Dr. Jason Farr糖心传媒Marquette Hall, 214
MilwaukeeWI53201United States of America(414) 288-5630jason.farr@marquette.eduMy primary fields of research include eighteenth-century British literature, disability and queer studies, deaf studies, and sound studies. My research examines the literary histories of deafness and disability from the eighteenth century forward. I also have a secondary interest in queer literature and poetry leading up to and following the Stonewall Riots (1969). I enjoy teaching a range of classes in eighteenth-century literature, gothic fiction and film, and disability and LGBTQ+ studies. My courses routinely challenge students to think transhistorically about intersections of disability, sexuality, gender, and race in the literature and theory we read together. I prioritize accessibility in my classrooms and I also seek to build communities of care and foster collaborative intellectual endeavor.
My book, Novel Bodies: Disability and Sexuality in Eighteenth-Century British Literature (Bucknell University Press鈥揟ransits Series, 2019), examines how fictional representations of physical disability, deafness, and chronic illness inform the emergence of modern regimes of gender and sexuality. I argue that various authors represent queer and disabled characters in their fiction to reconfigure the political and social landscapes of eighteenth-century Britain. My writing on this and other topics has appeared or is forthcoming in Journal of Literary and Cultural Disability Studies, Eighteenth-Century Fiction, Journal for Early Modern Cultural Studies, The Eighteenth Century: Theory and Interpretation, Studies in Eighteenth-Century Culture, Romantic Circles, The Rambling, and in various edited collections. My research has been supported by the Newberry Library, the Harry Ransom Center, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Helen Way Klingler Foundation, and the Mary Wagenschein Foundation.
Currently, I am working on two book projects. The first of these, Deaf Resonances: Deafness, Sound, and Multimodal Communication in Eighteenth-Century British Literature, examines how literary depictions of deafness, sound, nonverbal communication, multisensory perception, and resonance鈥揳 key auditory concept concerning vibration and relationality鈥揾elped to define the culture of sensibility. I argue that the emergence of deaf education in eighteenth-century Britain (and also in France) is a pivotal historical development whose archival details offer valuable insights into the social relations depicted in the fiction of this period.
The other project is a creative biography that narrates the life of my deceased uncle, Joe LeSueur, a queer author who was the lover, friend, and roommate of the celebrated New York School poet, Frank O鈥橦ara. This project details my quest to learn about my uncle (whom I only met once as a child) from the various forms of writing he published鈥搃ncluding a pulp novel, a book of concrete poetry, theater reviews, soap operas, and memoirs. An excerpt from this project appears in .
Due in part to my deafness, I have learned firsthand about the importance of accessibility. I am involved in various collaborative efforts to enhance accessibility for disabled faculty and students, including in my recent appointments as a member of Marquette鈥檚 ADVANCE team and MLA鈥檚 Committee for Disability Issues. I write in public forums about accessibility at conferences and in classrooms with the goal of establishing more inclusive communities.
Office Hours
Fall 2024
Teaching Schedule
Fall 2024
