Jesse Jack (she/they) serves as a Visiting Lecturer in the literature program. Since her arrival at the University of Pittsburgh, she has taught courses related to young adult literature, literatures of social justice and critique, and literatures regarding the representation of sexuality and gender throughout the American 20th and 21st centuries. Jesse previously served as an instructor of literature and composition at Duquesne University where she earned her Ph.D. and studied the emergent field of Transgender (Trans*) Studies. At Duquesne, Jesse participated in several task forces regarding the inclusivity of the curriculum, and she worked with the Counseling Center to help found and co-facilitate Duquesne’s first LGBTQIA+ Support Group. Jesse’s commitment to inclusive excellence moves beyond campus and classroom environments. Through publications and conference presentations, Jesse has called for increased attention to intersectionality and cultural specificity in Trans* Studies and has modeled more inclusive frameworks for (re)reading gender-transing and ambiguously-gendered histories, literatures, and culturally-specific forms of gender expression. Currently, she is interested in researching the influences of genre, biopolitical surveillance and regulation, migration, and archives in trans* discourse and considering the ways in which the discourse can meet the empirical needs of trans* communities outside of academic spaces. Jesse graduated from her doctoral program with a certificate to teach in Woman, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, and she received a M.A. in Literature and Cultural Studies from Carnegie Mellon University.
Courses (Past & Present):
ENGLIT 0300: Introduction to Literature
ENGLIT 0560: Children and Culture (Recitation Instructor)
ENGLIT 0630: Sexuality and Representation
ENGLIT 0647: Harry Potter
ENGLIT 0655: Representing Adolescence
Recent Publications:
Jack, Jesse. “Reclaiming a Transgender History: The Intertextual Life of Charlotte Charke.” English: Journal of the English Association, Oxford University Press, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1093/english/efaa022
Jack, Jesse. “Loy’s Migrations: Interactive StoryMap.” Mina Loy: Navigating the Avant-Garde, edited by Suzanne W. Churchill, Linda Kinnahan, and Susan Rosenbaum, 2019. https://mina-loy.com/maps/mina-loys-migrations-2/