Megan N. Fontenot holds a dual BA in English and Humanities from Milligan University and an MA in English Literature from Michigan State University. Currently, she is pursuing a PhD in English Literature, with a focus on nineteenth-century British literature, at the University of Georgia. She is particularly interested in the network of connections existing between nationalism, discourses of improvement, and stances of nostalgia in British women’s writing about and representations of Scotland. This interest exists alongside of her captivation with the poet, lecturer, essayist, translator, and critic Mathilde Blind, whose long epic poem The Highland Clearances first helped her make such connections across the nineteenth century.
Megan also serves as an instructor of record in First-year Writing at UGA, in which capacity she strives to create open-minded, stimulating, and diverse “safer spaces” (Price, Mad at School) for her students. She is particularly invested in demystifying the writing process through exposing the “hidden curriculum” of academic writing (and academia more generally) and through encouraging students to reflect on their knowledge as they write about writing. She sees all of these goals as working together to produce more ethical, equitable, and just educational experiences for all involved.
Megan has been working as an Editorial Assistant for the UGA Press since last year, and recently accepted a position as Faculty and Graduate Student Support Coordinator with the UGA Writing Center. In July 2022, she will begin work as a Graduate Administrator with UGA at Oxford.
On the side, Megan continues to maintain a scholarly interest in the life and work of J. R. R. Tolkien. When she isn’t busy with work, grading, or comps, she enjoys hiking, playing with cats, crafting, historical clothing recreation, gaming, reading sff, and watching a motely collection of films and tv shows.