Dr. Abigail Heiniger: Fairytale Legacy at BC
Who said fairytales are for kids? Dr. Abigail Heiniger, a Bluefield College professor of English, brings the magic of all your favorite fairytales to life in her undergraduate courses at BC. From Rapunzel to Harry Potter, students learn how to turn their childhood favorites into scholarly conversation. Dr. Heiniger guides her classes through the process of creating a deeper understanding by exploring the origin, meaning, and impact of these famous tales.
“The Literature of the Fantastic class is possibly my favorite class I’ve taken. I’ve always been extremely interested in fantasy, and we got to explore that from a scholarly perspective, focusing on things that we saw and found interesting. It was very eye-opening, and it really taught me a lot about myself.”
– Hayley Moore, BC Senior
Before Bluefield College, Dr. Heiniger earned her PhD. in English from Wayne State University on the fairytale elements of and response to Charlotte Brontë’s novel Jane Eyre. The dissertation for her doctorate she later expanded and revised into a book titled Jane Eyre’s Fairytale Legacy at Home and Abroad, which she published in 2016. In the book, Dr. Heiniger introduces the conversation of Brontë’s novel being a part of the Cinderella tradition and challenges that concept by exploring voices from the “obscure, oppressed workers who remain forever outside the tales of wonder produced for the middle class.”
” I received highly critical responses to this thesis. The Cinderella model is a national identity for these North American authors. Our society is too attached to this concept, and I want to know ‘why are we still trying to make the shoe fit?’.
– Dr. Abigail Heiniger, BC Professor of English
Dr. Heiniger says that she decided to pursue English after starting her undergraduate career as a math major, but later realizing she should be doing something she was passionate about, which was reading. Her favorite class to teach changes every year, but she always loves a class that gives her the opportunity to learn along with her students.
“For example,” she said, “the Rhetoric of Humor class that I taught last spring was surprising.”
Outside of teaching, Dr. Heiniger says that some of her favorite experiences since coming to Bluefield College in 2015 have been attending BC Theatre productions.
“I love when they host a discussion after their performance. Particularly, the discussion that followed Doubt was intriguing,” said Dr. Heiniger, who actually has been asked by the Theatre Department to serve on these discussion panels, including an English tea event in 2016 for the department’s production of Jane Eyre, which coincided with the publication of Dr. Heiniger’s book.
“She was there in an early Victorian costume and talked to attendees about the life and works of the author. It was a very popular event! An unspoken desire of the Theatre Department since then has been to find a show that we could actually persuade Dr. H to perform in. She is such a gifted ‘performer’ in the way she teaches that we know she would be a natural. Alas, her busy teaching schedule and academic research has thus far made that impossible, but we keep dreaming.”
– Charles Reese, Professor of Theatre at BC
In addition to the Theatre Department, Paula Beasley shares that Dr. Heiniger has been “an incredible advocate for the campus library” by participating in Terrifying Tales, the Nora Lockett Memorial Writing Contest, book clubs, and encouraging her students to participate in the events as well. This involvement in the BC community and reputation earned Dr. Heiniger the title of Faculty President for the 2019-2020 academic year.
With all of these accomplishments, one may never guess that Dr. Heiniger is living with lupus, which is a systemic autoimmune disease that occurs when your body’s immune system attacks your own tissues and organs. There is no cure, so the disease is managed mainly through regular exercise and a special diet. Heiniger says, “My students are my encouragement to keep fighting, because I want to be there for them and see their incredible work.”
Teaching gives Dr. Heiniger the opportunity to do what she loves with a flexible schedule that also allows her to take care of her health. She says that everyone at Bluefield College has been very understanding and supportive.
“Dr. Heiniger is one of the most inspirational people that I know. I never see her without a smile. I find that you need to have at least one person in your corner to motivate you in college, and she is that person because she genuinely wants the best for her students.”
– Sidney Smith, BC Senior