Jesse Jack

Jesse Jack (she/they) serves as a Visiting Lecturer in the literature program. Since her arrival at the University of Pittsburgh, she has taught courses related to the representation of adolescents and young adults, social justice movements throughout the American 20th and 21st Centuries, and the representation of LGBTQIA+ experience. Jesse previously taught literature and composition courses at Duquesne University, which is where she earned her Ph.D., researched contemporary trends in Transgender (Trans*) Studies, and earned a certificate to teach in woman, gender, and sexuality studies. At Pitt, she serves as a member of the English Department’s Committee for Diversity and was invited to speak at the Provost’s Diversity Institute for Faculty Development regarding the impacts of anti-LGBTQIA+ legislation on student populations. At Duquesne, Jesse participated in several task forces regarding the inclusivity of the curriculum, and she worked with the Counseling Center to help found and co-facilitate Duquesne’s first LGBTQIA+ support group. Jesse’s current book project (under contract with Lexington Books) explores emergent counter storytelling practices in Trans* Studies and the ways in which these practices negotiate archival constraints, biopolitical control and regulation, medicalization, migration, and more. Through their courses and research, Jesse considers the ways in which counter stories and social theories can address the empirical needs and realities of diverse trans* communities today. In her spare time, Jesse enjoys blending herbal teas, painting, and being with family.

Courses (Past & Present):

ENGLIT 0300: Introduction to Literature 

ENGLIT 0560: Children and Culture (Recitation Instructor)

ENGLIT 0630: Sexuality and Representation 

ENGLIT 0647: Harry Potter

ENGLIT 0655: Representing Adolescence

ENGLIT 0670: Queer and Transgender Literature