​My research interests center on representations of motherhood in contemporary Irish, African American, and Caribbean literature and in pop culture. My goals relate intimately to these interests: in my literary analyses, I highlight the impact of cultural rhetoric on mothering practices in order to draw attention to the circumstances that can hinder successful mothering. I aim to contribute to the conversation about what constitutes successful mothering, and I draw attention to the models that can influence cultural constructions of a good mother.

I have published a number of articles analyzing the literary writings of a range of Irish, Caribbean, and US women writers, including Elizabeth Bowen, Maeve Brennan, Emma Donoghue, Dorothy Macardle,  Kate McCafferty, Edna O'Brien,  Gisèle Pineau, Jean Rhys, and Sherley Anne Williams. I also write about the construction of maternal identity and the pedagogical use of Patricia Hill Collins' theorizing of black femininity and African American women's mothering practices.