Meredith Neuman

Meredith Neuman is an Associate Professor in the English Department at Clark University. She specializes in early American literature, book history, and manuscript studies. Her research focuses on Puritan literary practices, including sermon notetaking, manuscript archives, and readers' interactions with print and handwritten texts. She frequently incorporates hands-on workshops with materials from the American Antiquarian Society and Clark’s Special Collections into her teaching.

Education: Ph.D. in English from UCLA (2004), B.A. in Classical Languages and Literature from the University of Chicago (1989).

Her research interests emphasize archival exploration of Puritan culture, such as the Mather family library and early American poetry. She explores how ordinary individuals shaped literary genres through acts like sermon transcription and marginalia. Recent work includes analyzing manuscript poetry and the interplay between print and manuscript cultures.

Her publications span monographs (e.g., Jeremiah’s Scribes), book chapters, and journal articles, often addressing themes like contested sermons, textual desire, and material textual practices. She encourages students to engage directly with primary sources in archives.

Teaching focuses on American literature pre-1860, transatlantic 17th-century literature, and early print culture. She collaborates with institutions like the American Antiquarian Society to foster student archival research.