Joshua Phillips

Joshua Phillips is an Associate Professor in the Department of English at the University of Memphis. He specializes in early modern English and European literature (1380-1660), with particular focus on Shakespeare, Spenser, Tudor prose fiction, law-literature intersections, and religion-literature relationships. His research explores post-Reformation monasticism's literary representation and the interplay between religious devotion and literary labor.

Education:

• B.A., Columbia University (1991)
• M.A., University of Chicago (1995)
• Ph.D., University of Chicago (2002)

Research Interests:

• Early modern communal identity and fictional representation
• Monasticism's post-Reformation cultural legacy
• Devotional practices and Tudor literature
• Legal frameworks shaping authorship and intellectual property

His current project examines literature's role in reimagining monastic life after the English Reformation.

Publications Trends: Recent work emphasizes post-Reformation religious spaces, legal immunities, and monasticism's literary echoes. Earlier publications analyze Tudor romance, literary labor, and More's Utopian thought. His 2010 monograph English Fictions of Communal Identity remains central to early modern cultural studies.

Advising and Grants: While no advisees are listed, his research has received support through institutional grants for monasticism studies. He frequently collaborates with medieval/early modern interdisciplinary teams.

Labs/Research Groups: Affiliated with the University of Memphis's early modern literature research cluster, focusing on interdisciplinary approaches to Tudor-Stuart texts.