Education
PhD in English, 2014 Queen's University Belfast;
M.A. in English with Distinction, 2009 Queen’s University Belfast
Specialties:
Health Humanities, Nineteenth-Century Literature, Romanticism, Irish Literature, Social Determinants of Health, Women Writers, Biopolitics, Disability Studies
Professional Background
Matthew L. Reznicek studies Health Humanities, which means he applies humanistic research methodologies to the fields of health, medicine, and care. Specifically, Reznicek is interested in the ways that health, illness, and the body are shaped by social, cultural, and political forces and represented in literature from the long-nineteenth century. He writes about the relationship between health and society in novels by writers like Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, Maria Edgeworth, and Walter Scott. Reznicek uses literature in his courses to show how the Social Determinants of Health impact medicine and care well beyond the walls of the hospital. He currently serves as President of the American Conference for Irish Studies.