Jennifer Rhee

Jennifer Rhee is an Associate Professor and Director of the MA in English program at Virginia Commonwealth University. She holds a PhD in Literature from Duke University and a BA in English from Princeton University, focusing on intersections between literature, science, and technology.

• Education
  • PhD, Program in Literature, Duke University
  • BA, English, Princeton University

Her research examines artificial intelligence and robotics through lenses of race, gender, and labor, particularly how visions of "humanness" shape these technologies. She connects AI discourses to speculative fiction and art, with expertise in feminist science and technology studies, critical AI studies, and ecocritical media studies.

Key publications include The Robotic Imaginary (2018) and contributions to The Palgrave Handbook of Twentieth- and Twenty-First Century Literature and Science (2020). Her recent work explores automated care labor ethics and facial recognition technology's historical implications.

• Scientific Awards
  • Residential Fellowship, Humanities Research Center (2022–23)
  • ACLS Fellowship (2019–20)
  • First Book Institute Fellowship (2015)
  • Postdoctoral Fellowships at Emory (2013–14) and Penn State (2011–12)

Rhee teaches speculative fiction, contemporary American literature, and ENGL 301. She mentors graduate students exploring literary-science intersections and AI analysis through humanities frameworks. Her work bridges speculative fiction studies with critical AI discourses, emphasizing ethical and sociocultural implications.