Erica Burleigh

Erica Burleigh is an Associate Professor in the English Department at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. She holds a PhD in English and American Literature from Johns Hopkins University (2005), with prior teaching experience at Gettysburg College. Her research focuses on colonial and antebellum American literature, transatlantic eighteenth-century studies, maritime law, and captivity narratives. Her 2014 book, Intimacy and Family in Early American Writing, explores how writers imagined social and legal bonds across diverse populations.

Education:

• PhD in English and American Literature, Johns Hopkins University (2005)

Her work examines themes such as sovereignty in colonial piracy discourse, incest and race in Catharine Maria Sedgwick's Hope Leslie, and subjectivity in narratives of kidnapping and slavery. Ongoing projects include a study of subjectivity in narratives of slavery, piracy, and captivity.

Professional Interests:

• American and transatlantic literary history
• Maritime and legal studies
• Gender and race in early American texts
• Barbary captivity narratives