Meet the CALS Staff
Director of the Center for American Literary Studies and Associate Professor of English
Director of the Center for American Literary Studies and Associate Professor of English
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CALS Spotlight
Congratulations to Michael Anesko: Volume 19 of The Complete Letters of Henry James has received the MLA Approved Edition Seal. Well done, Michael!
On June 2, 2025, current doctoral student Carmin Wong was announced as the inaugural Poet Laureate of State College. In this position, Wong will serve the community by promoting the consumption and creation of poetry in State College.
Additionally, Wong was featured in the 2025 Shirley Graham Du Bois Creative-in-Residence. Her showcase, "Them Poems Along Won't Save Us' was featured online by the Academy of American Poets and broadcast on WBUR.
Working with Girls Write Now as a 2025 Teaching Artist, Carmin Wong, was interviewed by the organization she has been a part of for over ten years.
Congratulations, Carmin, on all of your accomplishments!
Yolanda Mackey-Barkers has accepted a position as an assistant professor of African American Literature and Culture at Stony Brook University. She graduated in Spring 2025. Her dissertation is titled, "The Black Renaissance and the Radical Politics of Black Print Culture, 1915-1945" and was directed by Xiaoye You. Congratulations, Yolanda, on this job market success!
Andrew Erlandson, a past recipient of a CALS research seminar funding award, has accepted a tenure-track job offer from the English and Philosophy Department at Del Mar College in Corpus Christi, Texas. Andrew’s dissertation, “Disabled Democracy: Figuring Disability in Earth Nineteenth-Century Literary and Political Discourses,” was directed by Chris Castiglia. Congratulations, Andrew, on the job market success!
Rebecca Haddaway has accepted a tenure-track position in early American literature at Middle Tennessee State University. She graduated in Fall of 2023. Her research centers on abolition and medical discourse in early America and her dissertation was co-directed by Claire Colebrook and Carla Mulford. Congratulations, Rebecca, on this great job market success!
Courtney Murray Ross has accepted a tenure-track position as Assistant Professor in English at James Madison University. She graduated this spring with her PhD in English and African American Studies. Her research centers on Black women, reproduction, and space in nineteenth-century African-American literature and her dissertation was co-directed by Michael Bérubé and Gabrielle Foreman. Congratulations, Courtney, on this great job market success!