Eagan Dean teaches American literature, specializing in work published before 1900. He has taught writers from John Winthrop to Octavia Butler, helping students use literature to query the origins and impacts of the ideas that make up America. He has previously taught at Stanford University and Rutgers University.

His research focuses on the cultural history of gender in the US, with particular focus on representations of trans and gender nonconforming figures in nineteenth century literature. His writing can be found at Legacy: A Journal of American Women Writers, ESQ: A Journal of Nineteenth Century American Literature, and Women’s Studies.