Ashley Barnes

Ashley Barnes is an Associate Professor of Literature at the University of Texas at Dallas, affiliated with the Harry W. Bass Jr. School of Arts, Humanities, and Technology. She holds a PhD from UC-Berkeley (2012) and an M.A.T. from UNC-Chapel Hill (2000). Her research focuses on the intersections of 19th-century American literature with religious discourse, secularism, and literary criticism's professionalization. Current projects explore how literary studies adopted methodologies from Spiritualism and magic to establish academic legitimacy.

Her work bridges historical analysis with contemporary ethical questions about literary interpretation. Notable publications include Love and Depth in the American Novel from Stowe to James (2020) and recent articles on Thoreau, Melville, and Henry James. Barnes emphasizes the importance of maintaining critical distance while engaging with texts' spiritual and moral dimensions.

Her recent scholarship investigates the co-development of secularism and modernist aesthetics, arguing that literary criticism's professionalization drew from magical and mediumistic practices. This work recontextualizes authors like James and Melville to challenge current academic standards.