Ittai Orr

Ittai Orr is an Assistant Professor in the Department of English Language and Literature at the University of Michigan (U-M), affiliated with the LSA (Literature, Science, and the Arts) school. His research focuses on early American literature, disability studies, and the intersection of neurodiversity with historical narratives of intellectual ability. He is currently working on a book project titled American Intelligences: Varieties of Mind Before IQ, which examines pre-20th-century models of intellectual ability displaced by modern IQ testing.

Education:

• Ph.D., Yale University, 2020
• M.A., Yale University, 2017
• B.A., Columbia University, 2012

Research interests include disability studies, early Native American writing, Atlantic print culture, and the health humanities. He serves as a managing editor of Insurrect!: Radical Thinking in Early American Studies, a public humanities journal. His writing appears in venues such as American Literary History, American Quarterly, and The Washington Post.

Teaching focuses on disability theory, queer and crip theory, and early American literature. He coordinates interdisciplinary courses on disability studies across departments like Architecture, Education, Kinesiology, and Sociology.