Jacob Nielsen is a PhD candidate in English and Auerbach Dissertation Fellow in Victorian Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. His dissertation project examines how both British and South American novelists aesthetically responded to the spatiotemporal exigencies of economic imperialism. He is broadly interested in the literature of empire, realism, the nineteenth-century novel (in both English and Spanish), print culture, and broadened conceptions of the transatlantic. Jacob's essays appear in Dickens Studies Annual and Victorian Literature and Culture (forthcoming).

A recipient of the Dean's Award for Distinguished Teaching by a Graduate Student, Jacob strives to make the classroom a robust space of innovation, critical thinking, and lively discussion, often emphasizing the present relevance of nineteenth-century theory and culture. As a graduate instructor and Program Assistant for University Writing at BYU, he taught (and mentored others who taught) courses in rhetoric, composition, and social science writing. After graduation, he was hired as a Visiting Assistant Instructor at BYU, teaching courses in British literary history, contemporary world literature, and literary theory. At Penn, he has taught or helped teach courses on Victorian fiction, Shakespeare, and contemporary world cinema. He also taught a short writing course titled "Place and Belonging" as part of Penn's Pre-First Year Program.

International Relations, BA (2017) — BYU

English, MA (2019) — BYU