In Memoriam - Kristine Garrigan

REMEMBERING KRIS GARRIGAN
(November 16, 1939 – February 10, 2017)

Professor Garrigan maintained a busy scholarly life throughout her years at DePaul. She was the author of Ruskin on Architecture (1973), the first study of Ruskin’s writing in this area, and of Victorian Art Reproductions in Modern Sources (1991), an exhaustive bibliography that is likely to remain the standard reference work in this field for many years. She also edited a collection of critical essays titled Victorian Scandals: Representations of Gender and Class (1992) and was herself the author of numerous articles, chapters, and reviews on Victorian literature, art, and architecture. She regularly gave scholarly papers at conferences, and she served on several advisory boards and over many years as an officer in the Midwest Victorian Studies Association. She was generous in her service to DePaul as well, taking an active role in the Liberal Studies program, the English Department’s M.A. committee, and the Art Gallery Advisory Board, among other appointments. She will be remembered by her colleagues as a voice for the close study of literary works in their historical contexts and as an outspoken critic of lazy thinking and uninformed speech.


Kristine Ottesen Garrigan was an active presence in the DePaul community for more than thirty years, from her arrival as a part-time lecturer in English (1979) through her appointments as Assistant Professor of English (1981-84), Associate Professor (1984-1990), and Professor (1990-2010). In addition to teaching many courses in writing—including the writing component of Common Studies and courses in Literary Writing and Research and Composition and Style—Professor Garrigan developed and taught a number of courses in her areas of specialization, Nineteenth Century British Literature and Art, the Victorian Novel, and Women Writers. Her courses for majors and graduate students in The Brontes, John Ruskin and the Pre-Raphaelites, Charles Dickens, and Virginia Woolf were legendary for their mastery of cultural contexts and their intellectual rigor. A generous if demanding mentor, Professor Garrigan directed numerous independent studies and sent many of her students on to graduate work and university careers.


Professor Garrigan received her B. A. in English with Highest Honors from Denison University, her M.A. from Ohio State, and her Ph.D (with a dissertation on John Ruskin) from the University of Wisconsin-Madison (1971). In a time not always friendly to women in higher education, she forged an important academic career and became a standard-bearer to generations of DePaul students—and to her colleagues as well. She will be very much missed. Professor Garrigan is survived by her son Matthew, daughter-in-law Brooke, and three grandsons, Matthew, Quinn, and Graham. 

If you would like to sign her memory book, click here. 

Source: Helen Marlborough and Jerry Mulderig, DPU faculty