the subject matter

I work on cognition, language, and literature. My work brings together research in linguistics, social cognition, cognitive biases, mental modeling (including mental spaces theory and conceptual integration), audience history, and narratology.

the list

This weblog started as a document of work I was doing in preparation for my PhD qualifying exams. My exam list covered two major areas of specialization: the intersection of high and low culture in the modern British novel (c. 1870-1970) and cognitive approaches to the study of narrative. You can see a partially and idiosyncratically annotated version of the list here.

related sites

My home page
The exam guidelines
My director, Mark Turner
English at the University of Maryland
Literature, Cognition, and the Brain
The Graham Greene collection at the British Library
Voice of the Shuttle
Author(iz)ing Modern Readers

A useful though not yet applicable resource: Negotiating Your First Academic Offer.

Courses I have taught

English 101: Introduction to Academic Writing
English 101U: Introduction to Academic Writing: Technology and Social Policy
English 101X: Academic Writing for Non-Native Speakers
English/LGBT 265: Introduction to Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Literatures
English 280: Introduction to the English Language: The Linguistics of English

who what?

My name is Vera Tobin, and I am a PhD student in the English department of the University of Maryland, in College Park. You may know me as redfox, my usual nom d'Internet. I also keep a log of my adventures with food, at The Hungry Tiger.