Declan Langton

Declan Apuzzo Langton (they/them) is a PhD Candidate in literature. Their dissertation project interrogates the work, life, and legacy of author Louisa May Alcott as a case study for examining gender, sexuality, and identity in early America. More broadly, they examine the writing of nineteenth-century Americans, searching for elements of self-description and categorization, and compare that language to the legal and political frameworks of the Civil War and Reconstruction periods. 

As an instructor, Declan teaches literature courses centered on environmentalism and landscape, gender and sexuality, and American politics and history. These courses also prioritize the generation of persuasive literary/cultural analysis in one’s own voice and style. 

In 2024, Declan’s paper “‘Can We Move The Frame?’: The Archives of Framing Agnes” won the Kinnaird Essay Prize for English doctoral students. They have presented work alongside the Louisa May Alcott Society, C19: The Society of Nineteenth-Century Americanists, and the Academic Writing Program here at UMD.

Outside of their academic work, Declan is a fiction writer who enjoys swimming, hiking, and listening to music.