Tell us a bit about yourself. Where are you from? What brought you to the University of Lethbridge?
I was born in Israel and when I was just one, my parents moved us first to Boston and then Chicago for their graduate studies. They then moved me and my brother back to Israel when I was 12, which was a culture shock. I followed my family to Calgary for my undergrad, as my mother was teaching at the University of Calgary, and there I met my now husband. After spending 10 years in Hamilton and then Toronto for graduate studies, and then two years back in Israel pursuing a postdoctoral fellowship, we initially moved to Lethbridge to be closer to my partner’s family. Serendipitously, the University of Lethbridge turned out to be hiring exactly in my field, so I’ve been incredibly fortunate in how things have worked out.
What will you be teaching at the University of Lethbridge and if applicable what is the focus of your research?
I am teaching teaching courses on Victorian literature, on 19th-century British novels, as well as more general survey, and introductory courses in literature. My research focuses on changing understandings of inheritance, financial speculation, the law, and the family in Victorian culture and how this all plays out in the novels of this period.
What or who inspired you to choose a career path in academia?
My parents’ love of texts, stories, history, and culture inspired me from a very young age, and as cliché as it is, by the time I was 12 I knew I wanted to be an English professor. I grew up in a house full of books and my parents themselves were academics. However, despite instilling in me a love of literature, my parents actually tried to warn me of the difficulties in finding a job with a degree in English. It didn’t take. From early on my favourite pastime was immersing myself in fictional worlds and narratives, as well as talking with family and friends about what we were reading. I also enjoyed writing from a young age and exploring the richness of language as a medium, perhaps something I was especially aware of because I grew up bilingual, speaking Hebrew at home while living in and learning to read and write in English-speaking places.
How do you like to spend your spare time?
I enjoy various kinds of exercise, exploring the coulees and other beautiful areas around Lethbridge, getting engrossed in good shows, films, and novels, playing piano, and spending lots of time with my husband and our four cats.