Peter Astras
Assistant Teaching Professor
Peter Astras
Assistant Teaching Professor
Writing Studies, Rhetoric and Composition
Syracuse University
Writing Studies, Rhetoric and Composition
Syracuse University
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Assistant Teaching Professor
Syracuse University
My research explores ecocriticism and environmental studies through the interconnected lenses of literature, history, place, and rhetoric. I study how environments shape human narratives and how those narratives, in turn, influence cultural memory and identity. I also host author interviews for the Environmental Studies channel on the New Books Network where I speak with scholars whose work deepens our understanding of ecology, climate, and environmental imagination.
What Exit: New Jerseyana at Rutgers University
Past Scholarship:
Review on H-Net: Writing on the Soil: Land and Landscape in Literature from Eastern and Southern Africa (2026)
Scientific Biography: Hudson Maxim (2025)
Review on H-Net: Feathered Marvels: The Natural History and Extraordinary Lives of Birds (2025)
Mentioned in The Droll program for Syracuse’s 2023–24 season: The Droll
Review on H-Net: Ruin and Resilience: Southern Literature and the Environment by Daniel Spoth (2023)
ECD NCA Blog: The Rhetoric of Climate Change (2023)
Member Highlight: ECD 2023 Winter Digest (2023)
Hagley History Hangout: Hagley Museum and Library Video /SoundCloud (2022)
Hagley News: New Jersey Sources in Delaware? (2022)
Dissertation: "You Think You Know What Nature Is" (2022)
Thesis: We'll Have Manhattan: The United Nations and the 42nd Street Slaughterhouses (2012)
Conference Presentations:
"Eco-Cinema: Unpacking Barbie's Plastic World," Southwest Popular/American Culture Association (SWPACA), Virtual, Albuquerque, NM, June 26-28, 2025. (Presenter/Moderator)
“Urban Renewal: The Turtle Bay Neighborhood,” Mid Atlantic Popular & American Cultural Association. Baltimore, MD, November 2014. (Presenter/Session Chair)
“Anna Katharine Green: The Forgotten Author,” Mid Atlantic Popular & American Cultural Association. Pittsburgh, PA, November 2012. (Presenter)
“John Wilkes Booth: The Sensationalized History,” Lower New York Regional Conference of Phi Alpha Theta. Poughkeepsie, NY, April 2011. (Presenter)
“The New York Yankees Franchise: The Catholic Church of Sports,” Mid Atlantic Popular & American Cultural Association. Philadelphia, PA, November 2011. (Presenter)
Certifications:
NJ Standard: Teacher of English, K-12
NJ Standard: Teacher of Students with Disabilities, K-12
NJ Standard: Teacher of Social Studies, K-12
Courses Taught at SU:
WRT 105: Practices of Academic Writing
WRT 205: Critical Research and Writing
WRT 307: Professional Writing
WRT 115: Writing, Rhetoric, and the Environment
"Although nature has proven season in and season out that if the thing that is planted bears at all, it will yield more of itself, there are those who seem certain that if they plant tomato seeds, at harvesttime they can reap onions."
- Maya Angelou
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