Thomas Herron

Thomas Herron is a Professor in the English Department at East Carolina University (ECU). His research focuses on early modern poet Edmund Spenser, Irish plantation history, and connections to figures like Sir Walter Raleigh and Thomas Harriot. He also specializes in Shakespeare, medieval and early modern Irish history, archaeology, and literature surveys. Herron earned a B.A. from Carleton College, followed by an M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

His publications include the monograph Spenser’s Irish Work: Poetry, Plantation and Colonial Reformation (2007), co-edited volumes on Ireland in the Renaissance, and articles in journals such as Spenser Review and South Atlantic Review. He co-curated the Folger Shakespeare Library exhibit Nobility and Newcomers in Renaissance Ireland (2013) and edited the journal Explorations in Renaissance Culture.

Teaching interests span Spenser, Shakespeare, Milton, Joyce, and Irish literature. He has developed courses on Renaissance literature, literary surveys, and digital humanities projects like Centering Spenser, a resource reconstructing Kilcolman Castle. His work integrates historical archaeology with literary analysis, emphasizing colonial dynamics and cultural memory.