Expertise
Composition and Literature; Renaissance Literature
Research Interests
16th century poetry; Historiography; Iconography; Translations of classical literature.
Education
- Ph.D: English, (2012), University of Massachusetts Amherst - Amherst, MA
Dissertation/Thesis Title: : Elizabeth's Fruitless Crown: Ovidian Poetry, The End of Tudor Genealogy, and the Incomplete Past - MA: English and American Literature, University of New York - New York, NY
Dissertation/Thesis Title: The Spirit and the Body in Legacies of Troilus and Cressida - BA: History; Literature minor, University of California Santa Cruz - Santa Cruz, CA
Dissertation/Thesis Title:Dictated Democracy: Standardizing the American High School, 1890-1930
Biosketch
My Ph.D. is in early modern literature, and I research sixteenth century poetry’s uses of history and classical literature. I have published on Shakespeare’s poetry and I am currently working on an edition of Shakespeare’s "The Tempest." I lead study abroad programs in London to explore Shakespeare and modern adaptations of his work, and I am currently running an interdisciplinary summer Shakespeare program for the Honors College. In addition to my teaching in the English Department, I am the associate director and advisor of the Bachelor of Liberal Arts (BLA) program and teach the two required courses for all BLA students. I also serve as the president of the Faculty Senate at UML after several years serving as the coordinator of the university’s Core Curriculum.
Selected Awards and Honors
- Dissertation Fellowship (2007) - University of Massachusetts Amherst
- Teaching Fellowship, English (2006) - Stonehill College
- Walter Chmielewski Fellowship (2002) - University of Massachusetts
- Joseph Langland Prize (2001) - University of Massachusetts Amherst
- Chancellor's Award for Academic Excellence (1995) - University of California Santa Cruz
Selected Publications
- Petersen, K.L. (2017). Shakespeare and Sententiae: The Use of Quotation in Lucrece (pp. Shakespeare and Quotation). UK: Cambridge University Press
Selected Contracts, Fellowships, Grants and Sponsored Research
- Dissertation Fellowship (2007), Fellowship - University of Massachusetts Amherst
- Teaching Fellow, English (2006), Fellowship - Stonehill College