Welcome.
Paul E. Blom is a Teaching Fellow and doctoral student in English literature at UNC-Chapel Hill, a creative writer, copy editor, writing tutor and instructor as well as a published scholar, researcher, and presenter. His area of concentration is American literature from 1865 to the present and its intersections with health humanities and literary trauma studies.
About Me
My Teaching
Enter Teaching Philosophy here.
Read more about my teaching philosophy, experience, and methods.
My Research
20th-Century Am. Lit.
I explore the breadth of American literature from across the twentieth century. Most (but not all) of these texts contain content, contexts, or themes that overlap with my interest in health humanities and/or trauma studies. These texts include content related to healthcare, embodiment, military combat, violence, racial trauma, and gender-based trauma, topics which are vital for any discussion of twentieth-century American literature and which connect with my larger scholarly interests and goals…
Health Humanities
Because my primary literary interest concerns issues of embodiment, I focus on foundational texts in the field of health humanities alongside other related texts that explore issues of disability, pain, suffering, and empathy. These texts also concern the intersection of health with race, gender, and class, illuminating the complexities of health and embodiment as well as encompassing themes vital to any exploration of twentieth-century American literature…
Trauma Studies
One of my core questions is: What is at stake when we represent psychological trauma (the original traumatic event and its lingering repercussions for the perpetrator and survivor) in literature and other media? How do we depict and discuss these events and their effects (both immediate and lingering)? How do we depict and discuss the perpetrators and the survivors of such events? What are the ethical and political implications in these depictions?…
Read more about my research interests, dissertation, and publications.
My Service (and other info)
I’ve enjoyed several opportunities to get involved with my campus community and the surrounding community and to be of service to my field and profession.
Recent Posts and Projects
- HLTH S367: Global Health Across Audiences: Research and Communication (Summer 2021)Do you know any undergraduate students interested in global or public health? Dr. Jonathan Smith and I are co-teaching an online, synchronous undergraduate course for Yale University this summer on global health communication and misinformation. Because it’s online, students from almost any institution can apply, although they should contact their home institution first to confirmContinue reading “HLTH S367: Global Health Across Audiences: Research and Communication (Summer 2021)”
- MLA 2022 Call for Papers (CFP)Rachel Warner and I are co-organizing a potential panel for the 2022 annual convention of the Modern Language Association (MLA). The convention will take place January 6-9, 2022 in Washington, D.C. We are very excited about this opportunity to facilitate intriguing and productive discussions regarding the intersections between literature, medicine, and health. See the CFPContinue reading “MLA 2022 Call for Papers (CFP)”
- SAMLA 2020This past fall, I had the privilege of presenting a paper at the 92nd annual conference of the South Atlantic Modern Language Association (SAMLA), which was held virtually for the first time due to the COVID-19 global pandemic. The theme of the conference was “Scandal! Literature and Provocation: Breaking Rules, Making Texts.” I presented aContinue reading “SAMLA 2020”
Explore the rest of this site or, for a quick overview of my work and experience, see my CV and References.
If you have questions or comments, please feel free to contact me.
Thanks for your time, consideration, and interest.
