Kari Kalve, Ph.D.

About me

A medievalist by training, I teach a wide range of courses on such topics as English literature, film and literary theory. I have led off-campus programs in England and India and led a student research project exploring connections between literature and architecture.

I love to snorkel; it feels like such a privilege to be able to move in and observe a part of the world that is so different from the one I usually live in. But I also spend time at home in Richmond where I cook, garden, and canoe, and I enjoy practicing yoga with my husband, yoga instructor Stephen Johnson. I am an Earlham sports fan and attend a variety of athletic events.

Earlham maintains its commitment to a Liberal Arts education, one that combines depth in a field with broad learning across the disciplines from sciences to performing arts.  I believe that a Liberal Arts education best prepares students to engage in a continually changing, transnational world and fosters practical skills and theoretical sophistication.

Also, I appreciate the college’s commitment to students’ growth as scholars, citizens, future employees and employers, and as happy people. Earlham students are compassionate and committed to learning and to helping others, and so are the faculty.

Education

• Ph.D., University of Wisconsin, Madison
• M.A., University of California, Berkeley
• B.A., University of Washington

Professional Memberships

• American Council on Education Fellow

Scholarly interest

Transnational approaches to English literature from the British Middle Ages to the contemporary postcolonial world; literary and cultural theory; and liberal arts in higher education.

Published works

“The Spaces of Truth and Community in Piers Plowman B.” in Place, Space, and Landscape in Medieval Narrative, Ed. Laura Howe, University of Tennessee Press, 2007