Kristen “Krissy” Egan

BS, Le Moyne College; MA, State University of New York at Courtland; PhD, Loyola University

It was the tedious prospect of counting microscopic asbestos fibers that led Kristen Egan, then a recent biology grad, to change course and return to school for her PhD in English. Fortunately, Egan was able to put her scientific background to use for her doctoral dissertation, in which she analyzed texts to examine the relationship between race and nature in 19th century America.

Kristen Egan, assistant professor of English, teaches courses in American Literature, African-American Literature, Literature and the Environment, and writing.  She previously taught at Le Moyne College and Loyola University Chicago.  She has an interdisciplinary background, earning her doctorate in English from Loyola University Chicago, her M.A. in English from the State University of New York (SUNY) at Cortland, and a B.S. in Biology from Le Moyne College.  She specializes in nineteenth century American literature, focusing on nature, race, and identity.  Her dissertation, Infectious Agents: Race and Environment in Nineteenth-Century America, examines the mutual constructions of space and race in America across the long nineteenth century. She has an article forthcoming in Women’s Studies Quarterly entitled “Conservation and Cleanliness: Racial and Environmental Purity in Ellen Richards and Charlotte Perkins Gilman.”