Jane Grogan

Jane Grogan is a Professor in the School of English, Drama and Film at University College Dublin (UCD), where she has been a faculty member since September 2008. She previously held teaching and post-doctoral positions at the University of Leeds, Pennsylvania State University, and NUI Galway. Her academic leadership includes serving as Deputy Head of School (2019–2024) and Vice-President for Research, Innovation and Impact in the College of Arts and Humanities (2016–2017). She is currently Honorary Chair of the Society for Renaissance Studies and previously served as President of the International Spenser Society (2016–2018).

Research Interests: Her primary research areas include English Renaissance literature, especially the works of Edmund Spenser; Renaissance classicism and the reception of Greek literature; epic and romance; and global Renaissance studies, particularly European cultural relations with the Middle East and the Mediterranean. She is deeply engaged with questions of cultural exchange, reception, and the legacy of Renaissance texts in modern Irish literature.

The most recent publications reflect a sustained focus on early modern epic, classical reception (especially of Herodotus and Xenophon), and the global dimensions of Renaissance literary culture. Her work bridges literary analysis, intellectual history, and postcolonial perspectives, particularly in how Spenser and Shakespeare are reinterpreted in contemporary Irish writing.

Scientific Awards and Honors:

• Colin Clout Prize, International Spenser Society
• Isabel MacCaffrey Prize for best book on Spenser (2009–2010)
• Honourable Mention, Isabel MacCaffrey Prize
• Mayers Fellowship, Huntington Library, California
• Visiting By-Fellowship, Churchill College, Cambridge
• IRCHSS Research Fellowship
• NUI Post-Doctoral Fellowship
• Fulbright Scholarship

Advising and Grants: Professor Grogan supervises PhD students and has led significant research grants, including the UCD ADVANCE PhD CORE Scheme (2019–2023), 'Early Modern Poetry and Performance' (2017–2019), and 'The place of Spenser / Spencer's Places' (2014–2015). She has also served on editorial boards for major journals such as The Spenser Review, Spenser Studies, and Explorations in Renaissance Culture, and is currently co-editing collections on Archipelagic Italian Encounters and epic in a global frame for English Literary Renaissance.

Labs and Research Teams: While no formal lab is associated with her work, she collaborates internationally with scholars such as Iolanda Plescia (La Sapienza) and Anthony Welch (University of Tennessee), and is a key figure in global Renaissance research networks.