BiographyDavid Puthoff is a Graduate Instructor and a PhD candidate in American Literature. His research focuses on the practices of collective identity in the 19th century, including slave rebellions, non-nuclear family configurations, and labor unions. Genres he is particularly concerned with - both in research and pedagogy - include zines, pamphlets, speeches, technical and business documents, and anything utopian. Utopian Studies has accepted his article, "'To Make Discoveries in Those Latitudes': Utopia and Settler Colonialism in Equality; or, a History of Lithconia" for publication in volume 32, issue 1 of its journal. His dissertation, "'The End of Each Shall Be the End of All': The Realization of Solidarity in Nineteenth Century African American Texts" examines how African American authors before, during, and after the Civil War imagined solidarity between classes and races. David is a 2020-2021 Bilinski Fellow.
He has presented research at the Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC), the Southwest Pop Culture Conference (SWPCA), C19: The Society of Nineteenth Century Americanists, and the Pacific Ancient and Modern Language Association (PAMLA). He presented on "Precarity and Activism" at the 2018 Modern Language Association (MLA) in New York City.
David served on the executive board of the New Mexico chapter of the National Council of Teachers of English, a professional organization that advocates for social justice in literacy practices. He served as both the English Graduate Student Association (EGSA) secretary from 2016-18 and as the department's Core Writing Coordinator from 2018-2019. In the latter capacity, he pioneered UNM's first Time for Teaching pedagogy conference. He currently serves on the MLA's committee on Teaching as a Profession.
In his spare time, David networks with student and community activists on dismantling rape culture, fighting white supremacy, and deploying appropriate demonstration techniques. He was the recipeint of the Lydia Maria Child Social Justice Award in 2019 and a nominee for the Sarah Belle Brown Community Service Award the same year. He lives in Albuquerque with his partner and their three cats. Time permitting, he also enjoys going to the gym, frequenting the range, and playing Dungeons & Dragons. |
