Dr. Robin R Blyn

Her first book, “Freak-garde: Extraordinary Bodies and Revolutionary Art in America,” traces the arts of the freak show from P.T. Barnum to Matthew Barney and reveals how a form of mass culture entertainment became the basis for an American avant-garde tradition. She has also published numerous essays and book chapters, including work on modernist writers Djuna Barnes and Nathanael West, and contemporary writers Toni Morrison, Gloria Naylor, Karen Tei Yamashita and Tim O’Brien. Her current projects focus on neoliberalism, network aesthetics and the anarchist imagination.

Blyn has worked with students outside of the classroom in various capacities. Over the years, she has served as founder and faculty director of the UWF Book Club, advisor to the UWF student literary journal, Troubadour; advisor to the English club, Much Ado; and sponsor of the UWF chapter of Amnesty International. She received distinguished teaching awards in 2011, 2004 and 2001.