I am Maria Novotny, an Assistant Professor of English at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where I teach in the Rhetoric, Professional Writing, and Community Engagement program. I hold a PhD in Writing and Rhetoric and MA in Critical Studies in Literacy and Pedagogy, both from Michigan State University. Additionally, I co-direct The ART of Infertility with Elizabeth Horn.

Much of my research is focused on how reproductive health patients advocate for their healthcare needs. While the scope of my work is broad ranging from the lived experiences of infertility to the ethics of data collection, ‘care’ is the methodological framework which connects my work. This work has been formally published in academic journals such as Community Literacy Journal, Reflections, Rhetoric Review, Rhetoric of Health & Medicine, Peitho, and Technical Communication Quarterly. In 2023, Wayne State University Press published an edited collection of patient art and narratives titled Infertilities, A Curation. Comprised of work by editors, writers, and artists who identify as infertile, I co-edited this collection to  highlight the myriad voices and perspectives of individuals who experience infertility and difficulty in family building. The edited collection exemplifies how scholars may reimagine their community-engaged research and repurpose it for more public and accessible forms contributing to advocacy and education efforts. Learn more about the book by listening to a few radio interviews  —  WUWM, WPR, and WORT.

Through a Center for 21st Century Studies (C21) fellowship and an Advancing Research and Creativity grant, I am developing a new research project focused on embryo donation. Tentatively titled, “Language Preferences of the Embryo Donation Community” collaborates with EM•POWER to better understand the language used to describe family structures formed through embryo donation. It is hoped that this work will improve how fertility professionals and mental health therapists council fertility patients as they make decisions regarding their embryos.

Other critical-creative work of mine includes a digital piece titled, “Mapping Reproductive (In)Justice” which was displayed at the Mathis Gallery. This is exhibit co-curated with UWM graduate students and explores Milwaukee’s systemic infrastructures that contribute to a hostile terrain for reproductive justice. This exhibit is part of a larger, collective exhibit connected to Jason De Leon’s work: Hostile Terrain 94 (HT94).