My academic interests include Joyce and Shakespearean studies, poetry, and dystopian fiction analyzed through the theoretical frameworks of feminist theory, ecocriticism, and philosophy.
I passionately interrogate how these lenses uncover critical insights about the human condition, thereby illuminating paths to address pressing global issues and foster lasting societal change.
Publications
“That Doesn’t Seem Like Love to Me:” Duality-Defining Love in Marie de France’s “Bisclavret”
In Marie de Trans: Tranimality, Transformations, and Queer Reception in the Lais of Marie de France. Edited by Meg Cornell and Sara Petrosillo.
Book proposal accepted in the Premodern Transgressive Literatures series at Medieval Institute Publications.
Conferences
“Birthing Empathy: Poetic Depictions of Female Pain as Antidote to Patriarchal Silencing”
Poetry and Pain, Northeast Modern Language Association. Philadelphia, PA. March 2025.
“‘If We Burn, You Burn with Us’: Incendiary Affect in Mockingjay’s Propaganda”
Dystopian Literature, New Jersey College English Association. South Orange, NJ. March 2024.
“The ‘Blank Space’ in ‘My Last Duchess’: How Taylor Swift’s Arrangement of Domination Reclaims Female Power”
Women and Gender Studies, Mid-Atlantic Popular & American Culture Association. Philadelphia, PA. November 2023.
“Counter-Narratives Against Spirit-Murder: Creating Art to Heal Racial Trauma in Picture Us in the Light and All American Boys”
Justice and Historical Trauma, Literary Justice: Seton Hall Undergraduate Literature Conference. South Orange, NJ. April 2023.
“Defining Love in ‘Bisclavret’ through Trust, Fear, and ‘Human’ Nature”
Touch and Affect in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, Medieval and Renaissance Forum. Keene, New Hampshire. April 2023.
“The Power of ‘No’: How Mindfulness Empowers Servant Leadership”
IMPACT: Student Leadership Conference. South Orange, NJ. March 2023.
I welcome opportunities for collaboration in these areas and am happy to provide abstracts of my research, published scholarship, and conference presentations upon request.
blake harrsch 