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Program: English Ph.D.
Began program in 2006
Area of Study: 19th and 20th century American literature
Office: 554 EPB
E-Mail:
MJLavin80@gmail.com
I grew up in Middletown Springs VT, the second in a family of six (one older brother, four younger sisters). I went on to college at St. Lawrence University in Canton, NY, where I double majored in English and philosophy. Although I've obviously focused in on English as an area of study, I'm always being drawn back into the world abstract concepts and squinty-eyed "deep thinking." After SLU, I went to Utah State University, where I completed a master's degree on magazine serialization and worked for two years at Western American Literature, a quarterly scholarly journal. Sometimes I joke that moving from Utah to Iowa was all part of a master plan to move back to Vermont one step at a time. In all seriousness, Vermont is a great place to live, and I hope to move back there some day, or to the general area, but first I have to finish my degree. As of fall 2008, I'm working as a rhetoric instructor and studying for comprehensive exams.