Chris Barrett

Chris Barrett

Associate Professor
Ph.D., Harvard University

225-578-3048
cbarrett@lsu.edu
223-E Allen Hall

Curriculum Vitae

Biography

Chris Barrett is Associate Professor of English at Louisiana State University, where she joined the faculty in 2012 after completing her doctoral degree in English at Harvard University. Her research and teaching interests include early modern English literature,  poetry and poetics, ecocriticisms, and geocritical approaches to literature. Her published works--recognized by a Rainmaker Award in 2018--include the book Early Modern English Literature and the Poetics of Cartographic Anxiety (Oxford University Press, 2018), as well as articles and essays on forests, Shakespeare, Spenser, Milton, butterflies, fire, and the twinned history of ether and laughter. She is currently at work on two book projects, about early modern trees and about the poetics of the obvious. Her research has been supported by the Council on Research, the Newberry Library, the Folger Library, the Dumbarton Oaks Museum and Collection, and the Lilly Library. Since 2013, Dr. Barrett has been the faculty adviser to Spectrum, LSU's largest LGBTQIA+ student organization. Additionally, Barrett has been the recipient of several teaching awards, including the inaugural Outstanding Professor Award from the LSU Student Government (2018), the Tiger Athletic Foundation President’s Award (2017), the Tiger Athletic Foundation Undergraduate Teaching Award (2014), and the English Graduate Student Association Graduate Faculty Award (2014). 

Area(s) of Interest

Renaissance and early modern British literature, with special attention to Spenser and Milton, Shakespeare, and lyric and epic poetry; geocritical approaches to literature; critical animal studies and ecocriticism