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I'm a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of English and Comparative Literature at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. My research focuses on early modern literature, women's literacies, book history, and digital humanities.
For more about me, check out my CV here.
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Mary Learner
Ph.D. Candidate
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Email:
Twitter:
@marylearner
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EDUCATION
2013-Present
Doctorate Degree
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Ph.D. in English Literature
Dissertation: Material Sampling and Patterns of Thought in Early Modern England
2010-2012
Master of Arts
University of South Carolina
M.A. in English Literature
2006-2010
Bachelor of Arts
University of South Carolina
Honors College
B.A. in English and Psychology
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CURRENT PROJECTS
Material Sampling and Patterns of Thought in
Early Modern England
My dissertation project explores sampling as an epistemologial mode in the seventeenth century, and considers how samples and patterns are essential to material typically associated with women's literacies, but are also foundational to early Royal Society experiments.
Shakespeare and Early Modern Ballads: Seeking Resonances of the Popular
Ballads surrounded early modern people: broadsides with woodcuts hung over mantles in the home and on the walls of taverns, and neighbors, ballad hawkers, and friends sang familiar tunes. This project uses text analysis software to analyze short strings of matching text between ballads and Shakespeare's plays in an attempt to hear drama as a seventeenth century audience member might have. Check out a short video on the prototype of the digital edition I am developing here.
Syllabus Design Group
With PhD candidates Kenneth Lota and Anneke Schwob, and Dr. Rae Yan, I have been working on a collection of syllabi for undergraduate courses related to literature. To access our materials, click here.
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
First-Year Composition
Shakespeare
Introduction to British Literature:
Medieval to 18th Century