Ryan D. Fong's began his graduate career focusing on contemporary British and Anglophone literature, but has since expanded his interests in becoming a full-fleged Victorianist.  His dissertation bridges these two fields by looking at the literary and cultural afterlife of the Victorian period in contemporary Britian through the lenses of imperial history and masculinity studies.  The project engages with postcolonial and queer studies of the nineteenth century,  work on genre and narrative form, and larger questions of historiography and formations of national identity.  It also gives him an excuse to read people like Doyle, Haggard, Kipling and Stevenson and to watch episodes of Upstairs, Downstairs for "work."

Ryan has taught Introduction to Literature in the Department of English and Expository Writing in the University Writing Program, and has served as Teaching Assistant for upper-division courses in English, including World Literature in English: Colonialism and Masculinity, the 20th Century British Novel and Introduction to Critical Theory.  He has served as a reader for courses on Jane Austen and Science Fiction.

Ryan has an article forthcoming on contemporary Scottish author Jackie Kay, and is also working on pieces about Charles Dickens and tourism, and on the poetry of Felicia Hemans. 

Within the English Department, Ryan has served in a range of capacities--as EGSA co-chair, MLA Representative, Undergraduate and Graduate Committee Representative, and Scholars' Symposium Co-Chair.  He is currently serving on the UC Davis Editorial Board of the journal Theory and Society, and he runs the casual Victorianist gathering affectionately called "The Baggy Novel Book Club."  He has also been an enthusiastic participant of the Dickens Universe, to which he anticipates a life-long devotion.