Kevin L. Petersen is an Associate Teaching Professor in the English Department and the Director of Bachelor of Liberal Arts (BLA) Program at UMass Lowell.

Kevin L. Petersen

Associate Teaching Professor, Director of Bachelor of Liberal Arts (BLA) Program

College
College of Fine Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
Department
English
Phone
978-934-4095
Office
O'Leary Library - 500F
Links

Expertise

Composition and Literature; Renaissance Literature

Research Interests

16th century poetry; Historiography; Iconography; Translations of classical literature.

Education

  • BA: History; Literature minor, University of California Santa Cruz - Santa Cruz, CA
    Dissertation/Thesis Title: Dictated Democracy: Standardizing the American High School, 1890-1930
  • MA: English and American Literature, University of New York - New York, NY
    Dissertation/Thesis Title: The Spirit and the Body in Legacies of Troilus and Cressida
  • Ph D: English, (2012), University of Massachusetts Amherst - Amherst, MA
    Dissertation/Thesis Title: : Elizabeth's Fruitless Crown: Ovidian Poetry, The End of Tudor Genealogy, and the Incomplete Past

Biosketch

My Ph.D. is in early modern literature, and I research sixteenth century poetry’s uses of history and classical literature. I have published on Shakespeare’s poetry and I am currently working on an edition of Shakespeare’s The Tempest. I lead study abroad programs in London to explore Shakespeare and modern adaptations of his work, and I am currently running an interdisciplinary summer Shakespeare program for the Honors College. In addition to my teaching in the English Department, I am the director and advisor of the Bachelor of Liberal Arts (BLA) program and teach the two required courses for all BLA students. I also serve as the president of the Faculty Senate at UML after several years serving as the coordinator of the university’s Core Curriculum.

Selected Awards and Honors

  • Dissertation Fellowship (2007) - University of Massachusetts Amherst
  • Teaching Fellowship, English (2006) - Stonehill College
  • Walter Chmielewski Fellowship (2002) - University of Massachusetts
  • Joseph Langland Prize (2001) - University of Massachusetts Amherst
  • Chancellor's Award for Academic Excellence (1995) - University of California Santa Cruz

Selected Publications

  • Petersen, K.L. (2017). Shakespeare and Sententiae: The Use of Quotation in Lucrece (pp. Shakespeare and Quotation). UK: Cambridge University Press

Selected Contracts, Fellowships, Grants and Sponsored Research

  • Dissertation Fellowship (2007), Fellowship - University of Massachusetts Amherst
  • Teaching Fellow, English (2006), Fellowship - Stonehill College