Ian Finseth
My scholarly work focuses on the literary history of transatlantic slavery, abolitionism, and the American Civil War, and I have particular research interests in race theory, American religious history, the environmental humanities, and visual culture. My newest book, "The Civil War Dead and American Modernity," will be published by Oxford University Press in January 2018.
I hold an B.A. in English from UC Berkeley, an M.A. in English from the University of Virginia, and a Ph.D. in English from UNC Chapel Hill. My academic career began at Wake Forest University, where I was a Visiting Assistant Professor for 2 years, and at the University of Michigan at Dearborn, where I was an Assistant Professor for 3 years. I came to the University of North Texas in 2007, and earned tenure here in 2010. My promotion to Professor was approved in 2018.
I hold an B.A. in English from UC Berkeley, an M.A. in English from the University of Virginia, and a Ph.D. in English from UNC Chapel Hill. My academic career began at Wake Forest University, where I was a Visiting Assistant Professor for 2 years, and at the University of Michigan at Dearborn, where I was an Assistant Professor for 3 years. I came to the University of North Texas in 2007, and earned tenure here in 2010. My promotion to Professor was approved in 2018.
less
Related Authors
InterestsView All (6)
Uploads
Books by Ian Finseth
The essays explore the social and cultural contexts, the aesthetic and rhetorical techniques, and the political and ideological features of these noncanonical texts. By concentrating on earlier slave narratives not only from the United States but from the Caribbean, South America, and Latin America as well, the volume highlights the inherent transnationality of the genre, illuminating its complex cultural origins and global circulation.
"In this second edition, Ian Finseth builds on the strengths of his remarkable volume: the selections reflect the richly complex field of Civil War scholarship, while remaining highly accessible to new students, and offering an important pedagogical tool for instructors. The volume captures a diversity of perspectives on the Civil War, and impresses on us the important role literature, across genres, played during the conflict. We not only understand the literature of the Civil War in reading the anthology; we come to realize that we cannot fully grasp the lived experience of the Civil War unless we study its literature. Well-organized and thoughtfully annotated, Finseth’s volume reflects careful scholarship and pedagogical engagement at their best." – Colleen G. Boggs, Associate Professor of English, Dartmouth College
Drawing on a range of theoretical and disciplinary perspectives, including aesthetics, anthropology, phenomenology, and ecocriticism, Shades of Green demonstrates the agility with which human thought about the natural and the racial leapt across formal epistemological, professional, and artistic boundaries. In this innovative account, the politics of race and slavery are shown to have been deeply intertwined with putatively apolitical cultural understandings of the natural world. The book will be of value to scholars in a variety of disciplines, including American studies, African American literary history, and environmental philosophy.
Articles and Book Chapters by Ian Finseth
Papers by Ian Finseth
The essays explore the social and cultural contexts, the aesthetic and rhetorical techniques, and the political and ideological features of these noncanonical texts. By concentrating on earlier slave narratives not only from the United States but from the Caribbean, South America, and Latin America as well, the volume highlights the inherent transnationality of the genre, illuminating its complex cultural origins and global circulation.
"In this second edition, Ian Finseth builds on the strengths of his remarkable volume: the selections reflect the richly complex field of Civil War scholarship, while remaining highly accessible to new students, and offering an important pedagogical tool for instructors. The volume captures a diversity of perspectives on the Civil War, and impresses on us the important role literature, across genres, played during the conflict. We not only understand the literature of the Civil War in reading the anthology; we come to realize that we cannot fully grasp the lived experience of the Civil War unless we study its literature. Well-organized and thoughtfully annotated, Finseth’s volume reflects careful scholarship and pedagogical engagement at their best." – Colleen G. Boggs, Associate Professor of English, Dartmouth College
Drawing on a range of theoretical and disciplinary perspectives, including aesthetics, anthropology, phenomenology, and ecocriticism, Shades of Green demonstrates the agility with which human thought about the natural and the racial leapt across formal epistemological, professional, and artistic boundaries. In this innovative account, the politics of race and slavery are shown to have been deeply intertwined with putatively apolitical cultural understandings of the natural world. The book will be of value to scholars in a variety of disciplines, including American studies, African American literary history, and environmental philosophy.