Melissa Rampelli
Associate Professor of English; Coordinator, English & Writing; Coordinator, Health Humanities Minor
English | School of Arts & Sciences
Education
- Ph.D., English Literature, St. John's University
- M.A., English Literature, St. John's University
- M.A.T., Secondary English Education, Brown University
- B.A., English Literature, Skidmore College
Dr. Rampelli teaches across writing, literature, and medical humanities, and students can find her in courses on Victorian literature and culture, women’s writing, British literary history, the literature of terror, graphic medicine, first-year writing, and stories of illness and healing. Her research uncovers how nineteenth-century medical ideas shaped women’s lives and how writing has long served as a powerful tool for emotional and mental well-being. She is the author of Narratives of Women’s Health and Hysteria in the Nineteenth-Century Novel and writes the Psychology Today column, “The Fainting Couch."
Research Interests
- Nineteenth-century British literature and culture
- History of psychology and medicine
- History and theory of the Novel
- British and American women writers
- Health Humanities
Courses Taught
- ENGL 101: Writing 1
- ENGL 220: British Literature
- ENGL 246: Literature of Terror
- ENGL 316: Themes in Graphic Narratives: Health and Medicine
- ENGL 321: Literature and Disability
- ENGL 322: Women and Literature
- ENGL 323: Healing, Illness, Stories
- ENGL 350/351: Internship 1 & 2
- ENGL 402: Victorian Period
- ENGL 425: Scholarly Research Seminar
Student Mentoring & Opportunities
Motivated undergraduate research assistants interested in joining ongoing projects in health humanities, narrative medicine, and nineteenth-century literature and medicine are encouraged to reach out to discuss current opportunities. Students may assist with archival research, literature reviews, data organization, and editorial work on publications.