Scholarly Interests:
My research and teaching interests predominantly centre around ecocriticism, human-animal studies, place studies, and Western American literature. My particular research focus is on North American Fly Fishing literature and how it intersects with issues such as gender, eco-ethics, and environmental justice. I have experience teaching everything from first-year writing to literary surveys--courses on animals, fantasy, and many places in between.

Teaching Statement:
In designing my courses, I make a concerted effort to include diverse perspectives and identities in assigned readings because I believe it is important that we can see ourselves reflected in what is deemed as important enough to teach or learn about. I aim to empower students to take ownership of their beliefs and their writing. I believe that the methodologies of the English discipline can apply to all walks of life. I also believe that interdisciplinary approaches strengthen our understanding of the complex issues we face as a society in the twenty-first century. I know that students come into the classroom with a lot of their own interests, passions, and concerns, and I aim to help them express those things in the most effective way possible.

Selected Publications:
Willard, Cory. "Maggie's Own Sphere: Fly Fishing and Ecofeminism in Ethel Wilson's Swamp Angel." Not Hockey: Critical Essays on Canada's Other Sport Literature, Athabasca UP, 2023. https://read.aupress.ca/read/not-hockey/section/9ee57bba-cd09-43e1-b5b2-50216fca56cd#ch08

Willard, Cory. "Uncenter Yourselves: Revisiting Robinson Jeffers's Inhumanism in the Age of The Overstory." Western American Literature, vol. 56, no. 3-4, Winter 2021, pp. 237-252. Project Muse, https://doi.org/10.1353/wal.2021.0038.

Willard, Cory. "Goldenrods." The Goose, vol. 18 , no. 2 , article 7, 2020, https://scholars.wlu.ca/thegoose/vol18/iss2/7.

Willard, Cory. “Landing Fish and Land Back: The Failure of Freshwater Management in ‘Fly Fishing’ and An Entirely Synthetic Fish.” Conference Presentation at Reclaiming the Commons: ASLE + AESS 2023 Conference, Portland, OR.

Willard, Cory. "What the Trash Fish Knows." Conference Presentation at Western Literature Association 2022 Conference, Santa Fe, NM.