Overview
An environmental humanist, Kristen studies how literature is responding to, negotiating, and shaping the current ecological crisis. Her dissertation considers how the rhetoric of "extinction" is funneled through individual bodies in contemporary climate change fiction, centering characters-- from mothers to ecological martyrs to ecoterrorists-- who make choices based on a sense of species membership: a "population identity." Outside of her dissertation, Kristen is interested in and teaches about the relationship between the Anthropocene and literary genre, especially ecogothic and ecohorror. She pays special attention to figures of "untamable" womanhood: witches, mermaids, and, strangely enough, vegans. She looks forward to teaching an ecofeminism course this upcoming spring.
Research Focus
- Environmental Humanities
- Feminist Materialisms
- Cli-Fi (climate change fiction)
- Literature and Science
- Animal Studies
- Food Politics
- Ecogothic/Ecohorror
- Religious Environmentalisms
- Environmental Pedagogy