I am a teacher and scholar of literature in English. Beginning in August 2026, I will join the University of Miami as Assistant Professor of English. I received my PhD from Johns Hopkins University in 2021 and taught for several years in the Departments of English and Comparative Literature at the University of California, Berkeley. I am currently the Mark and Melody Teppola Distinguished Visiting Assistant Professor at Willamette University (Spring 2026).

My research explores eighteenth-century and Romantic literature in Europe, the history and practice of literary criticism, colonial histories of the Atlantic and South Asia, and modern visual culture.

I am the author of The Historical Poem: On the Lives and Afterlives of Romantic Literary Criticism (Stanford University Press, 2026), and essays in New Literary History, Modern Philology, Philosophy and Literature, and elsewhere.

I welcome hearing from scholars interested in collaborative work, book reviews, or other professional engagements, as well as students of all levels and backgrounds.

You can reach me at: joelmchilders@gmail.com