Maizie Ferguson

Maizie Ferguson is a 2026-27 Self Memorial Scholar pursuing a Master of English in Literary Studies. During her undergraduate career at KU she was chosen as a nominee for the Rhodes and Marshall Fellowships, interned with Dr. Jonathan Lamb in the creation of a forthcoming Cambridge Edition of Love's Labour's Lost, and achieved both University and Departmental English honors.

A burgeoning scholar, Maizie is most intrigued by British literature, specifically of the long-18th century, including Jane Austen and her contemporaries. Austen is often at the forefront of Maizie's academic pursuits, leading her to present research on the mimetic significance of Austen's fictitious letters at the 2025 NeMLA Conference and on Georgian Era marriage laws at the 2026 Jane Austen Summer Program. Working for the Jane Austen Collaborative––a broader organization in public and digital humanities––has allowed her to work with preeminent scholars in the field such as Inger Brodey and Sarah Marsh.

Maizie looks forward to further opportunities for study and presentation, aided by her receipt of the 2026-27 Allen S. Wilber Scholarship, awarded to outstanding students in social sciences or modern languages and literature at the graduate level. Other research interests include academic editing, archival curation, philology, and epistolary traditions in the English novel. Upon completion of her MA degree, Maizie plans to complete further study of the humanities and literary culture in the UK.