Meoghan Cronin

Dr. Meoghan Cronin specializes in nineteenth-century British literature, particularly on narrative and the novel. Her published work includes articles and chapters on the novels of Thomas Hardy and Charlotte Brontë, as well as on fiction by the novelists Elizabeth Gaskell, Mary Augusta Ward and, in the twentieth century, Antonia White. Dr. Cronin’s scholarship examines the influences of religion and other forms of belief on young women in fiction and explores, specifically, the question of what it means to be a “good” girl. Dr. Cronin is also a member of the Dickens Society and has contributed presentations and book reviews to their conferences and Dickens Quarterly for many years. Since arriving at the College, Dr. Cronin has been involved in the coordination of the first-year writing courses, and she is currently Director of the College Writing program. In 1995, she and English department students co-founded the annual Mind Over Major conference to celebrate excellence in student writing. She also served on the Faculty Senate for ten years. 

Dr. Cronin teaches the courses Studies in Romantic Literature, Studies in Victorian Literature, The Brontës, and special topics courses on the gothic novel and on the works of Mary Shelley and her “circle.” She co-teaches two interdisciplinary courses: Mid-Victorian Britain in History and Literature (with Prof. Dubrulle, History) and Tolstoy, Art, and Modern Russia (with Prof. Pajakowski, History). She also teaches First-year Writing, Advanced Composition, Detective Fiction, Introduction to Literary Studies, and Senior Seminar.