John Foster

Professor Foster’s primary field of research is literary criticism, particularly of British and Irish literature. His work, from the beginning informed by social anthropology and folklore, has broadened in recent years to include the history of natural history, Titanic studies and political culture.

Dr. Foster is author of five books and editor of four others. The five authored works are: Forces and Themes in Ulster Fiction (1974); Fiction of the Irish Literary Revival: A Changeling Art (1987); Colonial Consequences: Essays in Irish Literature and Culture (1991); The Achievement of Seamus Heaney (1995); and The Titanic Complex (1997). The most important of Dr. Foster’s edited books is Nature in Ireland: A Scientific and Cultural History (1997, 1998).