Dr. April Alliston

Biography

Prof. Alliston works mainly at the intersections of fields such as eighteenth-century studies, gender studies, and the history and theory of the novel. Her ongoing study explores the relationship between European gender conventions and the origins of the modern novel, arguing that the early novel, while affirming Enlightenment individualism, connects with new philosophical skepticism about the interiority of experience and the archaic social anxieties surrounding female fidelity. She is currently working on a biography of James Fenimore Cooper and has co-authored works with Pamela J. Schirmeister from Yale University. Support for her research has included fellowships awarded by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the American Council of Learned Societies, the National Humanities Center, the Rockefeller Foundation, the American Antiquarian Society, and the Old Dominion Professorship at Princeton University Council of Humanities.

Research Interests