Suzanne Bost
Bost Explores Decolonizing Academia in "Quiet Methodologies"
Suzanne Bost, PhD, professor and Chair of the Department of English in the College of Arts and Sciences, is set to have her book, Quiet Methodologies: Humility in the Humanities, published with the University of Minnesota Press in April 2025.
“Professor Bost’s scholarly work challenges and expands the boundaries of academic inquiry, promoting a more inclusive and collaborative approach to humanities research,” said Peter J. Schraeder, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. “Her book embodies this shift, highlighting the importance of humility and openness in both scholarship and teaching.”
In Quiet Methodologies, Bost explores how centering the voices of others can transform humanities scholarship by prioritizing intellectual humility over ego, fostering collaboration and dialogue, embracing continual reflection and revision, and remaining open to diverse ways of knowing.
“Rather than making arguments in this new book, I include multiple voices and multiple ways of writing,” Bost explained. “I play around with collage as a non-hierarchical and experiential way of thinking.”
Through this approach, Bost challenges traditional academic structures and reimagines research and education with care. Her work encourages readers to envision a more just and inclusive future for the humanities.
“Rather than critiquing other critics, I'm highlighting the ways in which emerging scholars have decolonized their knowledge base,” Bost reflected. “I'm gathering a more inclusive archive and sharing multiple different modes of research.”
Bost emphasizes openness in her scholarship, avoiding a defensive stance and instead offering insight into how she refines her thinking as new ideas emerge.
“A metaphor for my new orientation is that I am opening lots of doors rather than sitting in an ivory tower,” Bost said.
Her research focuses on the intersections of women’s and gender studies, Latinx studies, and ethnic studies with literature. She has published numerous essays on Latinx literature, feminist theory, disability studies, posthumanism, and popular culture, with a focus on ethics and futurity.
An important aspect of her research is her “obsession” with archival work, which recently led her to explore The Gloria Evangelina Anzaldúa Papers at the University of Texas. This experience broadened her focus beyond the traditionally ‘valued’ documents, encouraging a deeper engagement with the larger ecosystem of the library itself.
“In the past five years, my writing and my teaching have become increasingly experimental, moving away from traditional literary arguments and towards more speculative, embodied, and cross-genre practices,” Bost noted.
As a longtime scholar in Latinx studies, Bost is acutely aware of her position within the field and the evolving demographics of Loyola’s student body.
“I am a white woman who has been working in the field of Latinx studies since the 1990s,” Bost acknowledged. “As Loyola's student demographics become increasingly Latina/o/x, I feel like we need young Latinx scholars to identify with and learn from.”
This awareness shapes her commitment to decolonizing curricula and academic norms, leading her to explore “different uses of silence and voice” in her writing.
Her passion for these fields stems from her upbringing in New Mexico, where she was influenced by teachers who introduced her to Chicana/o literature and by her fiercely independent grandmother, who attended Loyola’s Niehoff School of Nursing in 1935.
“Transformative education is the most important thing I do, and I truly enjoy learning with and from my students.”
Read more about Bost and her book, Quiet Methodologies: Humility in the Humanities.
About the College of Arts and Sciences
The College of Arts and Sciences is the oldest of Loyola University Chicago’s 13 schools and colleges. More than 150 years since its founding, the College is home to 20 academic departments, 31 interdisciplinary programs, and 7 interdisciplinary centers, more than 450 full-time faculty, and nearly 8,000 students. The 2,000+ classes that we offer each semester span an array of intellectual pursuits, ranging from the natural sciences and computational sciences to the humanities, the social sciences, and the fine and performing arts. Our students and faculty are engaged internationally at our campus in Rome, Italy, as well as at dozens of university-sponsored study abroad and research sites around the world. Home to the departments that anchor the university’s Core Curriculum, the College seeks to prepare all of Loyola’s students to think critically, to engage the world of the 21st century at ever deepening levels, and to become caring and compassionate individuals. Our faculty, staff, and students view service to others not just as one option among many, but as a constitutive dimension of their very being. In the truest sense of the Jesuit ideal, our graduates strive to be “individuals for others.”
Suzanne Bost, PhD, professor and Chair of the Department of English in the College of Arts and Sciences, is set to have her book, Quiet Methodologies: Humility in the Humanities, published with the University of Minnesota Press in April 2025.
“Professor Bost’s scholarly work challenges and expands the boundaries of academic inquiry, promoting a more inclusive and collaborative approach to humanities research,” said Peter J. Schraeder, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. “Her book embodies this shift, highlighting the importance of humility and openness in both scholarship and teaching.”
In Quiet Methodologies, Bost explores how centering the voices of others can transform humanities scholarship by prioritizing intellectual humility over ego, fostering collaboration and dialogue, embracing continual reflection and revision, and remaining open to diverse ways of knowing.
“Rather than making arguments in this new book, I include multiple voices and multiple ways of writing,” Bost explained. “I play around with collage as a non-hierarchical and experiential way of thinking.”
Through this approach, Bost challenges traditional academic structures and reimagines research and education with care. Her work encourages readers to envision a more just and inclusive future for the humanities.
“Rather than critiquing other critics, I'm highlighting the ways in which emerging scholars have decolonized their knowledge base,” Bost reflected. “I'm gathering a more inclusive archive and sharing multiple different modes of research.”
Bost emphasizes openness in her scholarship, avoiding a defensive stance and instead offering insight into how she refines her thinking as new ideas emerge.
“A metaphor for my new orientation is that I am opening lots of doors rather than sitting in an ivory tower,” Bost said.
Her research focuses on the intersections of women’s and gender studies, Latinx studies, and ethnic studies with literature. She has published numerous essays on Latinx literature, feminist theory, disability studies, posthumanism, and popular culture, with a focus on ethics and futurity.
An important aspect of her research is her “obsession” with archival work, which recently led her to explore The Gloria Evangelina Anzaldúa Papers at the University of Texas. This experience broadened her focus beyond the traditionally ‘valued’ documents, encouraging a deeper engagement with the larger ecosystem of the library itself.
“In the past five years, my writing and my teaching have become increasingly experimental, moving away from traditional literary arguments and towards more speculative, embodied, and cross-genre practices,” Bost noted.
As a longtime scholar in Latinx studies, Bost is acutely aware of her position within the field and the evolving demographics of Loyola’s student body.
“I am a white woman who has been working in the field of Latinx studies since the 1990s,” Bost acknowledged. “As Loyola's student demographics become increasingly Latina/o/x, I feel like we need young Latinx scholars to identify with and learn from.”
This awareness shapes her commitment to decolonizing curricula and academic norms, leading her to explore “different uses of silence and voice” in her writing.
Her passion for these fields stems from her upbringing in New Mexico, where she was influenced by teachers who introduced her to Chicana/o literature and by her fiercely independent grandmother, who attended Loyola’s Niehoff School of Nursing in 1935.
“Transformative education is the most important thing I do, and I truly enjoy learning with and from my students.”
Read more about Bost and her book, Quiet Methodologies: Humility in the Humanities.
About the College of Arts and Sciences
The College of Arts and Sciences is the oldest of Loyola University Chicago’s 13 schools and colleges. More than 150 years since its founding, the College is home to 20 academic departments, 31 interdisciplinary programs, and 7 interdisciplinary centers, more than 450 full-time faculty, and nearly 8,000 students. The 2,000+ classes that we offer each semester span an array of intellectual pursuits, ranging from the natural sciences and computational sciences to the humanities, the social sciences, and the fine and performing arts. Our students and faculty are engaged internationally at our campus in Rome, Italy, as well as at dozens of university-sponsored study abroad and research sites around the world. Home to the departments that anchor the university’s Core Curriculum, the College seeks to prepare all of Loyola’s students to think critically, to engage the world of the 21st century at ever deepening levels, and to become caring and compassionate individuals. Our faculty, staff, and students view service to others not just as one option among many, but as a constitutive dimension of their very being. In the truest sense of the Jesuit ideal, our graduates strive to be “individuals for others.”