I’m a writer and assistant professor of English at Macalester College. I teach courses on modern and contemporary British and Irish literature, visual & material culture, and modernism.
I’m currently writing my first book project, Crafting Modernity, which looks at how women authors have taken up art-making as a way to creatively—and materially—oppose inequality and violence. This research on craft has taken me on a range of adventures, from shadowing a traditional bobbin lacemaker on the Isle of Wight to being 3-D scanned and printed to sitting for a tintype portrait to combing through modernist needlework collections. In both my teaching research, I deepen approaches to cultural criticism by moving between real and imaginary worlds, which I understand as a feminist research method looking to bring new archives, voices, and experiences to light.
I grew up in Arkansas and did a B.A. in English and Darkroom Photography at Hendrix College—an innovative, small liberal arts college with a strong focus on experiential learning and grassroots activism. Then, I headed to the Shenandoah Valley where I earned an M.A. in English from the University of Virginia. I also attended the Rare Book School, studying book history and archival pedagogy. Then, I moved to the vibrant city of Atlanta, where I did my Ph.D. in English at Emory University.
Contact Me:
aelkins@macalester.edu
Macalester Faculty Page
Curriculum Vitae
