Imogen Forbes-Macphail

Imogen Forbes-Macphail is an Assistant Professor at the University of California, Davis, specializing in the interdisciplinary intersections of nineteenth-century British poetry and mathematical thought. Her current book project, Line and Number: Formal Problems in Nineteenth-Century Poetry and Mathematics, examines how Victorian poets and mathematicians engaged with analogous formal challenges.

• Victorian Poetry Caucus Representative, North American Victorian Studies Association
• Co-Editor (with Anna Henchman), Special Issue of Nineteenth-Century Gender Studies on women’s writing and scientific knowledge production (“Longing to Know”)

Research Focus: Forbes-Macphail’s work bridges literary formalism and historical scientific methodologies, particularly exploring topics like computational proof, topological poetics, and the mysticism inherent in Victorian-era mathematical and poetic discourse. Her interdisciplinary approach highlights how mathematical concepts influenced poetic structures and vice versa.

Scientific Contributions: Her publications span analyses of the Four-Color Theorem, Ada Lovelace’s literary-scientific legacy, and the gendered dynamics of 19th-century knowledge production. Key trends include the aestheticization of mathematical rigor, the role of formalism in shaping Victorian intellectual paradigms, and crossdisciplinary epistemological inquiries.

• Honorable Mention, “Expanding the Field” Essay Prize, Northeast Victorian Studies Association (2022)
• Susan Morgan Graduate Student Essay Prize, Interdisciplinary Nineteenth-Century Studies (2019)
• Sally Mitchell Prize, North American Victorian Studies Association (2018)
• Honorable Mention, Susan Morgan Graduate Student Essay Prize (2018)
• Sussex-Samuel Prize, Australasian Universities Language and Literature Association (2013)

Forbes-Macphail’s teaching includes courses such as ENL 164: Writing Science Publications, emphasizing the synthesis of scientific and literary communication. She previously held a Junior Fellowship at the Harvard Society of Fellows (2022–25), underscoring her prominence in Victorian studies.