Animal Writes: Working in Literary and Animal Studies

The Ludcke Chair

In 2004, Eleanor Ludcke, 1926 Westbrook College alumnae, bequeathed to Westbrook College an endowed professorship to be awarded annually to a tenured member of the faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences in recognition of their accomplishments. The Ludcke Chair is awarded to a dedicated educator and productive researcher who has given generously of his or her time to the University over a significant period.  The recipient has a one-year tenure as chair holder, and is also awarded a stipend to use in support of his or her scholarship.

About Susan McHugh

McHugh received her Ph.D. in English from Purdue University in 1999, and joined the UNE faculty in the Department of English and Language Studies in 2002.  She teaches courses in writing, literary theory, and animal studies.  Her discussion-based classes emphasize critical thinking, thus connecting her courses to an important component of the UNE core curriculum. McHugh’s course – Animals, Literature and Culture – was recognized earlier this year by the Humane Society of the United States with an Honorable Mention: Distinguished Established Course Award. The award recognizes academic excellence in a college/university class that explores the relationships between people and animals.

McHugh is a prolific and internationally recognized scholar whose expertise includes literary and interdisciplinary animal studies. Her ongoing research focuses on the intersections of biological and cultural extinctions. She has published dozens of essays in edited collections and leading peer-reviewed journals in her field, and has delivered numerous scholarly and invited papers nationally and internationally. She is the author of two books: Dog (2004), which has been translated into several languages, and Animal Stories:  Narrating across Species Lines (2011).

She also has a significant commitment to service – as faculty adviser to Zephyr, UNE’s journal of artistic expression; chair of the UNE Core Curriculum Committee and member of the Undergraduate Research Committee; member of the editorial board of two scholarly journals; advisory board member of Animalibus: Of Animals and Cultures Book Series of Pennsylvania State University Press; and managing editor of humanities for the interdisciplinary journal Society & Animals. She also reviews manuscripts for several presses and many scholarly journals.