Laura Selph
Education
- Ph.D. in Comparative Literature, University of Oregon
- M.A. in Philosophy, Northwestern University
- B.A. in Philosophy and English, Trinity University
Research Interests
Postcolonial literature and theory, Anglophone and francophone Caribbean literature, performance studies, the construction of national and diasporic identities, and transnational feminism and women’s writing.
Background and Teaching Philosophy
I began my own academic career as a student of nineteenth-century continental philosophy, but life experiences led me away from graduate school to teach at secondary schools in Zimbabwe and Cameroon, and at a tribal college in the Navajo Nation. These experiences eventually led me back to school in order to pursue studies in postcolonial literature and theory. I’ve had the privilege of living and thinking across a variety of cultural and disciplinary boundaries, and these experiences have informed my approach to teaching literature. I want my students to understand the ways in which postcolonial writers are engaging in a conversation of global scope that touches on a wide range of political and cultural issues. I organize my courses conceptually and introduce contemporary debates in postcolonial studies, inviting students into dialogue with a variety of texts that take up, complicate, and enrich current debates around globalization, diaspora, national identity, and indigenous resistance. Through close reading, and a lot of discussion and writing, I hope that students come to find their own place in that conversation as well.