• Reading L.M. Montgomery (interviews with Montgomery scholars about their personal and scholarly reading experiences and the state of Montgomery studies)
• The World of L.M. Montgomery and Her Fans (yourlmmstory.com – collaboration with Dr. Trinna S. Frever; research project/survey about global fans’ experiences discovering, reading, loving, and being inspired by Montgomery)
• L.M. Montgomery and the Urban Maritimes (a growing interest in Montgomery’s life in and literary relationships with Halifax, Charlottetown, Summerside).

Related Outputs:

• co-edited journal: journaloflmmontgomerystudies.ca
• peer-reviewed article: “From Anne of Green Gables to Anne of the Suburbs: Lucy Maud Montgomery Reimagines the Home in Anne of the Island.” Women’s Writing (2017): 1-15.
• essay: “Welcome to the Journal of L.M. Montgomery Studies.” (with co-editor, Emily Woster). Journal of L.M. Montgomery Studies (2019).
• online, open acess course: Reading L.M. Montgomery

Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century London/Romantic Urbanisms:

Projects:

• Romantic Suburbs (monograph project, revising according to Toronto UP readers’ reports)
• London’s Green Geographies (SSHRC-funded postdoctoral fellowship project, English dept., Dalhousie)

Related Outputs:

• peer-reviewed article: “At Home in ‘that gay bathing place’; or, Representing Brighton in the Early Nineteenth Century.” Romantik: Journal for the Study of Romanticisms (2016): 48-71.
• peer-reviewed article: “Elite Metropolitan Culture, Women, and Greater London in Charlotte Smith’s Emmeline and Celestina.” European Romantic Review 25.5 (2014): 627-48.

Atlantic Canadian Literary Cities:

Projects:

• Halifax’s Literary Landmarks: Exploring Atlantic Canada’s Urban Blue/Green Spaces (funded by a SSHRC Insight Development Grant, the Nova Scotia Museum, Compute Canada/ACENET, and the Digital Humanities Summer Institute)
• L.M. Montgomery and the Urban Maritimes (see above).

Funding

Some recent funding includes:

• Journal of L.M. Montgomery Studies (general journal funding). Principal Investigator, SSHRC Aid to Scholarly Journals. $66, 450. 2022-25.
• Journal of L.M. Montgomery Studies (summer student funding). Principal Investigator, Employment and Social Development Canada ($2,730), 2021.
• L.M. Montgomery and Vision (conference). Principal Investigator with Co-Investigators, Lesley Clement and Emily Woster, SSHRC Connection Grant. $24, 656. 2020-21.
• Geoparsing and Informed Historical Mapping of Prince Edward Island: A Digital Project to Enhance Research Capacity in the Arts at UPEI. Co-investigator with Lisa Chilton (Principal Investigator), James Moran, Ed Macdonald, Josh MacFadyen, Internal Research Grant, UPEI. $4,869, 2019.
• L.M. Montgomery and Reading (conference). Principal Investigator with Co-Investigators, Laura Robinson and Emily Woster, SSHRC Connection Grant. $24,694, 2018-19.
• The L.M. Montgomery Institute Hub. Principal Investigator with Co-Investigators, Philip Smith and Elizabeth Epperly, UPEI President’s Grant for Chair of L.M. Montgomery Studies, $30, 000, 2018-21.
• Halifax’s Literary Landmarks: Exploring Atlantic Canada’s Urban Blue/Green Spaces. Principal Investigator, SSHRC Insight Development Grant. $57,886, 2016-18.
• Halifax’s Literary Landmarks: Exploring Atlantic Canada’s Urban Blue/Green Spaces. Nova Scotia Museum Research Grant – Cultural History, Nova Scotia Museum, $3,756, 2016-17.
• A Walk in the Park: A Mobile Application for Atlantic Canada’s Urban Green Spaces. Digital Humanities Summer Institute (DHSI) Scholarship, Compute Canada (with Compute Canada/ACENET collaborator, Chris Geroux), $1,250, 2016.
• A Walk in the Park: A Mobile Application for Atlantic Canada’s Urban Green Spaces. Digital Humanities Summer Institute (DHSI) Scholarship, DHSI, University of Victoria, $1,250, 2016.

Presentations

I have presented locally, nationally, and internationally. Local venues have included UPEI’s Island Studies Lecture Series, as well as the L.M. Montgomery biennial conference, Applied Geospatial Research in Public Policy workshop, and “Sharing Our Research” course for PEI Seniors College. Nationally, I have presented at the Association of Canadian College and University Teachers of English, L.M. Montgomery Society of Ontario’s annual workshop, Dalhousie English department’s weekly seminar series, and the Canadian Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies. International presentations include the International John Thelwall Society, British Association for Romantic Studies, and North American Society for the Study of Romanticism conferences.

Fellowships

I have held research fellowships at Dalhousie University (SSHRC funded), King’s College London (CHCI/SSHRC), Columbia University in New York City (CHCI/SSHRC), Warwick University (once, Institute of Advanced Study; twice, Humanities Research Centre), and Chawton House Library/University of Southampton.