Helen Thompson

Helen Thompson is a Professor of English at Northwestern University’s Weinberg College of Arts & Sciences, affiliated with the Gender & Sexuality Studies Program. She holds a B.A. in English and Chemistry from Amherst College, an M.A. in The Writing Seminars from Johns Hopkins University, and a Ph.D. from Duke University. Her research integrates eighteenth-century literature with philosophy, science history, and feminist theory.

Thompson’s work explores intersections between literature and science, notably in her books Fictional Matter (2017) and Ingenuous Subjection (2005). She co-organizes the Newberry Library’s Eighteenth Century Seminar and serves on the Eighteenth-Century Studies advisory board. Her teaching spans eighteenth-century British literature, second-wave feminism, and science fiction. Awards include the 2016 E. LeRoy Hall Teaching Award and 2015 Faculty Honor Roll recognition.

Her research interests include narrative theory, the history of chemistry, and gender studies. Current projects involve alchemical secrets and British literary modernity (1650–1740). Courses taught range from Boyle to Jane Austen, emphasizing interdisciplinary approaches.