Christopher Lukasik

Christopher Lukasik is an Associate Professor in the Department of English at Purdue University, with affiliations in American Studies and the School of Interdisciplinary Studies (SIS). His research focuses on the intersection of American literature, visual culture, and illustration studies in the 18th and 19th centuries, with a particular interest in intermediality and cultural history.

• Ph.D., English, Johns Hopkins University, 2002

His scholarly work examines how visual practices shaped social and political identities, as seen in his monograph Discerning Characters: The Culture of Appearance in Early America (2011). Current research includes The Image in the Text: Intermediality, Illustration, and Nineteenth-Century American Literature, exploring literary annuals' role in developing mass visual culture.

His publications span topics like biometric surveillance in early America, abolitionist visual media, and the pedagogy of drawing books. Articles highlight intermedial relationships between text and image, racial visuality, and the cultural capital of illustration.

Scientific honors include:

• Rockwell Center Society of Fellows (2017-2019)
• Fulbright Specialist Grant (2018)
• NEH Summer Stipend (2016)
• Lillian Gary Taylor Fellowship (2013-14)
• Fulbright Scholar Grant (2009-10)
• NEH Long-Term Research Grant (2004-05)

Lukasik actively participates in academic conferences, including upcoming presentations at SHARP 2025 and SEA 2025. He has also led Fulbright liaison training sessions and symposiums on illustration research.