Erin Polnaszek Boyd

As a first-generation college student, I was highly indecisive about my major and transferred to a different institution after my freshman year.  I received my Bachelors of Arts degree in English Literature with a Spanish minor and studied abroad in Cuernavaca, Mexico while an undergraduate.  That was my first time leaving the United States. I then earned my Masters of Arts degree in English with a focus on Postcolonial Literature.  My masters thesis was “Intertextuality in Jane Eyre and Wide Sargasso Sea”, where I explored the madwoman in the attic character through the lens of the “other” using feminist and postcolonial theory. Before coming to Madison in 2008, I worked at the University of South Carolina, although I have spent most of my life in the Midwest. Since coming to UW, I worked as a Study Abroad Advisor until transitioning to the English department.  I enjoy coffee, reading, music, running, being outside and spending time with my family.