Amy E. Elkins

Amy E. Elkins is an Associate Professor in the English Department at Macalester College, where she teaches courses on twentieth and twenty-first century literature and interdisciplinary studies with a focus on modernism, visual culture, and experimental writing approaches.

Educational Background:

• Ph.D. from Emory University
• M.A. from University of Virginia
• B.A. from Hendrix College

Professor Elkins specializes in modernist and contemporary literature with intersecting interests in art theory, visual culture, and interdisciplinary approaches. Her research explores the connections between craft practices and feminist theory, queer perspectives on modernism, and the material dimensions of literary production. She approaches literature through multiple media forms, emphasizing the relationship between textual and visual cultures.

Her scholarly publications reveal a consistent engagement with material culture, visual representation, and interdisciplinary methodologies. Elkins' work frequently examines how craft practices intersect with literary production, particularly focusing on women's creative labor, archival practices, and the material conditions of writing. Her research demonstrates a commitment to bridging academic scholarship with public humanities and artistic practice.

Scientific Awards:

• Macalester's Educator of the Year award (2020-2021)
• Fellowship from Yale University's Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library
• Fellowship from Rare Books School
• Fellowship from Fox Center for Humanistic Inquiry

Professor Elkins serves as editor of the queer and feminist theory forum "Orientations" for Modernism/Modernity Print Plus and has been an elected delegate for Women and Gender in the Profession for the Modern Language Association. She actively mentors students in research projects, as evidenced by her collaborative work with advisee Roan O'Neill on "Uncovering Jean McConville: Seamus Heaney's Poetic Cartography of the Disappeared," which received funding from the Mellon Foundation Lifelong Learners program.

As a public humanities scholar, Elkins interviews writers on visual culture for the Los Angeles Review of Books and engages in interdisciplinary conversations that cross the art-scholarship divide, including her podcast discussion with Ocean Vuong for Novel Dialogue. Her current arts practice explores narrative quilt-making, poetry broadsides, medium format photography, and embodied filmmaking.