All photography provided by Susan Roberson
Because I grew up traveling and moving, I have had an abiding, personal interest in travel and relocation, in the road, in seeing new places and investigating travel writing and issues of relocation, mobility and how they affected women’s lives and stories.
MY RESEARCH INTERESTS
I am a Professor of English at Texas A&M University-Kingsville. I have served as department chair for the Department of Language and Literature; Assistant Dean for the College of Arts and Sciences; Director of Women Studies; and other duties as assigned. My research interests focus on 19th century American Literature, Travel Writing, and Women’s Studies. I have secured two Humanities Initiative Grants for Hispanic Serving Institutions from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the first on “Exploring the Global Caribbean” because I have lived in the US Virgin Islands and Jamaica. The second grant derived from my curiosity about South Texas, “Towards an Aesthetics of South Texas Women Artists.” Currently, I am working on a book that investigates the ways 19th-century American travel writers experienced and wrote about travel in the United States.
““Education is thinking, and thinking is looking for yourself and seeing what’s there, not what you got told was there.”
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My non-academic self
I am married to Wally J. Moon. I have two grown children, and so many of my current travels and vacations have either been with them or to see them or my parents. I like to walk and to hike, but on fairly easy trails. Often vacations are marked by hikes in Colorado, Texas, New Mexico, Georgia, or walks along the beach. Luckily, I currently live near a beach vacation destination. I also like going to museums, looking at art and historical stuff. I like to cook—but not all of the time nor very precisely. I tend to modify recipes by what I have on hand or forgot to buy. My specialties are salads, banana bread, and chocolate chip cookies.
