2008/2010 Predoctoral Teaching Fellow
Abigail Palko
Abigail Palko is a Ph.D candidate in the Ph.D. in Literature Program at the University of Notre Dame. Her areas of specialization are Irish Studies and French/Francophone Studies, with a minor in Gender Studies. She received her B.A. in English and French, as well as secondary teaching certification, from Chestnut Hill College (Philadelphia, PA) in 1996. Her senior honors theses examined gendered behavior in the oeuvres of two women novelists: her English thesis, entitled “The Cycle of Reciprocal Liberation: Imprisonment and Salvation in Alice Walker’s The Temple of My Familiar and Possessing the Secret of Joy,” examined the ways in which female friendship can be a liberating force in Walker’s novels; her French thesis, entitled “Le Développement des personnages dans l’œuvre de Gabrielle Roy: une étude de ses romans Bonheur d’occasion et Rue Deschambault,” traced the evolution of Roy’s approach to female character development.
Upon graduation from Chestnut Hill, Abby taught English and Language Arts in New Jersey, first at Florence Township Middle School (1996-2000), and then at Chapin School (Princeton, 2000-2004). While teaching at Florence Middle School, she also earned an M.A. in English and American literature from Rutgers University (Camden, New Jersey) in 2000. Focusing on American women novelists of the twentieth century, she wrote her Master’s thesis on “The Female Protagonist in Twentieth-Century American Literature.” While teaching at Chapin School, she was selected for participation in an NEH Summer Seminar (Summer 2002), “Boundary Lines: American Women Rewriting the South.” Her final project was entitled “Now You Will See How a Slave Was Made a Woman: Bakhtinian Elements in Sherley Anne Williams's Dessa Rose.”
Abby matriculated at the University of Notre Dame in 2004, and was awarded the Gender Studies Predoctoral Teaching and Research Fellowship for the academic year 2008-2009. Under the auspices of this fellowship, she will serve as the Academic Advisor for all undergraduate Gender Studies majors and minors. While at Notre Dame, she has taught a wide variety of courses, including several literature courses of her own design, Introduction to Gender Studies, First Year Composition, and French 101, and served as a teaching assistant for French courses. She was awarded the 2008-09 Dondanville Family Graduate Teaching Award in recognition of her commitment to undergraduate teaching and mentorship. Under the direction of Dr. Maud Ellmann, she is writing a dissertation entitled “Motherless Daughters/Daughterless Mothers: ‘Herstories’ of Maternity and Loss in the Atlantic Triangle.” She has published an essay on Maeve Brennan’s Herbert’s Retreat stories in New Hibernia Review (Winter 2007).