I am a teacher and scholar of literature in 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. Beginning in January 2026, I will be the Mark and Melody Teppola Distinguished Visiting Assistant Professor at Willamette University.

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