Laci Burton

If Laci Burton knows how to do one thing, it’s staying busy. From tutoring to on-campus leadership positions, Laci’s time at Stony Brook is nothing short of admirable. After being awarded a URECA grant to go to the Library of Congress, Laci was able to further her research for her Honor’s thesis and uncovered something exceptional. Laci argues that Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House uses Freudian ideology to subvert the goals of psychoanalysis and hegemonic enforcement of gender roles.

What made you pursue English as a major? What’s the most fulfilling part of it?

Studying English just felt right. I think because the Humanities are so integral in activism and the world, being an English major gave me access to having an impact. It’s crucial for me to be an English scholar who can add to the conversation on topics that are important to me. I also love that my major allows me to do my own unique research that I may not have had the opportunity to do if I wasn’t studying in the Honors Program.

Tell me about your Honors Thesis. What led you to this topic? Who’s mentoring you?

My advisor is Professor Scheckel; what else is new. My work is on the queer subtext in Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House, but more specifically, how she uses Freudian ideology to subvert the goals of psychoanalysis and hegemonic enforcement of gender roles. I’ve always loved the queer gothic genre, so as soon as I got accepted into the Honors Program, I knew my thesis was going to be related to it. When I got a URECA grant to travel to the Library of Congress, where all of Shirley Jackson’s notes, drafts, and manuscripts are archived, I found a letter connecting her to Nandor Fodor, a Freudian scholar who theorized the psychoanalytic reasoning behind poltergeists. Basically, he was saying that ghosts only happen because your subconscious projects these events. Jackson and Fodor communicated with each other, and she took inspiration from him. When I started reading Fodor’s cases, one of the case studies I found very much mirrors the events of The Haunting of Hill House, but the ending is different. I questioned why Jackson portrays the same arc of events and uses these Freudian techniques but writes so that it doesn’t work out for the protagonist in the end. Why did she choose that ending? 

What was the most fun/interesting thing you learned while researching for your thesis? 

I feel like the most fun and exciting thing must’ve been going to the archives in D.C. and getting to hold Jackson’s first-hand notes. Like, she wrote these on the typewriter or by hand, and they’re in my hand—that’s crazy. There were over 7,000 documents. So, getting a glimpse of not only her work but her life and dealing with these documents firsthand was incredible and unforgettable.

What career path are you interested in after you graduate?

I definitely want to teach, but I love research and publishing equally. So, ideally, I would like to be a professor at a university. I work at the writing center, and I’ve TAed for EGL204 and WRT102 a few times, so I’ve had teaching experience, and this is what I love.