Emily Eikost is a PhD student focusing on Middle English language and literature. Her teaching philosophy is student-centered and focused on helping students develop transferable skills that they can utilize personally, professionally and academically. As a researcher, her research interests are centered around medieval studies and include, but are not limited to, the intersections between it and psychoanalysis, gender and sexuality, courtly love and the global Middle Ages. Additionally, she is interested in the impact late medieval literature had on the construction of Renaissance and Victorian literature. Her MA thesis focused on the role that identity formation plays within courtly love literature using Lacan’s mirror stage theory as a basis.