The Steven Isenberg Junior Research Fellowship in 20th-Century British or American Fiction or Literary Journalism supports the work of an early-career researcher over a three-year period.
Funded by a generous benefaction from Steven and Barbara Isenberg, with the support of Barrie and Deedee Wigmore, the fellowship is linked with the Faculty of English. Honorary Fellow Steven Isenberg has been variously a Professor of English & American Literature, a newspaper publisher, a university president, and, most recently, chief executive of the American branch of PEN International, the organisation dedicated to the freedom of writers.
This unique opportunity is intended to provide an early-career scholar with an extended period of advanced research after the completion of their doctoral thesis, in which they will benefit from the intellectual community and the unparalleled resources of Oxford University, including the books and literary manuscripts of the Bodleian Library, the English Faculty Library, the Worcester College Library and the Rothermere American Institute.
Dr Rachel Malkin
Dr Rachel Malkin is the current Isenberg Junior Research Fellow at Worcester College and has held posts in the Faculties of English at the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, and at St Hugh’s College, Oxford. Her research interests include 20th and 21st Century US fiction, philosophy in relation to American culture, afterlives of American romanticism, experiential aesthetics, the politics of the ‘ordinary’, theories of criticism and the role of the critic, and intellectual history.
Her first book (forthcoming from Edinburgh University Press) considers the work of the American philosopher Stanley Cavell in context, alongside the writing of literary contemporaries. She has also published articles and reviews on American poetry, Cavell, and film. Projects in progress include articles on the American investments of literary criticism’s ‘positive’ affects and stances, and on Claudia Rankine’s uses of conversation and the experiential.
Isenberg Junior Research Fellow
Dr Rachel Malkin
Dr Rachel Malkin
Isenberg Junior Research Fellow
Education
BA, MSc, PhD
Dr Rachel Malkin is the current Isenberg Junior Research Fellow at Worcester College and has held posts in the Faculties of English at the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, and at St Hugh’s College, Oxford. Her research interests include 20th and 21st Century US fiction, philosophy in relation to American culture, afterlives of American romanticism, experiential aesthetics, the politics of the ‘ordinary’, theories of criticism and the role of the critic, and intellectual history.
Her first book (forthcoming from Edinburgh University Press) considers the work of the American philosopher Stanley Cavell in context, alongside the writing of literary contemporaries. She has also published articles and reviews on American poetry, Cavell, and film. Projects in progress include articles on the American investments of literary criticism’s ‘positive’ affects and stances, and on Claudia Rankine’s uses of conversation and the experiential.
Honorary Fellow
Steven Isenberg
Steven Isenberg
Honorary Fellow
Publisher & professor
Education
1964, English
