Research

OVERVIEW

My research is situated in historically grounded, socially conscious ecocriticism, focused mainly on early modern/Renaissance texts and contexts (1500-1700), but I have adopted a broad approach that includes other time periods and cultural contexts as well. My recent and forthcoming publications query ecocritical questions at the intersections of outlaw studies, critical plant/animal studies, posthumanism, and food justice scholarship. I have a particular interest in all things Robin Hood, especially the broadside ballads from the Elizabethan period.

I have a number of irons in the fire, working on current and upcoming projects, including a book project based on my dissertation (a critical plant studies approach to Shakespeare) and several articles, two of which are in the field of animal studies (one on crow intelligence tests, one on the animal “clothing” in the Exeter Book riddles), a couple of Robin Hood projects (one on the book/film We Need to Talk About Kevin, one on the greenwood as utopian space), and some pieces on community gardening and sustainability.