Austin Bailey

Austin Bailey is a Lecturer in the Department of English at Hunter College (School of Arts and Sciences), where he specializes in Nineteenth-century American literature and culture, with a focus on philosophy and literature, transcendentalism, and affect theory. His current book project, American Becomings: Ontology as Critique in the Nineteenth Century, explores how American authors used ontological thinking to challenge sociopolitical norms, incorporating Henri Bergson and Gilles Deleuze to trace a prehistory of the virtual in American literary thought.

• PhD, The Graduate Center, CUNY (2025)
• M.Phil., The Graduate Center, CUNY
• MA in English, Hunter College, CUNY
• BA in English, Hunter College, CUNY

Austin’s research bridges literary theory and pedagogical innovation, particularly through ungrading and care-centered pedagogies. His recent scholarship examines student-centered assessment, inclusive classroom practices, and intersections between pragmatism, continental philosophy, and critical pedagogy. He has presented extensively on these topics, including at the Thoreau Society, MLA Annual Convention, and CUNY Graduate Center.

Austin’s teaching portfolio includes first-year writing courses (English 120/220), American literature surveys (English 307), and specialized courses like Literary Theory (English 306) and Nineteenth-Century American Women Writers (English 319). He chairs the Emerson Society’s awards committee and serves on the Thoreau Society’s Board of Trustees, emphasizing ethics of care and democratic values in both scholarship and pedagogy.

• Research Grant, Ralph Waldo Emerson Society (2020)
• Honorarium, Teaching and Learning Center, Graduate Center (2019)
• FITT Grant, Hunter College (2015)
• Norman Knox Award, Hunter College (2014)
• Helen Grey Cone Fellowship, Hunter College (2014)

Austin collaborates with ACERT (Hunter’s faculty development center) to promote ungrading and has delivered workshops on alternative assessment practices and transformative pedagogy. His work reflects a commitment to process over product and care-centered teacher-student relations, aligning with his research on affective learning and pedagogical theory.