Elizabeth HodgsonView profile
Professor
Elizabeth Hodgson is a Professor in the Department of English Language and Literatures at the University of British Columbia's Faculty of Arts. Her scholarly focus centers on the English Renaissance, with particular expertise in gender studies, feminist theory, and poetics. She serves as faculty advisor for UBC's PhD Co-op program and has held leadership roles including Associate Head (undergraduate) and Chair of the Honours program. Currently, she is Chief Negotiator for the UBC Faculty Association's collective bargaining team and has served on the Academic Freedom & Tenure Committee of CAUT. Professor Hodgson's educational background includes: BA (English Honours) from the University of British Columbia (1985) MA from the University of Toronto (1987) PhD from Brandeis University in Boston (1992) Hodgson's research examines gender in the cultural histories of early-modern English literature, with a focus on poetry and prose works. Her work intersects feminist theory, historicism, and cultural studies, exploring how gender constructs operate within literary texts. She has published extensively on John Milton, Shakespeare, Aemelia Lanyer, and Katherine Philips, with particular attention to how masculinity and femininity are constructed in Renaissance literature. Her current project, "Beautiful Misogyny: Aesthetics and Masculinism in Renaissance Sonnets and 21st century Songwriting," bridges historical and contemporary analyses of gender representation. Hodgson's scholarly output reveals consistent engagement with gender dynamics in early modern literature, particularly focusing on how masculinity is constructed and performed. Her work spans monographs, journal articles, and book chapters that examine both canonical and marginalized writers. A notable trend is her attention to how spiritual and religious frameworks intersect with gender identities, as seen in her analyses of psalm translations, funeral sermons, and conduct books. Her publications demonstrate interdisciplinary approaches, connecting literary analysis with social history, political theory, and cultural studies. Her notable recognition includes: Winner of the Society for the Study of Early Modern Women's prize for best collaborative project (2017) for "Failed Alliances and Miserable Marriages in Katherine Philips' Letters" Professor Hodgson actively mentors students through research collaborations, supervising projects that explore diverse topics including Cavendish and intellectual history, Shakespeare and Calvinism, Herbert's "The Temple" and Kierkegaard, allegory and spatial theory, Donne's holy sonnets and queerness, Milton's Satanic colonialism, war in Henry V, Erasmus, Spenser, and grammar, and early modern women writers and poetic blackness. As TA Coordinator and faculty advisor for the PhD Co-op program, she has significantly shaped graduate education at UBC. Her leadership extends to union activities as former president of the UBC Faculty Association and current Chief Negotiator for collective bargaining. While specific laboratory information isn't provided, Hodgson participates in various academic networks and projects within the Department of English Language and Literatures. Her work with the UBC Faculty Association and Academic Freedom & Tenure Committee of CAUT demonstrates engagement with broader academic communities. She also contributes to thematic research areas including Gender and Sexuality Studies and Poetry and Poetics, collaborating with colleagues across disciplinary boundaries.
