Dave Harper

Profile

Biography

Dave taught at West Point for fourteen years, and was promoted to the rank of Associate Professor in 2015 and Professor in 2022. He served eight years as Department Head and member of the Academic Board. During his time at West Point, Dave was an Andrew W. Mellon Fellow in Critical Bibliography at Rare Book School at the University of Virginia. He directed and taught courses on Shakespeare, Milton, Power and Difference, and Book History in addition to courses on English Composition and survey courses on English Literature.

Research

Overview

Dave specialises in the literature of early modern and eighteenth-century England and book historical methodologies, with a particular interest in the poetry and prose of John Milton. He has published numerous articles in peer-reviewed journals and edited collections. At York, he is a member of the Centre for Renaissance and Early Modern Studies. His book, Paradise Lost and the Making of English Literary Criticism, is forthcoming from Routledge in December 2023 as part of their Studies in Renaissance Literature and Culture Series. The monograph explores the reception of Paradise Lost as a critical moment in the development of English literary studies. Future projects include further research on the  history of printing in York and the provinces, further research on Milton’s reception in the eighteenth century, and letterpress printing projects in progress at his private letterpress studio, Mischiefe Press. 

Teaching

Undergraduate

At West Point, Dave directed and taught courses on Shakespeare, Milton, Power and Difference, and Book History in addition to courses on English Composition and survey courses on English Literature. At York, as a Fulbright Scholar in 2022, Dave designed and taught an advanced option module, ‘Imprinted at York’: Decentering Print History, which utilised the Minster Archives and Thin Ice Press. In 2023 he will be teaching on The Renaissance.

Postgraduate

Dave will be teaching on the MA Letterpress module in 2024.

External activities

Overview

Dave is on the board of directors of Rare Book School at the University of Virginia.