Kaitlin Tonti, Ph.D.
Visiting Assistant Professor of
English, Hollins University 

The first time I realized that I wanted to be in the college classroom as a career was in my Children's Literature class with Dr. Janice Antzack at Brookdale Community College in Lincroft, New Jersey. It was there that I first realized the all encompassing, world changing nature of studying writing and literature. I felt a spark of inspiration to create, study, and analyze, and I decided that my life's purpose was to help other students feel that same spark.   Since then, I have worked to complete several degrees including a Ph.D., and along the way learned more about myself and who I am as a teacher and scholar. 

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My area of expertise is categorized as early American literature, and yet the narrowness of that label sometimes limits a broader description of what I study. Rather, I view myself as a scholar of pre-1900 transatlantic literature spanning from the New England shores to the soil of the Caribbean. A majority of my research focuses on women's voices as they are amplified through life-writing and poetry. Studying women's perceptions of history through both the written word and material objects contributes to a narrative that is based in memory of all peoples, of all races, ethnicities, genders, and classes. My other academic interests include pop culture, fandom culture, and film and television. 

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I have been teaching composition and literature for ten years. My pedagogy embraces a nurturing classroom where students are the helm of what they learn. Discussion is central to improving writing, creative thinking, and critical analysis skills. Much like my literary expertise, teaching writing is situated in the power of rhetorical analysis and the possibility for writing to be a source of power and positive change for the individual and the community.

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I'm funny, I love art, I enjoy college basketball season (Go Seton Hall Pirates!) and I delight in theater and musicals.

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