Sara Landreth

Sara Landreth is an Associate Professor in the Department of English at the University of Ottawa. She specializes in 18th- and early 19th-century British literature, focusing on aesthetics, literary theory, and embodied kinetic processes. Her research explores how motion and imagery shape literary narratives and social norms. Landreth is affiliated with organizations such as the Northeast American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies (NASSR), the Canadian Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies (CSECS), and the American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies (ASECS).

• Education:
• Ph.D. in English, New York University (2009)
• M.A. in English, New York University (2005)
• B.A. in English, Vassar College (2002)

Her research interests include the Maker Movement, tangible craft’s cultural impact, and the intersection of literature and science. She examines how instructional manuals and 'how-to' guides influenced amateur creators and artists. Landreth’s work challenges traditional notions of selfhood by analyzing embodied movements in literature, such as 'wanton' motion that defies social norms.

Recent publications include Literature and the Aesthetics of Motion in 18th-Century Britain (2025) and contributions to The Cambridge Companion to Eighteenth-Century Thought (2021). Her articles explore topics like pneumatology’s influence on literary aesthetics and John Dennis’s motion imagery.

Landreth supervises graduate students in literary studies and teaches courses such as 18th-Century Black Voices and Science Fiction Then & Now. She emphasizes professionalization and research methods in graduate training.