Celia Easton

Celia Easton (Professor Emerita) received her Ph.D. from the University of Michigan and began working at Geneseo as a faculty member in the English Department in 1984. Initially, her research and courses focused primarily on the 18th-century novel and poetry. Her scholarship now centers almost exclusively around Jane Austen, whose work Easton teaches in the major authors course. She is a recipient of the Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching. Easton serves on the editorial board of Persuasions, the journal of the Jane Austen Society of North America. In 2016, she published “‘The Encouragement I Received’: Emma and the Language of Sexual Assault”  in Persuasions. She also published "'The Probability of Some Negligence': Avoiding the Horror of the Absent Clergyman" as well as "The Sibling Ideal in Jane Austen's Novels: When Near Incest Really is Best."  In Persuasions vol. 44 (2022), she published "Colonel Brandon and Military Service in the East India Company," an examination of Austen's attitudes about colonialism, Warren Hastings, and the exploitation of Indian resources and citizens.

Professor Easton retired as Dean in the Office of Academic Advising and Planning in January 2023.  She now teaches occasionally (including Fall 2023) as adjunct faculty member in the Department of English.