Staff profiles
Dr Emily Bernhard Jackson
Senior Lecturer
2451
01392 722451
Dr. Bernhard-Jackson undertook her undergraduate and postgraduate work in the United States: she has an M.A. from Boston College and a Ph.D. from Brandeis University. After leaving Brandeis, she became an Assistant Professor of English at the University of Arkansas (2005-11), then the Writing Skills Director at Homerton and Robinson Colleges, Cambridge University, as well as Director of Studies for Part I of English at Robinson (variously, 2009-12).
These days, Dr. Bernhard-Jackson's main area of interest is Academic Writing and Composition Studies. She is active in the teaching of Academic Writing, and firmly believes that teaching students to write in what is conventionally considered a good way is the key to their future power and influence. She is particularly interested in the question of how to teach grammar and mechanics to beginning students so that these become instinctive skills, and she is interested in the politics of composition.
Dr Bernhard Jackson is also an active creative writer. She has published three novels, with a fourth on the way, as well as numerous public essays and opinion pieces.
Dr Bernhard Jackson also maintains an interest in Byron studies, and in the connections between David Bowie and Romanticism.
Her surname actually is "Bernhard Jackson." It drives her crazy when people refer to her as "Dr. Jackson."
Research interests
- Composition Studies
- Long-Form Fiction
- Creative Non-Fiction
- Lord Byron
- David Bowie
- Victorian Literature
- New Romanticism
- Robert Louis Stevenson
- Skeptical Philosophy
Research supervision
I would be open to supervising work on Lord Byron, William Blake, contemporary popular music, and Composition and Rhetoric.
As a creative writing supervisor, I am delighted to supervise in prose and poetry, with the exception of genre fiction (e.g., fantasy, science fiction).
My own critical approach is historicist, with a deep interest in cultural studies and close reading of primary texts.
Media
Dr Bernhard Jackson contributes to the Times Literary Supplement, the Literary Review, BBC Radio Devon, and Radio 4.
Modules taught
- EAS1037 - The Novel
- EAS1038 - The Poem
- EAS2029 - Revolutions and Evolutions 19C Writings
Biography
Born in Boston, Massachusetts, Dr. Bernhard Jackson grew up in the lively metropolis of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, leading a life punctuated by frequent trips to New York City. She undertook her undergraduate work at the University of Iowa, in Iowa City, Iowa, then took a long pause before pursuing her postgraduate degrees in the Boston area: she has an M.A. from Boston College and a Ph.D. from Brandeis University. After leaving Brandeis, she became an Assistant Professor of English at the University of Arkansas (2005-11), then the Writing Skills Director at Homerton and Robinson Colleges, Cambridge University, as well as Director of Studies for Part I of English at Robinson (variously, 2009-12).
Dr. Bernhard Jackson has a fascination with clothing both inside and outside of literature, and is a keen fan of The Divine Comedy (the band); she has a remarkable knowledge of the trivia of 1980s pop music. She admires a well-turned sentence and has for many years deplored the comma splice. It drives her crazy when people call her "Dr. Jackson": it really is "Bernhard Jackson."