Jane F. Thrailkill

Jane F. Thrailkill is the Bank of America Honors Term Professor in the Department of English and Comparative Literature at UNC-Chapel Hill. She holds a B.A. from Amherst College, M.A. and Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Thrailkill teaches American literature and health humanities, with affiliations in UNC's School of Medicine and Health Humanities Lab.

Her research explores intersections of literature, philosophy, and medicine, focusing on American literary realism, consciousness studies, and health narratives. Current work examines playful consciousness in social relationships through diverse genres including diaries, ghost stories, and psychology lectures.

Publications demonstrate sustained engagement with medical humanities and neuroscience-literature connections, from 19th century works to contemporary fiction. Recent scholarship addresses aging during pandemics and Darwinian influences on literature.

• North Carolina Board of Governors Teaching Award (2017)
• Multiple Mentoring Awards from Graduate Students in English
• Chapman Family Teaching Award (2013)
• Harvard University Teaching Distinction Award (1999)

Dr. Thrailkill co-directs UNC's Health Humanities Lab and has mentored graduates now faculty at Oxford, Virginia Tech, and other institutions. She co-teaches interdisciplinary courses like 'Healing in Ethnography & Literature' and leads research on illness narratives and resilience in older adults.