Dr. Erin Weinberg
I earned my Master of Arts in Shakespeare from Royal Holloway, University of London, and earned my Doctor of Philosophy in English Literature from Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario. I have taught at Queen's University, Brandon University, University of Alberta Augustana, Royal Military College, and Corpus Christi College. In 2021, I joined the Department of English, Theatre, Film and Media at The University of Manitoba, where I now hold the rank of Instructor II.
Confidence in Critical Thinking
My classes are highly energetic, modeled by the Socratic method of asking questions and letting those questions grow into class-wide discussion. I engage students in active learning activities so that they can “get their hands dirty,” applying classroom learning through practice, sharing ideas, and receiving peer and instructor feedback. As a teacher, I seek to develop in my students the critical thinking skills to make independent judgement calls, whether it’s confidently asserting an argument, close reading a text for its underlying meanings, or adhering to the principals of academic integrity.
Food for Thought
I am passionate about unpacking the ways that authors use food to represent relationships and social status. From Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus to George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire, my literature and food courses explore the deeper meanings behind what and how characters consume. They examine the subjective, culturally driven assumptions about what foods or ways of eating are high- or low-class, clean or unclean, civilized or uncivilized. These courses provide students with a chance to see the everyday in a completely new light.
Mentorship and Goal-setting
I take great joy in mentoring students and see my role as one of empowerment. I am passionate about learning more about each student’s goals and finding out how I can help them reach those goals, such as studying abroad, applying to graduate school, applying to national and international scholarships, or finding a meaningful career beyond graduation.
Research Roots
In 2017, I defended my doctoral dissertation about the emotions in Shakespeare’s comedies. I have presented this research at academic conferences across Canada, the United States, and England, including Shakespeare’s Globe in London. My focus on the emotions extends to my research on Jane Austen’s novels, which I have presented at academic conferences and meetings of the Jane Austen Society of North America.
Digging Deeper
I am working on a study about the relationship between language and coercive control in cults. I look at the ways cults redefine words in order to break down and then re-frame a new initiate's ways of thinking. This research uses close reading as a means of digging deeper into the power of language and asserting the necessity of independent critical thinking skills. By unpacking the function of language in cultic brainwashing, I will show how cult leaders use language to construct a reality that prevents members from escaping not only a physical place, but also an ingrained way of understanding the world. In producing this book, I will help readers understand that coercive control is a destructive weapon that may seem invisible, but is not intangible.
