Donovan Tann, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of English, University of Dubuque (2021-)
English Professor and Language Arts Chair, Hesston College (2014-2021)

Donovan Tann’s work in the classroom includes courses in Shakespeare, world literature, early modern English literature, film studies, introductory and advanced composition, topics courses in British literature, and interdisciplinary freshmen seminars. In addition to his research interests in the early modern period, Tann’s research interests include religion and literature, material culture, and gender in seventeenth-century England and early America. Tann was a member of the 2008-2011 Lilly Graduate Fellows Program based in Valparaiso, Indiana, and he is a recipient of a 2022 Killian McDonnell Fellowship in Faith and Culture as a short-term resident scholar at the Collegeville Institute (Collegeville, MN).

Tann’s current book project investigates early modern beer and brewing as a site of cultural debate in early modern England and North America. His forthcoming chapter, “‘God wotte what liquor’: Brewing History and Memory in Early Modern England,” is scheduled to appear in Palgrave’s Beer and Brewing in Medieval Culture and Contemporary Medievalisms, edited by Noelle Phillips, Rosemary O’Neill, and John A. Geck.

His dissertation, “Spaces of Religious Retreat in Seventeenth-Century English Literature and Culture,” argued that mid- to late seventeenth-century writing about dedicated religious spaces contributes to the construction of the emergent category of religious belief.  His work on early modern religious thought, literature, and gender has appeared in SEL: Studies in English Literature and 1650-1850: Ideas, Aesthetics, and Inquiries in the Early Modern Era.

Curriculum Vitae

All opinions and ideas expressed on this website reflect the personal opinions and ideas of Donovan Tann and do not reflect the policies or official positions of any academic institution. 

Social Media: @donovantann@hcommons.social (Mastodon)