Ryan Furlong

Ryan Furlong is an Assistant Professor of English at Crown College, affiliated with the School of Liberal Arts + Education and the Humanities + Social Science Department. His academic work bridges literature, history, and cultural studies.

• Ph.D. in English, The University of Iowa (2021)
• M.A. in English, The University of Iowa (2019)
• B.A. in English and History with Secondary Education, University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire (2014)

His research focuses on African Diaspora writers, African American literary cultures, indigenous oratures, and colonial/nineteenth-century American letters. He explores secular modernity, religious identity, human personhood, and racial/ethnic dynamics through eclectic literary lenses—from classical texts like Virgil’s Aeneid to contemporary artists like Chance the Rapper and Taylor Swift. His teaching in Crown College’s Honors Program connects literature with philosophy, theology, history, and anthropology.

His articles examine antislavery politics, ethnic identity in 19th-century narratives, and secular covenantal thought, reflecting a transatlantic and interdisciplinary approach to American and diasporic literatures. He is currently developing a book proposal titled 'The Godforsaken Slave: Black Doubt and the Problem of Evil in American Antislavery Literature, 1760-1865.'