Natania Meeker

Natania Meeker is an Associate Professor of French and Comparative Literature at the University of Southern California. She holds appointments in the Department of French and Italian and the College of Letters, Arts and Sciences. Her research focuses on radical botany, vegetal ontology, materialisms, feminisms, and Enlightenment studies. She has held leadership roles including Director of Undergraduate Studies in Comparative Literature and twice served as Chair of the Department of French and Italian.

Education: PhD in French Literature and Philosophy from Duke University (2000), BA in Comparative Literature (French and German) from University of Chicago (1993).

Research emphasizes intersections between plant life, feminist theory, and Enlightenment philosophy. Notable works include Radical Botany: Plants and Speculative Fiction (2020) and Voluptuous Philosophy: Literary Materialism in the French Enlightenment (2006). Current projects explore materialist femininity and eighteenth-century thought.

Publications span literary criticism, philosophy, and interdisciplinary studies, with frequent contributions to journals like L’Esprit Créateur and Eighteenth-Century Fiction. Awards include the 2019 Science Fiction & Technoculture Studies Book Prize and multiple teaching awards.

Service includes editorial roles for The Eighteenth Century: Theory and Interpretation, MLA committee memberships, and leadership in early modern studies initiatives. Active in promoting interdisciplinary collaboration and feminist scholarship.