Kristen Poole

Kristen Poole is the Ned B. Allen Professor of English at the University of Delaware's College of Arts & Sciences. She specializes in early modern literature, with a focus on the intersection of religion, science, and historical thought in the 16th and 17th centuries. Her work spans Shakespeare, Milton, and lesser-known pamphleteers, exploring themes like time perception, theological debates, and environmental ethics.

Education: BA from Carleton College; MA and PhD from Harvard University; STM (Master of Sacred Theology) from United Lutheran Seminary, specializing in historical theology. She has held research fellowships at the Folger Shakespeare Library, Huntington Library, and Penn Humanities Forum.

Research Interests: Early modern theology, history of science, temporal theory, climate ethics, and digital humanities. Her recent publications include analyses of Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials, histories of time periodization, and climate change ethics framed through Christian theology.

Publications & Awards: Award-winning essay on Paradise Lost (James Holly Hanford Award, 2015). Editor of Routledge Resources Online: The Renaissance World. Over a dozen authored/co-edited volumes with Cambridge and Penn Press. Current projects integrate climate ethics with historical theology.

Teaching & Leadership: Courses bridge digital archives and early modern texts. Graduate seminars on Renaissance anatomy, time theory, and allegory. Active in interdisciplinary scholarship and public-facing humanities initiatives.