Faculty Profiles
Max Chapnick
I study, teach, and write about the intersection between literature, science, and politics. As a literary historian, I am invested in understanding how events of the past influenced literature and vice versa. I am particularly interested in novels written in nineteenth-century Britain and America, but my research covers global concerns, longer time periods, and different genres.
My current book project is called Wild Science: Radical Politics and Rejected Knowledge in Nineteenth-Century Fiction. This book examines how British and American nineteenth-century writers employed pseudo-science—or what I call "rejected knowledge"—to challenge the consolidating power of science and the state. I argue that progressive-minded authors harnessed the discourses of non-traditional sciences (including mesmerism, spiritualism, and African American conjure) to resist the coordination between science and empire.
PhD in English and American literature, Boston University
MA in English and American literature, Boston University
MA in Creative Writing Poetry, Victoria University of Wellington
BS in Physics, Washington and Lee University
BA in English, Washington and Lee University
- Nineteenth Century Fiction
- Victorian Literature
- Early American Literature
- History of Science
- ENLT 362 Contemporary Global Literature: Retelling Classic Novels
- ENLT 151 & 151 W Introduction to Literature: Bad Doctors
For more on my scholarly and public-facing work, please visit my personal website.