College of Liberal Arts & Sciences
Kathleen Shaughnessy

Research Interests
19th-Century British Literature, Gothic Studies, Literature and Medicine, Imperial FictionKathleen Shaughnessy is an English Ph.D. candidate who works on themes of the gothic and medical science in 19th-century British literature. Her other areas of research include imperial fiction and gender studies. Kathleen’s dissertation, “Exotic Treatments: The Feminine Fatale and Medical Science in Imperial Gothic (1860-1910),” builds on existing scholarship in how industrial and ecological forces shaped the narrative structures of Victorian fiction. In her time at the University of Iowa, Kathleen has been the recipient of the Humanities for the Public Good Summer Internship, the Digital Studio Summer Fellowship, and the Graduate College Summer Fellowship, and has been published in the Iowa Journal of Cultural Studies.
Before coming to the University of Iowa, Kathleen earned an M.A. in English from the University of New Hampshire. She also holds an M.A. in English from the University of Iowa, and a B.A. in English from the University of Pittsburgh. Kathleen currently holds two positions at the University of Iowa, as an instructor in the General Education in Literature program, and a Writing Center tutor.
Learn more about Kathleen’s work at: https://www.kathleenshaughnessy.com/