Elizabethtown College School of Arts and Humanities recently welcomed Assistant Professor of English Literature Patrick Allen, an expert in African American literature, to the English Department.
Allen specializes in African American and multiethnic American literatures and has published on nineteenth-century Black medical women’s writing as well as forced sterilization in the context of Toni Morrison’s novel, “Home.” This fall, he is teaching a first-year seminar and a course focusing on early American literature and culture.
Allen also currently serves as Vice President of Organizational Matters for the Society for the Study of American Women Writers.
“I’m really excited to join Etown’s English Department and to introduce students to the rich, diverse body of texts that make American literature such an exciting and rewarding field of study,” Allen said. “My expertise is in African American literatures and cultures, so I am particularly looking forward to exploring the literary and other creative arts of Black persons in the Americas with students.”
Allen hopes that his courses will teach and encourage students to view American culture and literature from a different perspective, while conveying that Black culture should not be viewed as separate from American culture but, instead, as a part of it.
“As a white scholar-educator, I believe it’s crucial that my students and I – no matter our backgrounds – recognize, understand, and appreciate the centrality of Black cultures to what we think of generally as American culture, and literature is one of the best ways to approach that learning,” Allen said.
He believes that his position as a white scholar in this teaching role carries the responsibility to employ the voices of others.
“Engaging as teacher-scholars with materials that do not reflect our own identities demonstrates to students that other identities matter,” Allen said. “It is crucial, of course, that we do not give the impression that we are speaking from first-hand experience. There must be a distinction between what we study and who we are. Because of that, I feel it’s essential that our scholarship and teaching is informed by people whose lived experiences and identities do relate to the materials we teach.
“I hope to demonstrate to all my students that – if you’re serious about it – you can study whatever your passions may be.”
Allen received his bachelor’s degree in English from Providence College in 2010, before going on to earn his master’s degree in secondary education from the college in 2013. He received a second master’s degree, this one in English, from Penn State University, before going on to earn his doctorate in English from the University in 2020.
Before joining Etown, he was previously an Assistant Professor of English at Culver-Stockton College in Canton, Mo.
Allen’s interest in African American literature grew steadily from high school into college and took off after reading the 1987 Toni Morrison dramatic historical fiction novel “Beloved,” which examines the destructive legacy of slavery.
In graduate school, Allen developed an interest in exploring the real-world resonances of medical injustices in the African American literature he was reading. Allen has published on medical themes in Morrison’s writing, as well as on nineteenth-century Black women’s medical writing, and is currently working on a book project that explores Black medical professionalism at the turn of the twentieth century.
Allen’s work has been published in multiple literary journals and books, including MELUS, Arizona Quarterly, and Cengage Learning.
“I’m looking forward to getting to know my students and colleagues at Etown, to discussing fun and challenging texts in my classes, and to engaging with the College community beyond the classroom, at performances, sporting events, lectures, and the like,” Allen said. “There’s a lot going on at the College, and I can’t wait to partake.”