Ratings & reviews
Always prepared and organized for students.
Always supportive and understanding.
Brings energy and passion to every lesson.
Always fair, encouraging, and motivating.
Creates a safe space for learning and growth.
Taught by or worked with Jessica?
Add your rating. It takes about 30 seconds.
About Jessica
Jessica Murray is a Lecturer in English and Literary Studies, and Gender Studies, in the School of Humanities at the University of Western Australia, where she completed her PhD in 2022. Her doctoral thesis, 'Trials of Conscience in Victorian Law and Literature,' traces modulations in the meanings of the word 'conscience' to examine interactions between Victorian law and literature. The thesis argues that while increasingly positivist and utilitarian legal discourses shifted away from conscience—now associated with morally inflected interiority and the pronoun 'I'—literary representations manifest anxieties about the law's power to shape or corrupt individual conscience, the influence of legal language on articulating moral crises, and reflexive self-judgments.
Murray's research explores the word and idea of conscience in the nineteenth century at the intersections of literature, law, moral philosophy, and science, with particular interest in George Eliot's writings and nineteenth-century conceptions of language. Key publications include the peer-reviewed article 'Conscience' in Victorian Literature and Culture (2023), '(Mis)reading Characters in Middlemarch' in George Eliot Review (2024), and the conference contribution 'Conscience and George Eliot's Daniel Deronda' (2025). She was runner-up for the George Eliot Fellowship Essay Prize (2024). At UWA, Murray coordinates units such as GEND1901 Beyond 'Gender Wars,' ENGL1902 Reading Bodies, ENGL2200 Jane Austen and Her Legacy, and GEND3904 Queer Theory (2025), and tutors ENGL1002 Literary Classics and ENGL3604 Victorian Dreams. Her teaching excellence is recognized by the Commendation for Excellence in Teaching Award (Humanities, 2024), Commendation for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning (Humanities, 2023), and Humanities Excellence in Teaching Award for Tutors and Sessional Staff (2021).
Trending Research & Publication News
SPARC Cost of Knowledge Study: 95% Public Investment in Articles
Photo by Precondo CA on Unsplash
AI Research Scooping: OpenAI & Anthropic Priority Disputes
Photo by Brecht Corbeel on Unsplash
Informa Taylor & Francis Split & Clarion Deal | AcademicJobs
Photo by Anne Nygård on Unsplash
arXiv Two-Submission Monthly Cap Explained | AcademicJobs
Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash
Cell Press Bribery Investigation: Cancer Cell Editor Accused
Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash
Society Journal Sales & Nonprofit Consolidations | AcademicJobs
Photo by Philip Strong on Unsplash