Jayne

I’m a fifth-year PhD candidate in the English Department. My dissertation, Freedom's Fluctuations: Queer Affect and Contemporary Fiction, turns to the contemporary American novel in order to reimagine what queer freedom means in the present. Working across literary criticism, queer studies, trans theories, feminist studies, political theory, and moral philosophy, I redescribe freedom as a dynamic, relational, and affective state, negotiated with others and with particular importance for trans and queer life.

 

I am a copyeditor for New Literary History. From 2021-2022, I was a Graduate Fellow in the John L. Nau III History and Principles of Democracy Lab, as well as President of the Graduate English Students Association.

 

Before coming to UVa, I received my BA in English at Oklahoma Christian University (2017), graduating summa cum laude and as an Honors Fellow, and winning a Dean's Award and the award for Outstanding English Major. In 2020, I earned my MA in English from Georgetown University. My master's thesis, which I defended with distinction, focused on the intersections of contemporary literary realism, gay masculinity, and queer theories of utopia.