Sonya Brockman

In both her teaching and her research, Sonya Brockman’s emphasis is on blurring boundaries and finding connections between subjects that may seem incongruent. Her own background attests to just this philosophy: Dr. Brockman has been teaching in various contexts for over twenty years—in the college classroom, the yoga studio, and in venues of all sizes as a wildlife educator and trainer. 

In her early research, published in journals including Medieval Feminist Forum, Journal of Early Modern Studies, and College Literature, Dr. Brockman used reception studies and trauma theory to trace the specific ways writers deploy narratives of sexual violence in epic literature and its adaptations. Her current research calls on her background in raptor training to examine literary representations of falconry (the art of hunting with birds of prey) in medieval and early modern England. 

Dr. Brockman has taught at universities in New York, Colorado, and North Carolina, on topics ranging from literary theory to technical writing to advanced seminars in Chaucer and Shakespeare. At USM, she teaches College Writing, Academic Writing, and World Literature. When she’s not at USM, you can find her spending time with her family, birdwatching, or roller skating.