​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 articles on Dorothy Macardle (Irish University Review, 2016); Emma Donoghue (Women's Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal​, 2015); Gisèle Pineau (Reading/Speaking/Writing the Mother Text: Essays on Caribbean Women's Writing, Demeter Press, 2015); Kate McCafferty (Where Motley is Worn: Transnational Irish Literatures, Cork UP, 2014); Elizabeth Bowen & Jean Rhys (Textual Practice, 2013); Dorothy Macardle (Frontiers: a Journal of Women Studies, 2010); Maeve Brennan (New Hibernia Review, 2007). I also write about the construction of maternal identity for lesbian co-mothers of multiples (On Mothering Multiples: Complexities and Possibilities, Demeter Press, 2016); the pedagogical use of Patricia Hill Collins' theorizing of black femininity and African American women's mothering practices (Patricia Hill Collins: Reconceiving Motherhood, Demeter Press, 2014); and the Philadelphia organization, Mothers In Charge (The 21st Century Motherhood Movement: Mothers Speak Out on Why We Need to Change the World and How to Do It, Demeter Press, 2011). ​