Jessica Rosenberg
Associate Professor, Literatures in English
Academic focus:
Early modern English literature (ca. 1500-1700), literature and science, the history of the book
Current research project:
I’m currently working on a book entitled “Shakespeare’s Second Nature,” about the everyday methods – tricks, knacks, and how-to’s – that people of Shakespeare’s time used to re-make themselves and the world around them.
Previous positions:
- Associate Professor, Department of English, University of Miami, 2023
- Assistant Professor, Department of English, University of Miami, 2015-2023
- Barbara Thom Postdoctoral Fellow, The Henry E. Huntington Library, 2018-2019
- Provost’s Postdoctoral Scholar in the Humanities, University of Southern California, 2014-2015
Academic background:
- Ph.D., Comparative literature and literary theory, University of Pennsylvania, 2014
- M.Phil., History and philosophy of science and medicine, Trinity College, Cambridge University, 2005
- A.B., Literature, Harvard University, 2004
Last book read:
Two re-reads: “An Autobiography” by Angela Davis and “Love’s Work” by Gillian Rose
In your own time/when not working:
Hiking, cooking, gardening, old movies; consuming most forms of pop culture
Courses you’re most looking forward to teaching:
I’m especially looking forward to teaching courses that connect science and literature, including one about the idea of curiosity, which includes “Frankenstein,” fairy tales and “Rear Window.” I’m also excited to develop new hands-on courses that draw on Cornell’s unique range of archives, including those in Rare and Manuscript Collections and in the Mann Library.
What most excites you about Cornell:
I’m excited to be teaching and researching at a university with Cornell’s range of fields and expertise, but where the humanities have a central and valued role both in undergraduate education and in interdisciplinary conversations. More particularly, as someone who has written a book about old agriculture (as in, 500 years old), I am especially eager to get to know what’s going on in those parts of the university.
