Laura Walls
Encyclopedia
Laura Dassow Walls is an American
professor of English literature and currently the William P. and Hazel B. White Professor of English at the University of Notre Dame.
, Henry David Thoreau
, Alexander von Humboldt
and related authors. She specializes in American Transcendentalism—especially Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson, transatlantic romanticism
, literature and science, and environmental literature and ecocriticism
.
Books Authored
Books Edited
She edits the annual journal The Concord Saunterer: A Journal of Thoreau Studies. This publication is an annual, peer-reviewed journal of Thoreau Scholarship, sponsored by the Thoreau Society, which contains in-depth essays about Thoreau, his times and his contemporaries, and his influence today.
for best book in American intellectual history by the Organization of American Historians in April 2010. She received a Guggenheim Fellowship
in May 2010. In October 2010, she won the Michelle Kendrick Memorial Book Award for the best book in literature and science by the Society for Literature, Science and the Arts. Walls received the Modern Language Association
’s James Russell Lowell Prize for her book, The Passage to Cosmos: Alexander von Humboldt and the Shaping of America, on January 7, 2011 at the MLA’s annual convention.
She studied at University of Washington
earning a B.A. for English/Creative Writing in 1976 and an M.A. for English in 1978. She earned a Ph.D. from Indiana University
in American Literature in 1992. Before going to University of South Carolina, she taught at Indiana University and Lafayette College
.
Professor Walls joined the Notre Dame
faculty in fall 2011 as the William P. and Hazel B. White Professor of English. She succeeds Gerald Bruns, who retired from Notre Dame in 2008 and inaugurated the William P. and Hazel B. White Professor of English chair.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
professor of English literature and currently the William P. and Hazel B. White Professor of English at the University of Notre Dame.
Areas of Research
Walls has researched the intersections of literature and science in the works of Ralph Waldo EmersonRalph Waldo Emerson
Ralph Waldo Emerson was an American essayist, lecturer, and poet, who led the Transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century...
, Henry David Thoreau
Henry David Thoreau
Henry David Thoreau was an American author, poet, philosopher, abolitionist, naturalist, tax resister, development critic, surveyor, historian, and leading transcendentalist...
, Alexander von Humboldt
Alexander von Humboldt
Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander Freiherr von Humboldt was a German naturalist and explorer, and the younger brother of the Prussian minister, philosopher and linguist Wilhelm von Humboldt...
and related authors. She specializes in American Transcendentalism—especially Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson, transatlantic romanticism
Romanticism
Romanticism was an artistic, literary and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Europe, and gained strength in reaction to the Industrial Revolution...
, literature and science, and environmental literature and ecocriticism
Ecocriticism
Ecocriticism is the study of literature and environment from an interdisciplinary point of view where all sciences come together to analyze the environment and brainstorm possible solutions for the correction of the contemporary environmental situation...
.
Books Authored
Books Edited
She edits the annual journal The Concord Saunterer: A Journal of Thoreau Studies. This publication is an annual, peer-reviewed journal of Thoreau Scholarship, sponsored by the Thoreau Society, which contains in-depth essays about Thoreau, his times and his contemporaries, and his influence today.
Awards and degrees
Walls received the University of South Carolina’s Russell Research Award in spring 2010. She won the Merle Curti AwardMerle Curti Award
The Merle Curti Award is awarded annually by the Organization of American Historians for the best book in American social and/or American intellectual history. A committee of 5 members of the Organization of American Historians chooses the winners from published monographs submitted by the author...
for best book in American intellectual history by the Organization of American Historians in April 2010. She received a Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowships are American grants that have been awarded annually since 1925 by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts." Each year, the foundation makes...
in May 2010. In October 2010, she won the Michelle Kendrick Memorial Book Award for the best book in literature and science by the Society for Literature, Science and the Arts. Walls received the Modern Language Association
Modern Language Association
The Modern Language Association of America is the principal professional association in the United States for scholars of language and literature...
’s James Russell Lowell Prize for her book, The Passage to Cosmos: Alexander von Humboldt and the Shaping of America, on January 7, 2011 at the MLA’s annual convention.
She studied at University of Washington
University of Washington
University of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University...
earning a B.A. for English/Creative Writing in 1976 and an M.A. for English in 1978. She earned a Ph.D. from Indiana University
Indiana University
Indiana University is a multi-campus public university system in the state of Indiana, United States. Indiana University has a combined student body of more than 100,000 students, including approximately 42,000 students enrolled at the Indiana University Bloomington campus and approximately 37,000...
in American Literature in 1992. Before going to University of South Carolina, she taught at Indiana University and Lafayette College
Lafayette College
Lafayette College is a private coeducational liberal arts and engineering college located in Easton, Pennsylvania, USA. The school, founded in 1826 by James Madison Porter,son of General Andrew Porter of Norristown and citizens of Easton, first began holding classes in 1832...
.
Professor Walls joined the Notre Dame
University of Notre Dame
The University of Notre Dame du Lac is a Catholic research university located in Notre Dame, an unincorporated community north of the city of South Bend, in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States...
faculty in fall 2011 as the William P. and Hazel B. White Professor of English. She succeeds Gerald Bruns, who retired from Notre Dame in 2008 and inaugurated the William P. and Hazel B. White Professor of English chair.