The long nineteenth century, theory and history of the novel, realism, form, aesthetics, visual art and culture, race and ethnicity. 

Laurena Tsudama specializes in literature of the long nineteenth century. Broadly speaking, however, her research spans the history of the novel as guided by her interests in realism, form, aesthetics, and the relationship between literature and other media. In the past, she has presented and published on topics ranging from British imperialism and the imagery of landscape improvement in Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park to theatricality in the text and illustrations of Charles Dickens’s Oliver Twist to the appropriation of “Dickensian realism” in the HBO series The Wire. Presently, Laurena's research and writing is largely concerned with the formal operations of the lie and misinformation within the novel, particularly the realist novel's paradoxical reliance on acts of (mis)communication and obfuscation.

Laurena holds a B.A. in Literary Studies from the University of Texas at Dallas and an M.A. in English from the University of Connecticut. Before coming to Rutgers, she taught at the University of Texas at Austin, Quincy College, Wentworth Institute of Technology, and the University of Connecticut, as well as worked as a substitute teacher and test prep instructor.

B.A. Literary Studies, University of Texas at Dallas

M.A. English, University of Connecticut