Desiree Henderson

Dr. Desiree Henderson is a Professor of English and affiliated faculty in Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA), where she serves as Associate Dean of Education in the College of Liberal Arts. She holds a PhD in Literature from the University of California San Diego (2001) with earlier degrees from UC San Diego (MA, 1997) and Occidental College (BA, 1994). Her research focuses on 18th- and 19th-century American literature, life writing, and women’s writing, with particular emphasis on diary studies, feminist criticism, and manuscript culture. She has authored two books, including Grief and Genre in American Literature, 1790-1870 (2011) and How to Read a Diary (2019), and co-edited an upcoming global anthology of short diary fiction.

Dr. Henderson’s work bridges literary analysis with pedagogical innovation, advocating for engaged teaching methods like team-based learning. She has directed UTA’s Women’s & Gender Studies Program (2010–2014) and remains active in professional organizations such as the Society for the Study of American Women Writers and C19: The Society of Nineteenth-Century Americanists. Her grants include Dallas Women’s Foundation awards (2012–2014), a UTA Faculty Research Endowment (2022), and a 2017 College of Liberal Arts Teaching Award. Recent research explores digital diary archives and the intersection of gender, race, and writing materials in early American contexts.