Susan E. Larkin (Sue)
Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs
Professor of English
Office Location: 210 Clarke Hall
Phone: 757-455-3210
Email: slarkin@vwu.edu
Department/s:
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Susan Larkin received her B.A. in English Literature from Wheaton College in Norton, Massachusetts. She earned her M.A. and Ph.D in English Studies and a graduate certificate in Women’s Studies from Illinois State University. Dr. Larkin’s research is interdisciplinary and interweaves children’s and adolescent literature, women’s and gender studies, and cultural studies. She has published on Judy Blume, Harry Potter, Mr. Rogers, Walt Disney, Laura Ingalls Wilder, women’s memoir, and empowerment, identity, and gender in adolescent literature. Dr. Larkin teaches a variety of English, Women’s and Gender Studies, and Wesleyan Seminars at VWU.
Selected Publications:
"Shaping Subjects: Judy Blume." In Shapers of American Childhood. Kathy Merlock Jackson and Mark West, eds. McFarland, 2018.
"Awash in Illusion: Searching for Identity and Agency in Adolescent Literature." In Children's and Young Adult Literature and Culture: Broadening Critical Boundaries. Amie Doughty, editor. Cambridge, 2018.
"Liberation, Renewal, and the Re-Imagination of Self: Wild and Garlic and Sapphires." Co-authored with Sarah Foust Vinson. Journal of South Texas English Studies. 6.1 (2016): 15-26.
"Fantasy as Free Space: Mr. Rogers's Neighborhood." In Revisiting Mister Rogers' Neighborhood: Teaching and Learning about Self and Community. Kathy Merlock Jackson and Steven Emmanuel, Eds. New York: McFarland and Company, 2016.
"Discipline and Gender in Women's Studies Classes." Co-authored with Harold E. Dorton, Jr. In Gender and Sexuality Studies. Thalia M. Mulvihill, Ed. Stuyvesant Falls: Rapid Intellect Group, 2015. 130-135.
"The Sentimental Novel: Community, Power, and Femininity." Walt Disney, from Reader to Storyteller: Essays on the Literary Inspirations. Kathy Merlock Jackson and Mark I. West, eds. New York: McFarland and Company, 2014.
"Life Writing/Writing a Culture: Laura Ingalls Wilder." MidAmerica. 34 (2007): 118-125.
"Laura's Story: Gender, Autobiography, and the Little House Books." a/b: Auto/Biography Studies 22.2 (2007): 250-269.
Selected Presentations:
"Demons Demanding Change: Feminism, Graphic Novels, and Cultural Hierarchies." College English Association Conference, New Orleans, LA, March 2019.
"Moments worth Living (and Reading): Empathy, Relatability, and Autobiography." Presented with Sarah Foust Vinson. Northeast Modern Language Association Conference, Pittsburgh, PA, April 2018.
"Blending Digital Pedagogies into Face-to-face Classes: Practice Tools and Critical Reflection." Presented with Joyce Howell and Linda Ferguson to the Conference on Higher Education Pedagogy at Virginia Tech, February 2017.
"Mr. Rogers's Make-believe: Making Space for Reality." The National Popular Culture & American Culture Association Annual Conference, Seattle, WA, March 2016.
"Illusion as a Survival Tool: Shifting Subjectivities in The Hunger Games and Ten Cents a Dance." The National Popular Culture & American Culture Association Annual Conference, Chicago, IL, April 2014.
"Disney's Sentimental Fiction." International Popular Culture Association Conference, Warsaw, Poland, July 2013.
"Playing Dress Up: Illusion, Power, and the Female Adolescent." International Conference of the Children's Literature Association, Biloxi, MS, June 2013.
"Children's Literature in 'Adult' Courses." International Conference of the Children's Literature Association, Boston, MA, June 2012.
"Fairy Tale Makeovers: Style or Substance." The National Popular Culture & American Culture Association Annual Conference, Boston, MA, April 2012.
Dr. Susan Larkin Named Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs
Veteran administrator, scholar and faculty member assumes role September 30