Laura Dassow Walls (born Laura Dassow in

Ketchikan, Alaska Ketchikan ( ; tli, Kichx̱áan) is a city in and the borough seat of the Ketchikan Gateway Borough of Alaska. It is the state's southeasternmost major settlement. Downtown Ketchikan is a National Historic District. With a population at the 20 ...

) is an American professor of English literature and currently the William P. and Hazel B. White Professor of English at the University of Notre Dame.

Areas of research

Walls has researched the intersections of literature and science in the works of

Ralph Waldo Emerson Ralph Waldo Emerson (May 25, 1803April 27, 1882), who went by his middle name Waldo, was an American essayist, lecturer, philosopher, abolitionist, and poet who led the transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century. He was seen as a champ ...

, Henry David Thoreau,

Alexander von Humboldt Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander von Humboldt (14 September 17696 May 1859) was a German polymath, geographer, naturalist, explorer, and proponent of Romantic philosophy and science. He was the younger brother of the Prussian minister, ...

and related authors. She specializes in

American Transcendentalism Transcendentalism is a philosophical movement that developed in the late 1820s and 1830s in New England. "Transcendentalism is an American literary, political, and philosophical movement of the early nineteenth century, centered around Ralph Wald ...

—especially Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson, transatlantic

romanticism Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic, literary, musical, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century, and in most areas was at its peak in the approximate ...

, literature and science, and environmental literature and

ecocriticism Ecocriticism is the study of literature and ecology from an interdisciplinary point of view, where literature scholars analyze texts that illustrate environmental concerns and examine the various ways literature treats the subject of nature. It wa ...

. Books authored * * * * Books edited * * *

Awards and degrees

Walls received the University of South Carolina’s Russell Research Award in spring 2010. She won the

Merle Curti Award The Merle Curti Award is awarded annually by the Organization of American Historians for the best book in American social and/or American intellectual history. It is named in honor of Merle Curti Merle Eugene Curti (September 15, 1897 – March ...

for best book in American intellectual history by the Organization of American Historians in April 2010. She received a Guggenheim Fellowship in May 2010. In October 2010, she won the Michelle Kendrick Memorial Book Award for the best book in literature and science by the

Society for Literature, Science and the Arts The Society for Literature, Science, and the Arts (SLSA) is a United States-based academic organization whose members "share an interest in problems of science and representation, and in the cultural and social dimensions of science, technology, ...

. Walls received the Modern Language Association’s James Russell Lowell Prize for her book, ''The Passage to Cosmos: Alexander von Humboldt and the Shaping of America,'' on January 7, 2011, at the MLA’s annual convention. She has been awarded the 2012 Ralph Waldo Emerson Society Distinguished Achievement Award. She studied at

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattl ...

earning a B.A. for English/Creative Writing in 1976 and an M.A. for English in 1978. She earned a Ph.D. from

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universi ...

in American Literature in 1992. Before going to University of South Carolina, she taught at Indiana University and

Lafayette College Lafayette College is a private liberal arts college in Easton, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1826 by James Madison Porter and other citizens in Easton, the college first held classes in 1832. The founders voted to name the college after General Laf ...

. Professor Walls joined the Notre Dame faculty in fall 2011 as the William P. and Hazel B. White Professor of English. She succeeds Gerald Bruns, who retired from Notre Dame in 2008 and inaugurated the William P. and Hazel B. White Professor of English chair.

References

External links

Laura Dassow Walls
{{DEFAULTSORT:Walls, Laura Dassow Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American literary critics Women literary critics People from Ketchikan, Alaska University of Washington alumni Indiana University alumni Indiana University faculty Lafayette College faculty University of South Carolina faculty University of Notre Dame alumni American women critics