Matthew Soderblom
Matthew Soderblom is a Ph.D. candidate in Temple University’s English Department. He currently teaches English 0802 in the First Year Writing program. Specializing in late nineteenth and early twentieth century American Literature, his research interests include concepts of the frontier, immigrant literatures, indigenous literatures, issues of modernity, madness, realism, naturalism, modernism, and the psychological effects of environmental issues.
His dissertation explores the relationship between madness and American frontier literature. In this work, he argues that madness was an aspect of frontier life that reflects the psychological pressures of the settlement process on both European-American settlers and Indigenous populations. The foundation of this project rests on a diverse body of literature that ranges from the 1830s to the 1930s –including texts by Indigenous, immigrant, and other notable authors, such as Nathaniel Hawthorne, Zitkála-Šá, Sarah Winnemucca, O.E. Rolvaag, Sara Orne Jewett, Mark Twain, Hamlin Garland, and Willa Cather.
He has published an article in the South Central Review and has a forthcoming article in another publication. Also, he has presented papers at the Midwest Modern Language Association (MMLA), the South Central Modern Language Association (SCMLA), and the South Atlantic Modern Language Association (SAMLA). He plans to present another paper on Edgar Lee Masters and Willa Cather at the Northeast Modern Language Association’s (NEMLA) conference in 2022.
In addition to teaching Composition and Rhetoric at Temple, he has also taught literature and composition courses at Delaware Technical Community College, Lincoln University, and Florida International University.
Matthew received a BA in English from West Virginia University and an MA in Literature from Florida International University.
In his spare time, he enjoys hiking, playing guitar, writing poetry, and watching the Sixers.
Contact: matthew.soderblom@temple.edu
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