Dr. Helen Thompson

Biography

Thompson’s articles have appeared in Eighteenth-Century Studies, ELH, Eighteenth Century: Theory and Interpretation, and Eighteenth-Century Fiction, among numerous edited collections. She is currently working on a project entitled 'Transmuting Forms: Alchemical Secrets in British Literary Modernity, 1650 – 1740.' She co-organizes the Eighteenth Century Seminar at the Newberry Library in Chicago, and has served on the Advisory Board of the journal Eighteenth-Century Studies since July 2017. As an affiliate of the Gender & Sexuality Studies Program at Northwestern, Thompson teaches a lecture class on second-wave feminism from the 1960s and 70s (GSS 231: Feminism and Cultural Critique) and a course on utopian and dystopian science fiction. In the English Department, she teaches a variety of courses in eighteenth-century literature, including works by Boyle and Jane Austen. She was placed on the Associated Student Government Faculty Honor Roll in Spring 2015 and received the E. LeRoy Hall Award for Excellence in Teaching from the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences in Spring 2016. Her specializations include Gender & Sexuality Studies, Early Modern Literature, 18th-century & Romantic Literature, Narrative & Narrative Theory, Science, Technology & Society Studies, and Critical Theory.

Research Interests