Paul Spampanato
B.A./M.A. in English, Iona College
Ph.D. Candidate, English, St. John’s University
Research Interests: animal studies; modernism; ecotheory; history of sexuality; war culture; the epic
Paul Spampanato is a doctoral candidate at St. John’s University. He has taught first year writing and modern literature at Iona College for 4 years, where he helped the English Department develop a stronger focus on cultural studies in Trans-Atlantic Literature. Over the last two years, he has turned toward animal rights activism and shifted his focus to animal studies in literature.
Paul’s focus centers around non-human animals in literature during the modernist era. He is currently exploring how society’s preconceived notions of what purpose non-human animals serve has influenced their portrayals in fiction and poetry. By looking at literature through this lens, many unexamined studies open up not just about non-human animals, but about any group that has been subjugated or dominated throughout history. You can read some of Paul’s animal rights writings in his blog, ohtheveganity.com to learn more about his focus.