Peter Schmidt

Peter Schmidt is the William R. Kenan, Jr., Professor of English Literature at Swarthmore College, with cross-appointments in Environmental Studies and Black Studies. He teaches courses in U.S. literature and literary and cultural history, with a particular focus on fiction and poetry in the twentieth century.

His research interests span U.S. literature, critical race studies, ecopoetry, and postcolonial theory. Schmidt's current work centers on contemporary fiction and poetry (particularly from the 1960s onward) and their implications for understanding family, nation, and cosmopolitanism. He is completing a book titled Upcycling Ecopoetry, which explores how poetry can contribute to ecological thinking and community-making in the age of climate crisis.

Schmidt's publications include Sitting in Darkness: New South Fiction, Education, and the Rise of Jim Crow Colonialism, 1865-1920 (2008), Making and Unmaking Whiteness in Early New South Fiction After the Civil War (2012), and The Heart of the Story: Eudora Welty's Short Fiction (1991), which won the C. Hugh Holman Award for Southern Literary Criticism. His most recent scholarly activity focuses on the intersection of poetry, environmental crisis, and social justice.

His teaching portfolio includes regular courses such as English 009H 'Portraits of the Artist,' English 52A 'U.S. Fiction 1900-1950,' English 52B 'U.S. Fiction 1945 to the Present,' and English 53 'Modern American Poetry,' along with occasional offerings like 'The Lyric Poem in English' and 'The Short Story in the U.S.'

Schmidt has won recognition for his scholarship, most notably the C. Hugh Holman Award. His recent blog posts and academic writing demonstrate his commitment to exploring how literature, particularly poetry, can address contemporary crises of climate change and social inequality.

As an educator at Swarthmore College, Schmidt has taught for over forty years, noting that many of his courses have been cross-listed with Black Studies or Environmental Studies. He has taught numerous first-generation students and students of color, observing how literature classes provide spaces for students to explore new perspectives and challenge dominant narratives.