معرفی
Professor Emma G. Brush is a faculty member at Amherst College with dual expertise in literature and law. She holds a Ph.D. in English from Stanford University (2025) and a J.D. from Stanford Law School (2024), complemented by an M.A. in Humanities from the University of Chicago (2015) and a B.A. in English from Dartmouth College (2013).
Her research focuses on:
- The intersection of African American literary expression and American legal traditions
- Constitutional arguments of American abolitionists from founding period through Reconstruction
- Historical development of the concept of 'public' in 19th-century America
- Privatization of American space and continuation of race-based segregation
Professor Brush is currently developing two major book projects: Read It Plain: American Abolition and the Ordinary Meaning of Constitutional Law, which examines abolitionist influence on constitutional interpretation, and American Public, which traces the legal, cultural, and environmental history of 'public' concepts. Her work asks critical questions about the meaning of 'public' in the 21st century, who it should include, and where it persists.
Her teaching spans race, place, law, and culture with specific focus on:
- Racial segregation and theories of race/ethnicity
- Abolitionism and contemporary social movements
- Theories and methods of constitutional interpretation
- Local government and environmental law
