Andy Harper, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
English
Education
Ph.D. in English, Southern Illinois University Carbondale, 2020
M.F.A. in Writing, University of Nebraska Omaha, 2014
B.A. in English, Truman State University, 2012
Research Interests
19th and 20th Century American Literature and Culture; African American Literature;
the Long Gilded Age; Race, Class, and Gender; Social Movements; Regionalist Fiction;
Utopian Fiction; the Speculative
Andy Harper's current research focuses on American regionalist and utopian fiction
of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era—particularly as it engages contemporaneous social
movements such as various socialist and labor movements, first wave feminisms, racial
justice organizing, environmental protection, and immigration restriction. His approach
to these texts and contexts tends to address questions of community formation, democratic
participation, and theories of social change. He is also a creative writer, interested
in place-based nonfiction, the personal essay, braided narrative, and humor.
Publications and Media Placements
“The Year in Conferences—2019.” Co-authored with Brianne Dayley, Mariah Crilley, Adam Fales, Genevieve Freese, Bill Hunt, J. Laurence Cohen, Michelle Dostal, Caitlin Duffy, Harry J. Olafsen, Rachel Linnea Brown, Ally Fulton, Jenna Gersie, Kacey Stewart, and Gia Coturri Sorenson. ESQ: A Journal of Nineteenth-Century American Literature and Culture.
“The Joke’s On Me: The Role of Self-Deprecating Humor in Personal Narrative.” Assay: A Journal of Nonfiction Studies.
His personal essays have been featured in Longridge Review, Boston Accent Lit, IDK Magazine, Lime Hawk, Jenny, Hippocampus Magazine, the museum of americana: a literary review, and Prairie Gold: An Anthology of the American Heartland.
Honors and Awards
Harper was awarded a Dissertation Research Award fellowship from the Graduate School at Southern Illinois University Carbondale for the 2018-2019 academic year.