Mary Helen McMurran, Ph.D, is Associate Professor in the Department of English and Writing Studies, in the Comparative Literature Program, and is a core faculty member of Centre for the Study of Theory and Criticism at Western University. Dr. McMurran is also currently Chair of Graduate Studies in English. Originally from Oakland, California, she received her PhD in Comparative Literature from New York University, held a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Chicago, and taught at University of Wisconsin before coming to London. Her academic specialization is eighteenth-century British literature with multi-disciplinary interests in visual art, philosophy, history, and religion. She has written and edited two books and several articles on topics in eighteenth-century studies. As a member of the Arts & Humanities Faculty at Western and teacher in its SASAH program, she is committed to the public good by fostering connections between research, teaching, and the community. ​