Elizabeth Dinneny, PhD
Currently
Instructor in the Dornsife Writing Program at the University of Southern California
Reserach 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
- 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 Archive: Models, Lessons, and Activities for Undergraduates Exploring American Women's Archives." The Oxford Handbook to 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
“‘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.
“What’s At Stake: Vampiric Christian Bodies.” Rhodes Symposium. Rhodes College, Memphis, TN, 2019.
“Weird Flex, But OK: Fingering Christ’s Side Wound.” Gender and Sexuality Studies Symposium. Rhodes College, Memphis, TN, 2019.
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
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
2024
Facilitator, Lavender Lounge, University of Maryland
2023-current
Volunteer Transcriber, By the People, Library of Congress
2021-2022
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: May 2026 / GitHub