ABOUT

Molly Farrell is Associate Professor of English at the Ohio State University. She is the author of New World Calculation: The Making of Numbers in Colonial America and Counting Bodies: Population in Colonial American Writing. Her books, essays, and book chapters explore the prehistory of ordinary encounters in U.S. culture today—things like arithmetic lessons, at-home abortion, and census forms. She is most interested in finding overlooked or unexplored paths from the past that provide alternative ways forward in the present. Her Slate essay on Benjamin Franklin and abortion has been featured in interviews aired on NPR and PBS.

Farrell’s research has been supported by fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Huntington Library, the American Antiquarian Society, and OSU’s College of Arts and Sciences. Her teaching has been recognized with multiple awards including the Paul W. Brown Excellence in Teaching Award. She earned her Ph.D. from Yale University and her B.A. from Kenyon College.

A lifelong resident of Columbus, Ohio, Farrell has been involved for many years with local reproductive justice and education justice organizations. She lives in the city with her husband, two children, and a puppy.