Department of English, College of LAS, University of Illinois


Melissa Littlefield

Assistant Professor of English

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Contact Information

  • Address: 102d English Building 608 South Wright St Urbana, IL 61802
  • Telephone: 217-244-6926
  • Email: mml@illinois.edu

Education

Ph.D. English and Women's Studies, Penn State University, 2005

Teaching Interests

literature and science, science fiction, body studies, feminist science studies

Courses

Engl 120: Science Fiction, Engl 300: Writing about Literature (Margaret Atwood), Engl 475:Literature and the Forensic Sciences, Engl 582: Topics--Writing Bodies of Knowledge, Kines 249: Sport and Modern Society , Kines 442: Body, Culture, Society, Kines 594: Representing Bodies

Research Interests

literature and science, body studies, science fiction, feminist science studies, science and technology studies

Publications

Book Contributions

  • Squier, Susan M., and Melissa M. Littlefield. "Feminist Science Studies ." Routledge Companion to Literature and Science. New York/London: Routledge, 2010. forthcoming.
  • Littlefield, Melissa M. "Matter for Thought: The Psychon in Neurology, Psychology and American Culture, 1927-1943." Neurology and Modernity. Ed. Laura Salisbury and Andrew Shail. New York: Palgrave, 2009. 267-286.

Journal Articles

  • Littlefield, Melissa M. "Constructing the Organ of Deceit: The Rhetoric of fMRI and Brain Fingerprinting in Post-9/11 America." Science, Technology &Human Values 34 (2009): 365-392.
  • Littlefield, Melissa M., and Susan M. Squier. "Introduction: Feminist Theory and/of Science." Feminist Theory 5.2 (2004): 123-126.

Encyclopedia Entries

  • Littlefield, Melissa M. "Technology and Representation." Science, Technology, and Society: An Encyclopedia. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005.

Works in Progress

  • Tracing Truth: A Cultural History of Deception Detection (book project; under consideration)
  • Playing the Role of a Criminalist: Disciplining Narratives in the Forensic Sciences (book project)
  • "Sherlock Holmes Takes Out the Trash: Disciplining Forensic Science Textbooks" (article)
  • fMRI project (hosted by Aarhus in Denmark)
  • The Neuro- Fix (edited collection)