Dr. Stephanie Vastine specializes in American literature of the long nineteenth century, with particular interest in African American literature, queer theory, temporality, ecocriticism, and gender and sexuality. Her dissertation, titled Queerness, Futurity, and Desire in American Literature: Improvising Identity in the Shadow of Empire engages queer theory and temporality to explore American identity formation and is currently being prepared for manuscript publication. Dr. Vastine holds a MA degree in Women's and Gender Studies from Texas Woman's University and has most recently published an article in Feminist Formations entitled "Our Survival Hope: Geneva Crenshaw as Derrick Bell's Womanist Muse" that engages the intersection between critical race theory and womanism and argues for the power of storytelling to effect social change.

Dr. Vastine currently teaches introduction to college writing courses at the University of North Texas. She is committed to her students as well as her scholarship and hopes to transfer her passion for literature and lifelong learning to everyone in her classes. Her pedagogical approach in the classroom is best summarized by Jack Halberstam's quote: "People must be led to learn rather than taught to follow".