معرفی
Dr Kristen Treen is a Lecturer in American Literature at the School of English, University of St Andrews, where she has been employed since 2018. Her academic journey includes a BA in English from Jesus College, Cambridge (2009), an M.Phil in American Literature (2011), and a PhD (2017) from King's College, Cambridge, completed as a Wolfson Postgraduate Scholar in the Humanities.
Her research explores intersections of 19th-20th century American literature with material culture, Civil War memory, and commemoration. Current projects examine how physical artifacts shape national identity and literary expression, particularly through Civil War remnants. She is preparing her first monograph, States of Destruction: Literature, Material Culture, and the American Civil War, 1861-1905, and developing new work on Reconstruction-era memory politics.
Treen's publications consistently analyze material artifacts as historical vectors, with recent works examining monuments, libraries, and war relics as sites of cultural memory. Her scholarship demonstrates sustained focus on how objects mediate relationships between historical trauma, literary representation, and public commemoration.
Awards & Grants:
- Principal Investigator: 'Histories of hope? Museum Redevelopment at Camp Nelson National Monument' (AHRC Catalyst Award, 2025)
- Principal Investigator: 'Remembering Refugees: Black Civil War Memory and Contemporary Commemoration' (Leverhulme Research Project Grant, 2025)
- Wolfson Postgraduate Scholarship in the Humanities
Research Leadership: She co-founded the 'Commemorative Cultures: American Civil War Monuments Project' - a digital heritage initiative with Dr Jillian Caddell. Current collaborations include partnerships with the U.S. National Park Service at Camp Nelson National Monument. She supervises PhD candidate Mara Curechian and leads summer research teams through the Commemorative Cultures STEP program.
