Wanat’s scholarship examines intersections of narrative, genre, and culture in the areas of twentieth-century American literature and cinema studies, and his scholarly interests range from western American literature and film to Appalachian studies to localism and sustainability. Wanat has presented and/or published papers on Sam Peckinpah, Katherine Anne Porter, Wendell Berry, Jack Schaefer, Donald Siegel, and Clint Eastwood. Recently, his pedagogical interests have included coordination of campus sustainability curriculum and events, including a campus vegetable garden worked by students, the produce from which helps to feed the hungry in Fairfield County, Ohio.