Meet Our Speakers

Angelina Stanford has an Honors Baccalaureate Degree and a Master’s Degree in English Literature from the University of Louisiana, graduating Phi Kappa Phi. For over twenty-five years, she has shared her passion and enthusiasm for literature with students in a variety of settings—everywhere from university classrooms to homeschool co-ops to homeschooling her own three children.  In 2012, she entered the world of online teaching, creating a unique online community and mentor relationship with her students. And in 2020 she founded with her husband, Thomas Banks, the House of Humane Letters, providing online classes, conference, and other resources for a more humane education. Angelina maintains a high commitment to teaching teachers and students the skill and art of reading well--and in recapturing the tradition of literary scholarship needed to fully engage with the Great Books.

Known for her ability to make academic scholarship both accessible and entertaining, Angelina has presented papers at the College English Association Conference, the Conference on Christianity and Literature and is a respected speaker at numerous conferences around the world.  She has also written for numerous publications--including The Old Schoolhouse magazine and a column for Home Educating Family magazine.

A popular guest on a variety of podcasts, Angelina launched her own podcast, The Literary Life Podcast, with her husband Thomas Banks, long-time friend Cindy Rollins in 2019.  Flagged by Itunes as a New and Noteworthy Podcast, each episode explores some aspect of cultivating a literary life--from slow, thoughtful readings of novels and short stories to literary topics like the importance of the detective novel or getting over a reading slump. She is a great believer that Stories Will Save the World!