Kirstyn Leuner

Kirstyn Leuner is an Associate Professor in the Department of English at Santa Clara University, part of the College of Arts and Sciences. She specializes in British literature of the long eighteenth century, Digital Humanities (DH), women’s writing, and Romanticism. As Director of The Stainforth Library of Women’s Writing, she leads projects recovering 19th-century women’s literary histories through interdisciplinary methodologies combining literary analysis, feminist theory, DH, and book history. Her research also explores media archaeology, pedagogy, and prison writing archives.

Leuner earned her Ph.D. in English Literature from the University of Colorado Boulder and completed a Postdoctoral Fellowship in Dartmouth College’s Neukom Institute for Computational Science. She teaches courses in letterpress printing, book history, and digital humanities, emphasizing experiential learning. Her work bridges traditional literary studies with modern digital practices, advocating for recovery scholarship to diversify canonical narratives.

Recent initiatives include co-editing Lever Press’s Re-Editions Series, editing Romantic Circles Pedagogies volumes, and cataloging zines by incarcerated women. She has organized events like the “Resistance in the Materials” conference and led workshops on antiracism in DH. Leuner’s projects often involve student collaboration, such as digitizing prison writings and editing the Stainforth Library catalog, highlighting community engagement and pedagogical innovation.