Elizabeth Dinneny, PhD

Instructor, Dornsife Writing Program, University of Southern California

Currently

Faculty in the Dornsife Writing Program at the University of Southern California

Research Interests

late 19th-21st century U.S. literature, queer and trans materialisms, real estate history, phenomenology, affect studies, racial capitalism, digital humanities, queer book history

Education

PhD, English Language and Literature

• University of Maryland, College Park
• Dissertation: “Schematic Bodies: Housing, Status Property, and Sexuality in U.S. Literature”
• Graduate Certificate in Critical Theory
• Graduate Certificate in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies

BA, English and Religious Studies

• Rhodes College

Teaching

2025-present Instructor, Dornsife Writing Program, University of Southern California, Capital Campus

• Advanced Writing for the Social Sciences (WRIT340).
• Writing and Critical Reasoning–Globalization: Current Issues and Cross-Cultural Perspectives (WRIT150).

2020-2025 Graduate Student Instructor, Department of English, University of Maryland, College Park

• Dickinson Electronic Archives Digital Humanities Internship (ENGL388D).
• Reading Women Writing (ENGL265).
• Fantasy Literature (ENGL256).
• LGBTQ+ Literatures and Media (ENGL265/LGBT265).
• Academic Writing (ENGL101).

Publications

with Jeannette Schollaert, “The Cather Archive and the Dickinson Electronic Archives in the Classroom: Lessons, Activities, and Reflections for Exploring Digital Archives of Women Writers.” The Oxford Handbook of Willa Cather, ed. Emily J. Rau. Oxford University Press, 2027 (forthcoming).

“'But This is My Own Maze': Disorientation and Postwar Anxieties in Shirley Jackon's The Sundial.” Critical Insights: Shirley Jackson. ed. Joseph Michael Sommers. Salem Press, 2026 (forthcoming).

co-edited with Martha Nell Smith, “Susan Dickinson's Travel Journals: 1895 and 1902.” Dickinson Electronic Archives. eds. Martha Nell Smith and Marta Werner. Forthcoming.

HIV/AIDS and Public Broadcasting. American Archive of Public Broadcasting. December 2024.

co-written with Jeannette Schollaert, "The Ghosts of Emily Dickinson: Hauntings in Popular Culture." Dickinson Electronic Archives. eds. Martha Nell Smith and Marta Werner, 2021.

Paper Presentations (selected)

with Jeannette Schollaert. “Student Transcription, Archival Authority, and the Dickinson Electronic Archives.” Revolutions and Reflections: A Conference for Editing and Recovery Practitioners. eLaboratories, Center for Digital Editing. Charlottesville, VA, August 2026.

“Versions and Eras: Imagining Celebrity with Dickinson and Swift.” Emily Dickinson International Society Annual Conference, online, July 2026.

“‘But This is My Own Maze’: Disorientation and Postwar Anxiety in Shirley Jackson's The Sundial." American Literature Association Annual Conference. Chicago, IL, May 2026.

“‘I Could Love Differently’: Poetics of Queer Intimacy in Late Capitalism.” Northeast Modern Language Association Conference. Philadelphia, PA, March 2025.

“'Two People to Take Care Of’: A Phenomenology of Spectral Identity in Patricia Highsmith's The Talented Mr. Ripley.” Mid-Atlantic Popular & American Culture Association. Philadelphia, PA, November 2023.

“History, Disinterred: Ghosts and Historical (Re)vision in Joy Harjo’s ‘New Orleans.’” Popular Culture / American Culture Association in the South Conference. New Orleans, LA, September 2023.

“‘Christ…I Wish’: Queer Encounters with Patricia Highsmith’s The Price of Salt.” Queer Bibliography: Tools, Methods, Practices, Approaches. University of London, UK, February 2023.

“History, Disinterred: Autobiography as Historical (Re)vision in Joy Harjo’s ‘New Orleans.’” GEO Conference. University of Maryland, College Park, MD, 2022.

Invited Talks and Events

“‘Lust, Degradation and Debauchery’: Lesbian Pulp and Fictional Identities.” Presented to Dylan Lewis’ LGBTQ+ Literatures and Media course at the University of Maryland, College Park, 2023.

“Antiracism and Graduate Education: Commitments and Challenges.” Panelist. University of Maryland, College Park, MD, 2022.

“The AIDS Epidemic and Public Broadcasting, 1981-2001.” Junior Fellows Program Display Day, Library of Congress, 2022.

Digital Archives Experience

2026 Associate Project Manager, Dickinson Electronic Archives

2020-2025 Project Manager, Dickinson Electronic Archives

2024 Consultant, Recovery Hub for American Women Writers

2022 Junior Fellow, Library of Congress

Fellowships and Awards

2026 Carl Bode Dissertation Prize, University of Maryland Department of English

2023 Graduate School Summer Research Fellowship, University of Maryland

2022 ARHU Summer Fellowship, University of Maryland

2021 Departmental Summer Research Fellowship, University of Maryland Department of English

2019 Cynthia Marshall Award, Rhodes College

2019 Religious Studies Award, Rhodes College

Service

2026 WRIT150 Hiring Committee, USC Capital Campus

2024 Facilitator, Lavender Lounge, University of Maryland

2023-current Volunteer Transcriber, By the People, Library of Congress

2021-2022 Founding Advisor, Gaysians at UMD, University of Maryland

2020-2021 Secretary, Graduate English Organization, University of Maryland

Professional Development

2024-2025 Inclusive Classroom Dynamics Learning Community, University of Maryland

2020 Affect Theory Reading Group, University of Maryland

2019-2020 Critical Theory Colloquium, University of Maryland

Last updated: July 2026 / GitHub