Ailish Hopper

Ailish Hopper is an Associate Professor of Peace Studies at Goucher College, where she teaches in the Center for Geographies of Justice. Her academic work bridges poetry, social practice, and peace studies, with a focus on self-determination, transformative repair, and non-extractive community-building along racial lines. She maintains an active creative practice while contributing to academic discourse on race, conflict, and social change.

Education:

• MFA, Bennington College (2000)
• B.A., Princeton University (1993)

Hopper's research interests center on the intersection of creative practice and social justice. Her work investigates how relations are created between humans and between humans and the planet, with particular attention to power asymmetries and possibilities for repair. She approaches race relations through what she terms 'rewriting race,' examining America's current state in comparison to historical conflicts like Yugoslavia in the 1990s and Northern Ireland in the 1970s. Her creative methodology often involves 'translucency' - selectively drawing attention to authorship to overturn oppressive power dynamics.

Her publications reveal a consistent engagement with difficult social questions through poetic forms. Rather than offering easy solutions, her work creates spaces for witnessing and connection, as seen in her books Dark~Sky Society (2014) and the chapbook Bird in the Head (2005). Her writing appears in prestigious venues including American Poetry Review, Boston Review, Harvard Review, and Poetry.

Scientific Awards and Fellowships:

• MacDowell Fellowship
• Yaddo Fellowship
• Maryland State Arts Council Fellowship
• Vermont Studio Center Fellowship
• Baltimore Commission for the Arts and Humanities Fellowship

Hopper teaches courses including PCE 335: Future Cities, PCE 305: Peace and Rewriting (Rewriting Race), PCE 242: Social Practice, WRT 415: Advanced Creative Writing Seminar, and ENG 305: Poetry Workshop. Her teaching philosophy emphasizes student agency and community wisdom, reflected in her statement: 'I believe in young people, and in the importance of supporting their agency. I believe in the wisdom of community.'

She maintains an active presence in both academic and artistic communities, with her collaborative projects exploring possibilities for community-building that challenge traditional power structures. Her work demonstrates how creative practice can contribute to peace studies and social transformation.