Board of Directors

Executive Committee

Don James McLaughlin
President
University of Tulsa
Don James McLaughlin is an assistant professor of 19th-century and early American literature at The University of Tulsa. Specializing in the medical humanities, disability theory, and queer literature, he has published on the importance of disability history to understanding the life and writing of poet Walt Whitman. His book in progress explores the development of phobia as an available social and psychological diagnosis among writers ranging from Cotton Mather to Frederick Douglass. While completing his PhD, he partnered with Women’s History Curator Connie King to create an exhibit on LGBTQ history at the Library Company of Philadelphia titled “That’s So Gay: Outing Early America.” In his free time, Don James enjoys rock climbing, gardening, traveling, and playing fetch with his dog Parker. A dedicated advocate for queer interfaith representation in higher ed, Don James is honored to be joining the Little Blue House community.

Jake Crystal
Vice President
University of Central Oklahoma
Jacob (Jake) Crystal is a visiting assistant professor of English at the University of Central Oklahoma. Specializing in Victorian queer ecology, the Gothic, and gender and sexuality studies, he has published on the importance of water for queer relationships in Lady Audley’s Secret to better understand queer people before the advent of sexological studies. His book project traces queer ecological depictions from 1826-1928 by focusing on writers such as Mary Shelley and Radclyffe Hall and it is currently in the proposal stage at the University of Illinois Press. While working on his MA he directed a documentary, Herland: Creating Wimmin’s Community, that covered the oral history of the Herland Sister Resources, a non-profit grassroots organization that supported the women’s community in Oklahoma City. It can be found for free on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lk33dumxbBk. In his free time, he can be found spending time with his spouse and child, playing video games, and playing with his dogs. A queer Indigenous scholar from Mounds, Oklahoma, Jake is excited to be on the board of the Little Blue House.

Adam Watson
Treasurer

Danika Bryant
Secretary
University of Tulsa
Danika is an English Language and Literature PhD student, having received a BA in English from Hannibal LaGrange University, and an MA in English Language and Literature from TU. Their primary research interest is that of queer theory with a focus on homosociality and the space for transgender identities within it. Current projects include a paper on Deborah Sampson, as well as the transgression of gender binaries & boundaries within the long 19^th Century American literature, and studying for field exams.