Matthew Kaiser

Matthew Kaiser is Professor of English at the University of California, Merced, specializing in nineteenth-century British literature and culture, comedy studies, gender and sexuality studies, LGBTQ+ literatures, and neurodiversity studies.

His educational background includes a doctorate in Literatures in English from Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, completed in 2004.

Professor Kaiser's research interests span multiple interdisciplinary fields with particular focus on Victorian literature, comedy studies, and LGBTQ+ literatures. His work often intersects with studies of gender, sexuality, and neurodiversity, examining how these concepts interacted in nineteenth-century British culture. He approaches literary texts through multiple theoretical lenses, bringing contemporary perspectives to historical works while maintaining scholarly rigor.

His publications demonstrate a consistent focus on Victorian literature and culture, with particular attention to concepts of play, comedy, and aestheticism. His scholarly output includes monographs, translations, and edited collections that collectively contribute to our understanding of nineteenth-century literary and cultural history.

• Stanford Humanities Center External Faculty Fellowship (2013-14)
• Donald Gray Prize from NAVSA (2012) for his journal article 'Pater's Mouth'

Before joining UC Merced in 2014, Professor Kaiser taught literary and cultural studies at Rutgers University, Harvard University, Fudan University, and Shanghai International Studies University in China. His teaching portfolio includes courses in nineteenth-century literature, Victorian authors, Crime and Horror, and literature and sexuality. Currently, he is working on a book-length study of Oscar Wilde's anti-eugenic aestheticism, which promises to make significant contributions to Victorian studies and queer theory.