You have attended and taught at colleges throughout the U.S. and out of the country. Was education different depending on demographics?

I attended Yale for my BA and my PhD; I attended Oxford in between my undergraduate and graduate years at Yale and got a master’s in philosophy there. I was never a student at Harvard. I was on the faculty there before moving here, although it was my first job, so I was learning an awful lot. I must say, these institutions were more alike than different, even Oxford. I loved my time at each of them, but they draw on basically the same pool of people for students and faculty. It can start to seem like a very small world after a while.

Where was your favorite place and why?

Yale when I first arrived as a freshman was the most exciting place and exciting experience. I went there having never been east of Chicago, growing up in Sioux Falls, S.D. and going to a public high school. Suddenly I was being exposed to all sorts of new ideas, new people, classes in art history, music, literature, history, even my economics class seemed mind-blowing. I’d go back to the dining hall after a class and we’d continue the conversation from class! I had spent my high school years hiding how much I liked academics in a desperate attempt to be cool – and now all the cool kids were smart and happy to talk about Derrida versus de Man, or various interpretations of the civil war. It was a thrilling time. Being just a train ride away from New York City didn’t hurt either.

How did you end up at the University?

I was eager to get back to the Midwest and to teach at a public institution and really happy when KU advertised a job in my field. My husband grew up in Kansas City, so I was familiar with the area and very impressed with Lawrence and KU. I got really lucky when the job was offered to me: this was exactly the sort of institution and department I had been hoping to land in and we were able to move “back home” in a way so that my kids would have their grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins near by.

How did you become interested in English?

I loved to read as a kid – I was one of those kids who was constantly reading a book. Walking around reading, reading in the car. When I learned to drive, I would have to throw my book in the back seat to stop myself from reading while driving. When I realized in college that I could get paid for reading and for talking about what I read – become an English professor, in other words – it seemed too good to be true.

Did you ever think that you would become a professor?

My father and both my sisters are medical doctors. I knew I didn’t want to do that, but somehow thought the best alternative was becoming a lawyer. It wasn’t until college and being exposed to professors and the academic life that I thought I might be able to do that.

What’s your favorite thing about teaching?

I love introducing students to these incredible novels and poems and getting to hear what they think as they read them for the first time.

What’s your favorite subject to teach and why?

Romantic poetry is probably my favorite, with gothic literature a very close second. They are my favorites because I know the most about them – have thought longer and harder and read more in these fields than others – and I love the chance to communicate and share my ideas and enthusiasm, love to hear what the students think and to have them question or challenge my take on things. Talking about what you love, sharing it with others, convincing them that it’s worth their close attention and hard work – that is the joy and challenge of teaching for me.

What’s your favorite book at the moment?

I’ve been reading children’s novels for fun lately – probably a sign that I’m regressing or something in my old age – latest read: “Freddy the Detective” by Walter Brooks.

Are you currently working on any writings?

I’m finishing a book manuscript on eighteenth and nineteenth-century images of children and childhood in Britain.

Do have any hobbies?

I ride saddlebred horses.

Do you have special talents or skills?

Getting dinner for four on the table before 7 p.m. when I’ve just arrived home at 6 p.m. and have worked all day – does that count?

— Edited by Mandy Earles