
Dr. Jennifer Gouck (she/her) is a Women in Research (WiRe) Fellow. Her research focuses on representations of girlhood in contemporary American Young Adult literature, media, and culture, and she is also interested in censorship and the rise of book banning in the United States. Her project, “Exploring The ‘Abortion Road Trip’ in American Young Adult Fiction” investigates literary and cultural representations of teen pregnancy and abortion in contemporary American Young Adult (YA) texts, situating these representations within the rapidly changing, unstable, and increasingly conservative sociopolitical environment in America.
Jennifer holds a PhD from University College Dublin where she was a Government of Ireland Postgraduate Scholar. Her doctoral research received awards from the Irish Association for American Studies and the Bassi Foundation. Jennifer is currently revising her thesis for publication as a monograph entitled The Manic Pixie Dream Girl in Contemporary American Young Adult Fiction and is also Guest Editor for a 2025 Special Section of The International Journal of Young Adult Literature entitled “Reflecting on ‘The Teen Whisperer’: Twenty Years of John Green.”
Jennifer’s work has appeared in The Irish Journal of American Studies, The International Journal of Young Adult Literature, Women’s Studies, and she has written a chapter for Children’s Literature and Culture: An Introduction, edited by Dr Rebecca Rowe (forthcoming with Routledge). Jennifer is also passionate about engaging with audiences beyond academia; she has been a reviewer for Children’s Books Ireland’s Inis Magazine and had a regular feature called “Beyond the Books: Where a Love of YA Can Take You” in issues 2-6 of Paper Lanterns: The Teen and Young Adult Literary Journal.
Outside her research, Jennifer is an award-winning teacher, earning an Exceptional Contribution to Learning Award while at University College Dublin. During her time at Belfast Metropolitan College, Jennifer developed and lead the “Library Explorers” initiative. Informed by her experience as a Universal Design for Learning (UDL) practitioner, the Library Explorers programme aimed to increase the confidence of students aged 14-16 from Special Schools in Northern Ireland in engaging with library services. Additionally, the pilot project encouraged these students to read for pleasure and provided the tools to foster a culture of lifelong learning.
Jennifer currently sits on the Membership Committee for the Children’s Literature Association (2024-2027). She previously served as Secretary-Treasurer on the YA Studies Association’s inaugural Executive Board (2020-2024) and as Digital Co-Ordinator on the Irish Society for the Study of Children’s Literature’s Executive Committee (2021-2023).