Adele Holoch Adjunct Instructor in English

Bio

Ph.D. in English, University of Iowa
M.A. in English, McGill University
B.A. in English, Smith College

I’ve always believed in literature’s transformative power over our perceptions of ourselves, one another, and our world. As a very young reader, I dreamed of following in the footsteps of my favorite authors and attending Smith College and Oxford University. At Smith (and as a visiting student at Oxford), I studied British and postcolonial literature, learning about the English literary canon and some of the voices it has historically marginalized or excluded. My dissertation focused on humor as a mode of community-building and resistance in postcolonial literature, including in works by Zadie Smith, Salman Rushdie, and other multinational writers. In the classroom, I aim to foster and further my students’ own understanding of how literature—and laughter—can help us interrogate and expand our perspectives.