PhD in Critical and Cultural Studies (Department of English), University of Pittsburgh
MA in English, University of Pittsburgh
BA in English, University of Pittsburgh
School of American Ballet, New York

Dr. Gail Hammill joined AUD after teaching writing and literature at the University of Pittsburgh and at Camden County College in New Jersey. Her PhD dissertation examined concepts of masculinity and sacrifice in the American Civil War. At AUD, she teaches composition, literature and world cultures. She also founded the annual essay contest held by AUD’s English Division.

In her formative years, Dr. Hammill studied at the School of American Ballet and later taught pre-professional dancers at Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School. These experiences instilled in her a lifelong interest in the expressive potential of the human body and the power of mentorship to enhance quality of life for student and teacher alike. Her research interests include women’s literature, war literature, psychoanalytic theory and contemporary memoir. Her creative nonfiction writing, like her academic work, explores representations of the body in art, dance and literature, especially in connection with gender, sacrifice, and spirituality.

Dr. Hammill and her husband Jim enjoy spending time with their sons, John and William, and taking part in the lively, multicultural community of AUD and Dubai.

Publications:

• “Dancers in a Mirror,” The Dillydoun Review, August 2021, Issue 7.
• “Puritans All the Way Down to Our Feet,” Cinematic Codes Review, Summer 2019, Vol. 4.2 .
• “I Sing the Body Mammalian,” Carolina Quarterly, Spring/Summer, 2019, Volume 68.2.
• “Breathing In: Breathing Out: Writing as a Spiritual Space,” Writing Spaces, edited by Esthir Lemi et al., Brill, May 29, 2019.
• “Mothers’ Magna Carta,” Mothers Always Write (MAW), June 2018.
• “American War Literature,” The Encyclopedia of War and American Society, edited by Peter Karsten) MTM Publishing, 2006.