Jessica Olley
- Email: kcqs6094@leeds.ac.uk
- Thesis title: Autism and the Canon: Toward a Neurodivergent Theory of Reading
- Supervisors: Dr Denis Flannery, Professor Stuart Murray
Profile
I am a second year PhD student working in the school of English. My focus is on medical humanities and the neurodiversity paradigm. As a late-diagnosed autistic woman, I am interested in neurodivergent perspectives and how they apply to literature.
I previously studied at the University of Warwick, for both my undergraduate and MA qualifications. Here, I developed an interest in queer theory and feminist theory. I was featured in the 2021 International Conference of Undergraduate Research, which spotlighted my work on feminist translation theory and second person literature.
The first chapter of my doctoral thesis, on performative language in Shakespeare’s Coriolanus, will soon be presented at the North Eastern MLA Conference 2026. I am also currently working alongside Dr Lou Harvey on her project ‘Scoping the Intersections of Neurodiversity Studies and Intercultural Studies: Towards Communicative and Epistemic Justice’.
Research interests
My research interests include:
- Neurodiversity
- Queer theory
- Feminist theory
- Shakespeare
- Poetry
- American Literature
Qualifications
- BA in English and Comparative Literary Studies, University of Warwick, First Class
- MA in English Literature, University of Warwick, Discintion
- PhD in English Literature, University of Leeds, Ongoing