UC SANTA BARBARA

NEWS FOR Alumni & Friends of Comparative Literature and Translation Studies & The Graduate Center for Literary Research Summer 2019—Spring 2020

UC SANTA BARBARA CHAIR OF THE PROGRAM UNDERGRADUATE ADVISOR NEWSLETTER EDITORS Comparative Literature Program Dominique Jullien Melissa Powell Marcel Strobel [email protected] [email protected] Jordan J. Tudisco 4206 Phelps Hall Santa Barbara, CA 93106-4130 VICE CHAIR STUDENT SERVICE MANAGER GRADUATE PROGRAM COORDINATOR Information: (805) 893-3161 Eric Prieto Carol Flores Tyler McMullen Fax: (805) 893-8341 [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Comparative Literature UC Santa Barbara

01 Notes from the Chairs and Directors Dominique Jullien, Chair, Comparative Literature 01 Jean Marie Schultz, Incoming Chair, French & Italian 02 Elisabeth Weber, Chair, Germanic & Slavic Studies 02 Sara Pankenier Weld, Incoming Chair, Germanic & Slavic Studies 03 Suzanne Jill Levine, Advisor Emerita, Translation Studies Program 03 02 The Graduate Center for Literary Research 04

03 New Hires and New Affiliated Faculty 05

04 Updates from Affiliated Faculty 06

05 Newly Graduated 10

06 News from Our Alumni 11

07 New Doctoral Candidates 11

08 Welcoming New Graduate Students 12

09 Other Graduate Student Updates 13

10 Our Grads at the 2020 Institute for World Literature 15

11 UCSB Memory Studies Group 16

12 Undergraduate Honors Reception 17

13 PASC Staff Updates 18 Notes from the Chairs and Directors

Dominique Jullien Chair, Comparative Literature

In September 2019, I took over as chair of Comparative Literature, following seven years of Catherine Nesci’s superb leadership. This was a hard act to follow; I feel that I learned much, but there is still so much to learn every day. I am immensely grateful to PASC’s wonderful staff, whose competence and infinite patience help steer our Comparative Literature Program vessel in these troubled waters. In response to the COVID remote work rules, the staff has been truly remarkable in their resilience and resourcefulness, and I could not have dreamed of a better team to work with. Make sure to read all the exciting Staff news. I am also much indebted to the kindness and expertise of my colleagues, who assist and enlighten me with unfailing generosity. The Comparative Literature Advisory Board has been invaluable in helping me navigate the visit of our External Review Committee and the various initiatives in the aftermath of its report. It is a privilege to work with Eric Prieto, Vice Chair and Graduate Advisor, and Roberto Strongman, Undergraduate Advisor. Thanks as well to Julie Carlson for taking on the job of Diversity Officer, and to Nadège Clitandre who fulfilled that role for several years, and is now taking a much-deserved sabbatical. Most of all, my thanks go to Catherine Nesci, for her expert and helpful guidance in all aspects of the job.

External Review This year saw the visit of the External Review, which took place in late January 2020. Its six members reviewed the Comparative Literature Program Program, the French and Italian Department and the Germanic and Slavic department all at once. I am pleased to say that the report was very positive, praising the program as a “hidden gem.” The External Review Committee also made a number of practical recommendations, which we are beginning to implement. One key recommendation was to streamline the PhD exam structure, with the goal of shortening the timeline and enhancing the professional relevance of the exams. After extensive consulting with the Board, affiliate members and graduate students, we put forth a proposal for a revised exam structure, which was approved by the Graduate Council in June and will begin to be implemented next Fall.

Initiatives Comparative Literature Program continued to offer a wide range of courses that bring fields and disciplines in conversation. New initiatives are being developed, in particular in the Environmental Humanities. A ground-breaking new summer course on “Storytelling in the Anthropocene” was offered in July 2020, team-taught by an Associate from the Bren School and an Associate in Comparative Literature. A Vegan Studies minor, building on Professor Renan Larue’s very successful course offerings on vegan issues, is in the works, as is the addition of the Graduate PhD Emphasis in Environment and Society (IPEES) in Comparative Literature. The annual spring conference of the Graduate Center for Literary Research, on the theme of “Climate Fictions” had to be postponed because of the pandemic and was moved to Winter of 2021. The Critical Memory Studies group continues its lively quarterly meetings, most recently holding a zoom discussion of Jessica Nakamura’s book Transgenerational Remembrance.

This year is not for the faint of heart. With its multiple challenges, from a viral pandemic and anti-Black racism and violence to economic and climate crises, 2020 truly is an unforgettable year. In the face of adversity, everyone has been intrepidly striving to teach, learn, and administer in this brave new remote environment. As online teaching becomes the norm for the foreseeable future, we are mutating into quite the zoom experts. Stay safe everyone!

COMPARATIVE LITERATURE 1 Notes from the Chairs and Directors

Jean Marie Schultz new, dynamic intermediate French Vagt and Wolf Kittler organized Incoming Chair, French & Italian language program at UC Berkeley, a three-day long international one that drew on my experiences conference on “Modeling the As the new chair learning and teaching languages Pacific: Oceanic Research in Science, of French and and on my experiences in literature. Technology, and Humanities.” This Italian, it will be a This calling then led me into Applied highly interdisciplinary conference pleasure working Linguistics, which was an emerging brought together scholars from with all colleagues field at the time. Interestingly, my the sciences and the humanities to in Comparative work in critical theory, which was explore the history and function of Literature in an expanded way. In a major emphasis in Berkeley’s modeling for our understanding of my role as Director of the French programs, contributed to my work in oceans in general, and the Pacific Language Program, I have had the Applied Linguistics and distinguished Ocean in particular. It connected privilege of working with graduate some of my publications from those of scientific and engineering modes students in Comparative Literature other researchers. of studying oceans and marine life for a number of years. My own with approaches from Media Studies, background in Comparative Literature The upshot of this is that work in History of Science, and Literature. (PhD, UC Berkeley) has given me Comparative Literature prepares It was a wonderful gathering with insight into the unique needs and scholars for a variety of unpredictable exceptionally rich discussions. professional interests of the graduate undertakings. The words of one of my students with whom I have worked, graduate student colleagues who had In March 2020, Elisabeth Weber particularly in helping them hone a dynamic career at Harvard still rings organized a day long international their teaching skills and build their true. She told me to make the very conference on “Heidegger and CVs in terms of competency in the most of my graduate education, and Kabbalah. Exploring Elliot Wolfson’s teaching of languages and of French especially in preparing for the PhD Work on Martin Heidegger and in particular. exams. As stressful as the work might Jewish Mysticism.” Scholars from be, this is the one time when one can Israel, England, Turkey, Germany Perhaps my own career trajectory indulge so completely in the study and Poland engaged with Wolfson’s is a good example of the flexible of literature and its interdisciplinary path-breaking new book, Heidegger and transferable skills that develop intersections. Once working, even in a and Kabbalah. Hidden Gnosis and as a result of a “comparative” college or university, the professional the Path of Poiesis which traces orientation. My own doctorial demands eat into this special time. with breathtaking erudition a deep focus was on 19th- and early 20th- connection between Heidegger’s century French, Russian, and English Elisabeth Weber thought and the vast corpus of Jewish literature. These foci inevitably Chair, Germanic and Slavic Studies mysticism, including, but not limited took me into other disciplines— to Italian, Castilian and Provençal history, music, art—of course, as In 2019-2020, Kabbalists, thereby uncovering the well as linguistics. And, in studying GSS colleagues profound impact of Jewish mystical literature written in the original, one continued the long- thinking on a philosopher most cannot help but reflect on language standing tradition commonly known for his involvement learning. The opportunity to teach of contributing with National-Socialism and averred in the Departments of French and a significant anti-Semitism. Comparative Literature at Berkeley number of classes to the Comparative were invaluable experiences for Literature curriculum. A medical Our new chair Sara Weld’s me. I will say, however, that it was emergency and the pandemic international conference entitled in learning to teach French from a prevented us unfortunately from “Fallout: Chernobyl and the Ecology great master teacher that I really welcoming our annual Kade Visiting of Disaster,” planned for Spring 2020, learned how to connect with students Professor from a German-speaking had unfortunately to be postponed and create an interactive classroom country who usually teaches cross- due to the pandemic. environment, one that I was able listed classes, both undergraduate to transfer to courses in literature. and graduate. We are grateful and proud that our Through twists and turns of fate, I search for an Assistant Professor was eventually called on to create a In Fall 2019, Professors Christina for the History and Theory of Digital Humanities was successfully

2 UC SANTA BARBARA Notes from the Chairs and Directors concluded with the hire of Dr. Fabian Slavic Studies (GSS). I am taking Suzanne Jill Levine Offert. Dr. Offert’s research and over the role of Chair after Elisabeth Advisor Emerita, Translation Studies teaching focuses on the digital/ Weber, whom I would like to take Program computational humanities, with a this opportunity to thank for her special interest in the epistemology many years of dedicated service 2019-2020 was of artificial intelligence, and its to the department, as well as to the last year for intersection with art and literature. Comparative Literature. I am an Professor Suzanne The department is also welcoming a Associate Professor of Russian and Jill Levine to new lecturer in German, Anna Pajak. Comparative Literature with research teach the core interests in Russian, Scandinavian, Translation Studies During the past academic year, American, and comparative literature, seminar. Jill, whose brainchild the we again were happy to be able as well as in childhood, Indigeneity, very successful Translation Studies to support Comparative Literature visuality, and the avant-garde. In program was, and who directed it graduate students with Kade and Comparative Literature, in addition with such panache until last year, Atkins fellowships, providing them to a range of undergraduate courses will be much missed, as will Prof. with teaching-free quarters dedicated and a graduate seminar on Russian Jon Snyder, who also taught the to their research, the Kade travel literary theorists, I have taught the “Art of Translation” regularly, and fellowships to German-speaking Proseminar twice in the past several who also retired last year. But we countries in the summer had to be years, which has been a nice chance hope to be able to hire a new cancelled due to the COVID-19 to get to know incoming Comparative specialist in Translation Studies crisis. Our department continues to Literature graduate students. I am soon, as there is a critical need for contribute exciting, cutting-edge continuing to serve as the Placement all aspects of translation work, both research, teaching and events to our Officer for Comparative Literature in at the Undergraduate level, with campus, and we are gladly and whole- 2020-2021, where I aim to support its large and growing Translation heartedly committed to the thriving graduate students in their pursuit of a Studies minor, and at the Graduate of Comparative Literature Program’s range of rewarding careers. level, where a majority of doctoral curriculum and intellectual culture. students are interested in adding Comparative literature undergraduate the Translation Studies emphasis. Sara Pankenier Weld students also may be interested in Translation Studies sponsored Incoming Chair, Germanic and an array of courses to be taught in two lectures this year. In February, Slavic Studies 2020-2021 by Teaching Associates Oxford University Professor Matthew with expertise in Russian, East Reynolds spoke on his ongoing Greetings (and European, and German literature and project “Prismatic Translation”; in welcome) to current culture. Let me flag, for example, Arpi March, translator Jessica Cohen, and incoming Movsesian’s SLAV 117G/C LIT 186G winner of the 2017 Man Booker undergraduate Dostoevsky, Margarita Delcheva’s International Prize, gave a talk “On and graduate SLAV 151C/C LIT 161 Literature of Translating Hebrew.” Other good students, faculty, Central Europe, and Dustin Lovett’s news includes the publication of and staff in the GERM 161 Romanticism, which will East Asian Languages and Cultural Comparative Literature Program be taught in Winter 2021. Check Studies doctoral student Ursula community from the Department of out the UCSB Course Schedule for Friedman’s translation of a short story Germanic and Slavic Studies! We more details and the most updated by contemporary Chinese writer Hao hope to see Comparative Literature information about the full array of Jingfang, “Limbo”, as well as the undergraduate and graduate courses in German and Slavic to be superbly reviewed translations of students in our courses and graduate taught in 2020-2021. We appreciate Argentine writer Silvina Ocampo by seminars this year and look forward these contributions to our curriculum Suzanne Jill Levine, Jessica Powell to continued and new collaborations by Teaching Associates, as well as and Katie Lateef Jan. with faculty colleagues affiliated with Teaching Assistants teaching German Comparative Literature. and Russian language courses.

I, Sara Pankenier Weld, am the incoming Chair of Germanic and

COMPARATIVE LITERATURE 3 The Graduate Center for Literary Research

Sven Spieker Christene D’Anca Director Student Coordinator

Now in its seventh year, the Graduate Center for Global Perspective colloquium, or events organized by Literary Research continues to grow and thrive under the Memory Studies Group. its current director, Sven Spieker (Germanic and Slavic), and Student Coordinator Christene d’Anca This year the GCLR again cooperated with the Harvard (Comparative Literature). The GCLR’s Student Board Institute for World Literature, which offers students from has expanded to almost 30 members, with students around the world a month-long session of seminars and from all humanities departments. Three doctoral workshops taught by a wide range of scholars working students with demonstrated interdisciplinary interests across disciplines. 4 UCSB graduate students were were offered GCLR Recruitment Fellowships upon accepted by the IWL this year: Olga Faccani (Classics); joining UCSB: Pujita Guha (Film & Media Studies), Sebastian Stratan (Spanish and Portuguese); Marcel James-Nate Nichols (Comparative Literature) and Strobel (Comparative Literature); and Aili Pettersson- Ursula Friedman (East Asian / Translation Studies). Peeker (English). Due to COVID-19 concerns, IWL moved all seminars online. GCLR supported the This past year (2019-2020) the GCLR Distinguished students to allow them to still participate. Visiting Scholar was going to be Alain Badiou, formerly chair of Philosophy at the École Normale Supérieure, In addition, the GCLR continued its mission of where he still teaches, and founder of the faculty of providing opportunities for interdisciplinary Philosophy of the Université de Paris VIII. One of the conversations. Three roundtables brought together most noted philosophers alive today, Badiou has been student presenters from across the humanities, and two involved in a number of leftist political organizations travel grants were awarded to presenters whose papers and is a staunch defender of a potential return of were subsequently accepted at major conferences. communism. We hope to host Alain Badiou in the next The second award had to be returned since their academic year. conference was cancelled due to the pandemic.

The theme of the 2019-20 GCLR Graduate Student Additionally, in Spring 2020, the GCLR hosted its Conference was Climate Fictions. Preparations were first Graduate Student Dissertation and Prospectus well under way when the COVID-19 crisis began but Writing Workshop, which will be held twice a year from it, too, had to be postponed. We hope to hold the 2020/21 on. The featured speaker was Christene d’Anca conference in the Fall quarter 2020. The GCLR also co- who introduced her project “Medieval Mausoleums, sponsored a wide variety of lectures and conferences Monuments, and Manuscripts: Paving the Path of on campus, such as the Postwar Italian Art Scene in a Women’s Power Through Patronage.”

https://gclr.complit.ucsb.edu

4 UC SANTA BARBARA New Hires & New Affiliated Faculty

Dr. Stephanie Malia Hom joined the Anna Pajak is joining the Department Department of French and Italian of Germanic and Slavic Studies as a in July 2020 as Assistant Professor Lecturer in German. She will be teaching of Transnational Italian Studies. Her a range of courses and levels of German research specializations include modern language, for which we are very grateful. Italy and the Mediterranean, mobility The Russian and East European Studies studies, colonialism and imperialism, parts of our department are delighted migration and detention, tourism history and practice, that Anna Pajak hails from Poland, where she started and modern Italian and Italophone literature. She is the studying German in elementary school. She moved to author of Empire’s Mobius Strip: Historical Echoes in Italy’s Germany as a teenager and graduated from a German Crisis of Migration and Detention (Cornell, 2019) and high school near Berlin (Neuzelle). Since then, she calls The Beautiful Country: Tourism and the Impossible State Germany her second home. She completed her graduate of Destination Italy (Toronto, 2015). She also co-edited studies in Germanic Studies at the University of Illinois at with Ruth Ben-Ghiat the edited volume, Italian Mobilities Chicago. She also participated in a post-graduate research (Routledge, 2016). Her essays and articles have been year at Humboldt University in Berlin. Her research published in wide range of venues, including the leading interests include curriculum design, second language journals in the fields of Italian studies, tourism history, acquisition, communicative teaching methodology, urban studies, and folklore. In addition to academia, German-Polish relations, and German post-war literature. Prof. Hom has worked as a journalist in the U.S. and Italy Anna Pajak has taught German language at Purdue and served as a nonprofit executive in California. She is University Northwest (Coordinator of German program), looking forward to meeting and working with everyone in the University of Chicago (German Lecturer), DANK Haus Comparative Literature! in Chicago (German American Cultural Center language instructor), and SOFTS (German online instructor). She Dr. Fabian Offert is joining us as an loves to spend her free time actively with her daughter and Assistant Professor in History and son, with whom she speaks Polish and German. Theory of Digital Humanities. His research and teaching focuses on Professor of Feminist Studies Jennifer digital/computational humanities, with Tyburczy became an affiliated faculty a special interest in the epistemology of for the Comparative Literature program artificial intelligence and its intersection in 2019-2020. We are very much looking with art and literature. His 2020 UCSB dissertation work forward to her additional perspective examines artificial neural networks as image making in our program as well as the valuable machines. Fabian Offert comes to UCSB from a position mentoring she is already providing our as Postdoctoral Researcher in the research project graduate students in Queer Studies, Trans Studies, and “Synthetic Images as a Means of Knowledge Production” Performance Studies! at Friedrich Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg and as an Affiliated Researcher in the Artificial Intelligence Professor of East Asian Languages and Media Philosophy Research Group at Karlsruhe and Cultural Studies Hangping Xu University of Arts and Design. For more details on his also became an affiliated faculty for research, fellowships, and interdisciplinary projects, the Comparative Literature program in check out his website. Fabian Offert will be offering a 2019-2020. Since he was trained as a graduate seminar on Artificial Intelligence (GER 200/C comparatist, we are looking forward to LIT 200) in Winter 2021, as well as upper-division courses including such a new perspective to our on Mediatechnology (GER 179C/C LIT 179C) and Media program and are welcoming the work he has already been Politics (GER 108) in Winter and Spring 2021 respectively. conducting with our graduate students in Queer Studies, East Asian Studies and Crip Theory! Professor of English Ben Olguin became an affiliated faculty for the Comparative Literature program in 2019-2020. We are looking forward to his contributions to our program as well as the guidance and mentoring he will be able to offer our graduate students! COMPARATIVE LITERATURE 5 Updates from Affiliated Faculty

Professor of English Bodies in the Grief Bed expected Sklodowska-Curie Global Fellowship Bernadette to be published in April 2021 (2018-2020) granted by the European Andrea published by Homebound Publications, Union. On the book cover: Aleksander Travel and Travail: Connecticut. Deineka, The Race, 1930 © Archivio Early Modern Fotografico - Fondazione Musei Civici Women, English In the past year, di Venezia Drama, and the professor of Spanish Wider World along with co-editor and Portuguese Silvia In 2019-2020, Patricia Akhimie in volume 10 of the Bermúdez published Professor of Early Modern Cultural Studies Series Cartographies of Classics Dorota (University of Nebraska Press, 2019). Madrid: Contesting Dutsch published The series includes an introduction Urban Space at the Pythagorean co-written by Professors Andrea and Crossroads of the Women Akhimie and a chapter by Professor Global South and Global North Philosophers: Between Belief and Andrea, “The Global Travels of Teresa along with co-editor Anthony L. Geist Suspicion (OUP, Fall 2020) and the Sampsonia Sherley’s Carmelite Relic.” (Nashville, TN: Vanderbilt University Blackwell Companion to Plautus, Professor Andrea also published Press, 2019), and “Violencia de coedited with G.F. Franko (March several chapters in Christian- género en la España Constitucional: 2020). Professor Dutsch also delivered Muslim Relations. A Bibliographical Cronología evaluativa de propuestas a talk titled “Pythagorean Women and History Volume 13 Western Europe culturales, resoluciones legales y Inclusive Philosophical History” at the (1700–1800) edited by David Thomas Pacto de Estado para intervenir en Fifth Braga Colloquium in the History and John Chesworth (Leiden, Brill) lo social (2005-2018),” a chapter in of Moral Philosophy – The Cannon including “Mary Pix” (pp. 115-25) the EBook La violencia de género Revisited: Women Philosophers in and “Delarivier Manley” (pp. 126-35). en la España contemporánea under Braga, Portugal. In addition, she wrote a chapter on the coordination of Sara Fernández “Sherley, Lady Teresa Sampsonia” Medina (Alcalá de Henares: Professor of East in the Oxford Dictionary of National Fundación General de la Universidad Asian Languages Biography (Online) published with de Alcalá). She also gave two talks: and Cultural Oxford University Press (2019) “Propuestas sonoras contra la Studies Thomas and a review of Geoparsing Early intolerancia: La Orquesta Àrab de Mazanec remained Modern English Drama by Monica Barcelona y la música popular como active during an Matei-Chesnoiu in The Journal of texto histórico para los Estudios unusual academic Early Modern Cultural Studies, 18.4 Culturales,” MLA 2020 in Seattle year. He published one major article (2019): 155-61. In 2019, Professor and “Migration and the Politics of in 2019, “How Poetry Became Andrea gave several talks including Belonging in 21st Century Barcelona: Meditation in Late-Ninth-Century “‘A swarthy group of strangers’: Musical Stories as Counter Memory,” China” in Asia Major, and has a Shakespeare, Islamophobia, and Invited Lecture Transnational second forthcoming, “Admonitory Race” at the Shakespeare Association Soundscapes: Literary and Sonic Epigrams in Medieval China: Right- of America and “Looking Forward: Cultures Across the Americas and hand Inscriptions from Cui Yuan New Directions in Early Modern Race Iberia Symposium, Duke University, to Guanxiu” in Tang Studies. Most Studies” in Washington, DC (April 19, February 2020. significantly, he completed his 2019). book manuscript, Poet-Monks: The Visiting Professor of Invention of Buddhist Poetry in Late Professor of Germanic and Slavic Medieval China, which is currently Environmental Studies Matteo under review. He continued to Studies Rick Bertelé published teach courses and advise students Benjamin has been Arte sovietica alla in Chinese literature and translation hard at work on Biennale di Venezia studies and developed a new his fourth book, (1924-1962) in 2020 graduate seminar on the poetry found a forthcoming (Mimesis, Milano) among rare manuscripts unearthed collection of poetry titled Some and was the recipient of the Marie at the Silk Road town of Dunhuang.

6 UC SANTA BARBARA Updates from Affiliated Faculty

He is currently working on several Tropes”. Large conferences (such as “An Emotional Revolution: Loves large-scale translations of medieval the ACLA) were all canceled after and Loyalties in Imperial Japan, Chinese poets, as well as his second March, but publications continued 1868-1945,” held at UCSB. She also monograph, tentatively titled Beyond apace. Four new essays by Jullien published a research article, “Locality, Lyricism: Chinese Poetry in Other came out this year: 1) “Traveling Gender, and ‘National Essence’: The Modes. In January 2020, his second Tales: Jorge Luis Borges and the Politics of Local Poetry Anthologies in child, a son, was born. global circulation of renunciation China (1767-1919),” in Nan Nü: Men, legends” appeared in Global-e, Women, and Gender in China 22.2 Before the volume 13, issue 5, 30 January 2020; (2020). Her new book, The Poetics and pandemic, when 2) an entry on Orientalism, “Leaning Politics of Sensuality in China: The traveling was still Toward the East,” was published in “Fragrant and Bedazzling” Movement possible, Professor A Companion to World Literature, (1600-1930) (Cambria, 2019), has been of French & Italian edited by Kenneth Seigneurie, 6 well received with many positive Dominique Jullien volumes, Wiley-Blackwell, 2020; 3) her reviews in prestigious journals. She was invited to the article “Healing by Exempla: Political is now working on her next book on U of Bergen, Norway, to take part in a Therapy in the Nights’ Hypertext” anthologizing and intellectual trends doctoral defense on Proust, “Staging appeared in The Thousand and One in the Qing and Republican China, Perception: Theatricalities in Marcel Nights: Sources, Transformations, along with other ongoing projects. Proust’s À la recherche du temps and Relationship with Literature, perdu” (September 2019). She also the Arts and the Sciences, edited Professor of gave several presentations here and in by W. Granara and I. Akel (Brill, English Alan Liu Europe, on her recent book, Borges, 2020); and 4) most recently, another published “Toward Buddhism and World Literature: a essay, “Vernacular, unacknowledged a Diversity Stack: Morphology of Renunciation Tales multilingualism, and esoteric code: Digital Humanities (London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2019). Failed revelations in Jorge Luis and Diversity In Paris, she gave the opening Borges’s “Averroës’ Search” and as Technical lecture in Sandra Laugier’s and Rudyard Kipling’s “The Finest Story in Problem,” PMLA 135.1 (2020): 130- Alexandre Gefen’s Séminaire de the World” was published in Textual 151. His 2013 article “The Meaning Recherche de Paris-III, speaking on Practice, 2020. She looks forward to of the Digital Humanities,” originally “Dialogues de l’ascète et du roi: virtual conferences and other zoom- published in PMLA 128, was translated l’exemplarité ambiguë des récits de fueled intellectual exchanges. into Spanish: “¿Qué significación renoncement chez J.-L. Borges.” In tienen las humanidades digitales London, she was invited to present In addition to para las humanidades?,” Revistes her book at the School of Oriental teaching and científiques de la Universitat de and African Studies, University of her service as Barcelona, no. 23 (2020). London, giving a lecture entitled the director of “Wandering Kings and Traveling Tales graduate studies Professor of in Borges” (September 2019). She in the department Spanish and also presented her new book at the of East Asian Portuguese Juan Interdisciplinary Humanities Center’s Languages and Cultural Studies Pablo Lupi co- Humanities Decanted Series (UCSB, and as the co-director of East Asia edited La futuridad December 2019). In February 2020, in Center, Professor Xiaorong Li was del naufragio: collaboration with UCSB colleagues professionally very active in the Orígenes, estelas Peter Bloom (Film and Media year 2019-2020. She was invited to y derives along with Cesar A. Studies) and Sowon Park (English), present at “Crossing Boundaries: Salgado (Leiden: Almenara Press) she organized an international An International Symposium on [The Shipwreck’s Futurity: Orígenes, conference at the Getty Research Chinese Literature and Culture” Wakes and Drifts] and contributed Institute in Los Angeles, Narration held at Indiana University and in the to the aforementioned volume with and Perception in the Archive of Chinese Language and Literature “Crecida de la ambición (po)ética: Optical Mediation, presenting Zoom Lectures organized by the Vitier, Diáspora(s) y el arte de una a paper on “Optical Devices, Chinese University of Hong Kong. teleología insular.” Professor Lupi Spectrality, and Modern Cognitive She was a discussant at the workshop, was also the editor of special issue of

COMPARATIVE LITERATURE 7 Updates from Affiliated Faculty

Studia Iberica et Americana titled “Las Monénembo and City Writing” (pp. theory. He is also working on a co- otras modernidades de Venezuela” 107-121) in Francophone Literatures edited volume with Heather Blurton [Venezuela’s Other Modernities]. as World Literature, co-edited by (English, UCSB) titled Reading the Christian Moraru, Nicole Simek and Middle Ages: The Changing Medieval Professor of French Bertrand Westphal. Professor Prieto Canon (Manchester University Press) & Italian Catherine also published an entry on “Space” that examines the odd disparity Nesci is pleased in The Oxford Research Encyclopedia between the modern popularity of that the volume of Literature as well as two chapters works that have survived in only one she worked on with in The Edinburgh Companion to manuscript copy (Beowulf, El Cid, the Anne Marcoline, a Literature and Music titled “Nelson Oxford Roland, Sir Gawain and the graduate alumna Goodman: An analytic approach to Green Knight, Ibn Hazm’s Neck-ring of and now Associate Professor at music and literature studies” and the Dove, etc.) and the corpus of texts the University of Houston is now “Beckett, Music, and the Ineffable.” that were wildly popular in the Middle out online: Feelings, Sensations, Professor Prieto served as Chair of Age, extant in dozens of manuscript Perception. On Emotion in the UCSB’s Undergraduate Council as copies, but are rarely taught or studied Writings of George Sand and well as Vice-Chair and Graduate in the modern academe. The volume Women Writers of Her Time. George Advisor of Comparative Literature. In as a whole poses the question: Why do Sand Studies, edited by Anne addition, he also served as a co-editor we teach and study medieval texts that Marcoline, with Catherine Nesci of Palgrave-Macmillan’s Literary Urban were not widely read and ignore those as Associate Editor, vols. 37–38, Studies list. texts that were? 2018–2019, 253 pages. Another piece on George Sand include: Professor of Professor of “Le rire ‘Trans-Sand’. George Sand Religious Studies Black Studies fumant dans la caricature et la ‘fan Dwight Reynolds and Comparative fiction’.”George Sand comique, has a book in press Literature edited by Olivier Bara and François with Routledge/ Undergraduate Kerlouégan, UGA éditions, 2020, pp. Taylor & Francis Advisor Roberto 335–55. She completed an entry on titled The Musical Strongman Sebald’s Austerlitz for a volume on Heritage of al-Andalus that deals with published his new book Queering Medical Humanities and Literature: music in medieval Iberia from the Black Atlantic Religions: Médecins, soignants. Osons la Muslim conquest in 711 CE to the final Transcorporeality in Candomblé, littérature. Un laboratoire virtuel expulsion of the Moriscos (Muslims Santería, and Vodou in May 2019 and pour la réflexion éthique, edited converted voluntarily or involuntarily joined Professor Jennifer Tyburczy by Maria Cabral and Marie-France to Christianity) in 1609-14. This volume (Feminist Studies) for an enriching Mamzer, Sipayat, 2019, pp. 106-08. documents the various cultural dialogue at the Interdisciplinary She was pleased to present “Pierres exchanges around the medieval Humanities Center in January 2020. de mémoire: Temps éthique et temps Mediterranean that eventually led In Queering Black Atlantic Religions, historique chez Hélène Cixous” at to a new musical tradition that has Roberto Strongman examines the Contemporary French Civilization been performed for over a thousand Haitian Vodou, Cuban Lucumí/ Conference (University of Arizona, years among Muslim, Sephardic Santería, and Brazilian Candomblé Tucson, August 29-31, 2019), and Jewish, and Christian communities to demonstrate how religious “Caring (for) Literature: World Writing, of the Middle East. A second book is rituals of trance possession allow Precarious Fiction, and Ethics” at the nearing completion titled Medieval humans to understand themselves as ICLA Congress (Macau, China, July Arab Music and Musicians (Brill embodiments of the divine. In these 29-August 2, 2019). Publishers). This volume consists of rituals, the commingling of humans and annotated translations of three of the the divine produces gender identities Professor of French most important medieval texts on that are independent of biological sex. & Italian Eric Prieto music. Two of the texts are lengthy As opposed to the Cartesian view of published a chapter biographies of musicians, including the spirit as locked within the body, on “Mapping the biography of Ziryab, the most the body in Afro-diasporic religions World Literature famous musician of al-Andalus, and is an open receptacle. Showing how from Below: Tierno the third text is a treatise on music trance possession is a primary aspect

8 UC SANTA BARBARA Updates from Affiliated Faculty of almost all Afro-diasporic cultural (2019). In 2019, Professor Weber was During the 2019-2020 academic year, production, Strongman articulates also the initiator of “Humanists and Professor Weld also delivered several transcorporeality as a black, trans- Social Scientists 4 Future: Statement papers at major conferences including Atlantic understanding of the human by humanists and social scientists in “Theodicy and Faith in an Ethical psyche, soul, and gender as multiple, support of global youth uprising for Universe: Dostoevsky and Nabokov removable, and external to the body. climate action.” In December 2019, on the Suffering Child” at the ASEEES she contributed a video-statement Annual Convention in San Francisco, on “The Humanities’ unique role in November 23-26, 2019; “Of Mirrors, addressing the climate crisis” at a Mentors, and Models: The Tales of side event entitled “Enhancing the Catherine the Great in Transnational Paris Ambition: Universities, Science, Context” at Books for Children: Humanities and Arts Interfaces 4 Transnational Encounters, 1750-1850 Future Life” at the United Nations at Princeton University, October Professor of Germanic and Slavic Climate Change Conference, COP 25, 31-November 2, 2019; “The Silencing Studies Christina Vagt is pleased to Madrid December 2019. of Children’s Literature: The Case of announce her newly published book Russian Writer Daniil Kharms and the Action at a Distance, co-authored Professor of (Little) Old Lady” at the International with John Durham Peters and Florian Germanic and Research Society for Children’s Sprenger (Minnesota Press, 2020). Slavic Studies Literature (IRSCL) 2017 Congress in Professor Vagt wrote a chapter on Sara Pankenier Stockholm, Sweden, August 14-18, “Physics and Aesthetics: Simulation Weld, published 2019; “Through Nabokov’s Looking- as Action at a Distance” (pp. 51- “The Silencing Glass: Nabokov’s Transfigurations of 77). Action at a Distance is a book of Children’s Alice from Ania to Ada” at the Slavic about media and physics, where and Literature: The Case of Daniil Kharms Department, Stockholm University in when they intersect, and how their and the Little Old Lady” in Barnboken Sweden on May 8, 2019; and “People relation affects the materiality of – Journal of Children’s Literature without Borders: Indigeneity and communication, the symbolization Research (Vol. 43, 2020, pp. 1-18). Nomadism in Classics of Swedish of matter, and the aesthetics of Professor Weld also published “Sámi Children’s Literature” at Borders, technology. The three authors share Selves in the Northern Landscape: Territories, and Transitions in Children’s a mutual interest in the epistemology Nomadism and Indigeneity in Literature, Stockholm University in and the history of media and science. Swedish Classics for Children” in Sweden, April 5, 2019. Professor The book is part of a media theory Barnlitterært forskningstidsskrift Weld was also named a Fellow of the series and a cooperation between (11.1, 2020, pp. 1-12) as well as “Deti International Youth Library in Munich, Minnesota Press and the German kak subyekty v literaturovedenij” Germany, 2019 in addition to being Open Access publishers Meson Press. translated by Alexandra Kasatkina elected to the International Research Professor Vagt was also awarded in Antropologicheskii forum (42) Society for Children’s Literature (IRSCL) the 2020/2021 Senior Fellowship in September 2019 (pp. 35-43). In Executive Board Mentorship Lunch at the MECS, Leuphana University addition, she wrote “Obrazy Ameriki Organizer where she was coordinating Lüneburg. v rannikh sovetskikh knizhkakh- a 240-person event matching 80 kartinkakh Marshaka i Lebedeva” mentors with 160 mentees for the In 2019-2020, an in Detskie chteniia (12, 2019, pp. IRSCL Congress in Stockholm, interview that 257-279) and “Visual and Verbal Sweden from August 14-18, 2019. In Professor of Self-Referentiality in Russian Avant- Fall 2019, Weld was a participant in Germanic and Garde Picturebooks,” published the University of California Women’s Slavic Studies in Vol. 42 (2019) of the Barnboken Initiative (UCWI) for Professional Elisabeth Weber – Journal of Children’s Literature Development. conducted with Research (pp. 1-23). Last but not least, Emmanuel Levinas was published Professor Weld published a chapter in its Spanish translation: «La on “Unnatural Selection: A Natural humanidad es bíblica», Emmanuel History of Early Soviet Picturebooks” Lévinas, translated by Rafael (pp. 49-71) in the Brill Companion to Stockebrand Gómez in Anales del Soviet Children’s Literature and Film, Seminario de Historia de la Filosofía edited by Olga Voronina (Brill, 2019).

COMPARATIVE LITERATURE 9 Updates from Affiliated Faculty

Trained in taught for one year at Middlebury Culture and Literature, which he is Comparative College before moving to UCSB. currently completing. Among these Literature, His publications on modern Chinese fellowships were a Junior Faculty Professor of literature and culture and theories Career Development Award and an East Asian of world literature have appeared Interdisciplinary Humanities Center Languages and (or are forthcoming) in such Faculty Fellowship. Supported by Cultural Studies venues as Transnational American another IHC research grant, Professor Hangping Xu was excited to become Studies, International Comparative Xu joined a collaborative effort to an affiliate in the Comparative Literature, and Chinese Poets bring disability studies and crip theory Literature program as soon as he Since 1949, Dictionary of Literary to greater prominence at UCSB. He arrived at UCSB. He had a very Biography. Professor Xu received taught a graduate seminar “Queer rewarding first year as an Assistant competitive fellowships to support China, Crip China” in which he had Professor despite the dramatic turn his book project, Broken Bodies the pleasure of working with two of events. After receiving his PhD as Agents: Disability Aesthetics Comparative Literature from Stanford in 2018, Professor Xu and Politics in Modern Chinese graduate students.

Newly Graduated

In September 2019, Jeff Bellomi period; all that is required is to publish 4 academic papers successfully defended his dissertation in ‘core journals.’ [...] My research is on the freak shows on darkness, which combines media in early-twentieth century Shanghai, the rich literature studies, philosophy, and literature. His surrounding such performances, its origin in and revisions languages included French, German, of the genre of the Chinese ‘zhiguai xiaoshuo (the novel Russian, and Japanese. Dr. Bellomi was of the supernatural),’ as well as its cultural and political subsequently hired at UC Santa Barbara significance against its historical background.” She also in 2020 to teach in the Comparative Literature Program. adds: “In the future, if any grad student in our department is interested [in a postdoc position in China], I will be more In February 2020, Deepti Menon than glad to help him, her, or them, with the application successfully defended her dissertation process (the process can be complicated and confusing, on “Travel through the Foreign as things usually are in China). After all, it is just two years, Imaginary on the Plautine Stage” and one can still explore the world afterwards.” under the guidance and mentorship of Professors Dorota Dutsch (Classics), In June 2020, Ali Rahman successfully Francis Dunn (Classics), Jon Snyder defended his dissertation “Digital (French and Italian) and Claudio Fogu (French and Italian). Rhetoric and Gatekeepers of Bravissima, Dr. Menon and all the best for your future Knowledge: Islamic Authority in endeavors! America” under the guidance and mentorship of Professors Dwight Bozhou Men completed her Reynolds (Religious Studies), Ahmad dissertation in June 2019 under the Atif Ahmad (Religious Studies), Alan Liu (English) and direction of a doctoral committee Kathleen Moore (Religious Studies). His dissertation including Xiaorong Li (co-Chair, consists in a masterful analysis of different modes of East Asian Languages and Cultural religious authority through the lens of digital rhetoric, Studies), Michael Berry (co-Chair, coupled with critiques of neo-liberalism and the online Asian Languages and Cultures, UCLA), production and transfer of knowledge. The result is a rich and Yunte Huang (English). Her doctoral dissertation is examination of Islamic schools and websites, the role of entitled “Lands of Daughters: Literary Evolutions of the online “superstar sheikhs,” along with figures who straddle Chinese Garden as a Space of Female Consumption (from the roles of academics and community figures, and Late Imperial to Early Republican China).” Dr. Bozhou concludes with an exploration of how young Muslims are Men accepted a two-year Postdoctoral Fellowship in the using the internet in their search for answers to questions Department of Chinese Language and Literature at Fudan about religion and identity. Dr. Ali, as he now calls himself, University, Shanghai, China. As Bozhou writes: “There will recently accepted a position as Lecturer in the Critical be no teaching workload during the whole 2-year hiring Writing Program at UPenn, and we wish him every success. 10 UC SANTA BARBARA News from Our Alumni

In April 2020, Karen Elizabeth Bishop had carried out research in Lisbon and São Paulo, published her book The Space of respectively under Calouste Gulbenkian Fellowship and Disappearance: A Narrative Commons Haroldo de Campos Fellowship. With a research grant in the Ruins of Argentine State Terror from the Ministry of Education of China, she is working (SUNY, April 2020), which examines on the project “Chinese Ideogram and Brazilian Concrete the evolution of disappearance as a Poetry.” She is also preparing her monograph developed formal narrative and epistemological from her dissertation, entitled as Slippage: Abjective phenomenon in late twentieth-century Argentine fiction. Perception between Garbage and Language. Karen Elizabeth Bishop was appointed Assistant Professor in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at Rutgers University in 2012. She was formerly a New Faculty Fellow of the American Council of Learned Societies (2010-2012) and Lecturer in History & Literature at Harvard University New Doctoral Candidates (2008-2010). She earned her doctorate in Comparative Literature from the University of California at Santa Barbara with specializations in nineteenth- and twentieth-century Ghassan Aburqayeq successfully literatures in Spanish, English and French. She spent a year defended his prospectus in March as a researcher at the École normale supérieure in Paris, 2020. His dissertation topic is and four years teaching and working as a translator in “Contemporary Arabic Fiction: Sevilla, Spain. Cultural Trauma, Taboos, and Dystopia” and his dissertation committee is Professors Dwight Claudi Yaghoobi (PhD. Comp Lit, Reynolds (Religious Studies), Bernadette Andrea UCSB, 2013) received tenure at the (English) and Elisabeth Weber (Germanic and Slavic). University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and was promoted to the rank of Roshan Institute Associate Professor in Christene D’Anca recently became Persian Studies and Persian Coordinator ABD in January 2020. The defense in the Department of Asian Studies. Dr. took place on January 6th. Her Yaghoobi is a remarkably productive academic and this is a dissertation topic is “Medieval very well-deserved recognition of both her scholarship and Mausoleums, Monuments, and teaching! Manuscripts: Paving the Path of Women’s Power Through Patronage” and her committee is Professors Cynthia Brown (French In Fall 2020, Inez Xingyue Zhou will and Italian), Heather Blurton (English) and Cynthia begin her new tenure-track position Skenazi (French and Italian). as an Assistant Professor of English Literature and Culture at the School of International Studies at Sun Yat- In December 2019, Wendy Sun sen University, China, where she will successfully defended her dissertation also participate in the development of prospectus “Besieged in Shanghai: the fields of literary translation and Portuguese. Before History, Memory, and Transculturation that, Inez was a junior fellow at the Society of Fellows of the Hongkou Jewish Ghetto in the Liberal Arts, Southern University of Science and 1933-Present.” Her committee Technology, China, as well as a postdoctoral fellow in consists of Professors Xiaorong Li the Interdisciplinary Humanities Center at UCSB. Inez (East Asian Languages and Cultural Studies), Wolf Kittler graduated in 2017 with a doctoral emphasis in Translation (Germanic and Slavic) and Yunte Huang (English). After Studies. Her research interests include modern Anglo- advancing to candidacy, Wendy finished her first chapter American poetry, modern Luso-Brazilian poetry, Sino- in June 2020 and is now working on her following three Western comparative poetics, philosophy of language, chapters. waste aesthetics, and environmental humanities. Inez

COMPARATIVE LITERATURE 11 Welcoming New Graduate Students

E. Solaire Denaud completed her MA Maxximilian Seijo holds a B.A. in degree in the doctoral program of Economics & an M.A. in Film & Media France’s National Museum of Natural Studies from the University of South History/Sorbonne University, where she Florida. His work sits at the intersection studied philosophy and Environmental of the environmental humanities, Humanities. Her research includes heterodox political economy and the Environmental Humanities, German theory/philosophy. He is also Animal Studies and Black Studies in Francophone and a research fellow at the Global Institute for Sustainable Anglophone medias. She is particularly interested in Prosperity (GISP) & has published in Liminalities: A Journal the ways ‘non-human’ and ‘sub-human’ are represented of Performance Studies, Journal of Environmental Media, in children’s media. Her picture was taken by the Boundary 2 Online, Monthly Review Online, and History photographer Marion Letessier. News Network. He is also a junior board member of a non-profit, theModern Money Network’s Humanities Division (MMN-HD), and a co-host of the Money on the James-Nate Nichols completed his Left and Superstructure podcasts. MA degree in literature at UC Santa Cruz, writing on the thematics of exile and return in the films of Raúl Ruiz. Marcel Strobel earned his M.A. Previously, he completed his bachelor’s (Staatsexamen) in English and French degree in literature with a minor in literature and linguistics from the education from UC Santa Cruz, as University of Mannheim, Germany, with well as two AA degrees, in Spanish and liberal arts, from a specialization in second-language Cabrillo College. At UCSB his research explores the vast teaching. His research interests include ecologies of the exilic, including literature, art, theater, urban studies, queer studies, queer geographies and protest music, and film. His broad interests include spatial literary studies. Marcel is particularly interested critical theory, translation theory, la vanguardia chilena, in the relationship between queer identities, space and Psychoanalysis, and film and media studies. place, and how literature in general and the press in particular act as producers of spatial sexual imaginaries and as producers of physical space for queer communities in the past and present. He is currently working on analyzing spatiality in German and French queer magazines from the interwar period in Berlin and Paris.

A festive potluck dinner among the newly admitted graduate students (from left to right: James-Nate Nichols, E.Solaire Denaud, Marcel Strobel, Maxximilian Seijo, and East Asian Languages and Cultural Studies Graduate Student Ursula Friedman) to celebrate the successful end of the proseminar in Comparative Literature with Professor Sara Pankenier Weld in fall 2019.

12 UC SANTA BARBARA Other Graduate Student Updates

Ghassan Grant in Summer 2019 to conduct of social media and cultural memory Aburqayeq dissertation research in Germany. was also scheduled to be presented completed his She also participated in the journalist at the ACLA Conference in the Spring, third field exam on project “Berlin Beyond Borders” which was unfortunately cancelled Arabic literature in along with students from UCSB and due to COVID-19. In May 2020 she December 2019. Professor Nomi Morris. Margarita’s took her second field exam in Italian He also defended reporting focused on queer and literature and culture and investigated his prospectus in March 2020. In gender politics of Berlin’s tango the memory(ies) of Colonialism in May 2020, Ghassan was awarded scene and on the transformation of Italian Postcolonial Literature under the Humanities & Social Sciences the historic Tempelhof airport into a the guidance of Professors Claudio Research Grant for his dissertation public park. Fogu (French & Italian, UCSB), Lucia research. He also published “Nature Re (Italian, UCLA) and Maurizia as a Motif in Arabic Andalusian Poetry Despite only being Boscagli (English, UCSB). During and English Romanticism” in Journal a first year graduate Summer 2020 she had the rewarding of Critical Studies in Language and student, E.Solaire opportunity to teach as an Associate Literature (JCSLL) in 2020. Denaud has been ITAL2, ITAL20X and FR154G, thus very active on greatly enriching her teaching In January 2020, campus – during experience. Margarita the 2019-2020 year, Delcheva she became involved in both the Sage Freeburg presented the Black Graduate Student Association has successfully collaborative (BGSA) and the Queer and Trans defended her MA performance work Graduate Student Union (QTGSU). thesis, entitled “Harmonic Drops” She is the Events Coordinator for the “Dreaming at UCSB Art Department’s Kairotic QTGSU and in September 2020 will through Snow: The Residue Performance Art Festival. In start her new position as the Graduate Arctic Imaginary December 2019, she also performed Student Assistant for the Resource in Nineteenth-Century European the site-specific “Bulgarian Water” Center for Sexual and Gender Literature” under the guidance of for a mini-conference in Professor Diversity. Professors Eric Prieto (French & Leo Cabranes-Grant’s seminar Italian), Elizabeth Heckendorn Cook “Animals, Rocks, and Robots.” Rachel Feldman (English), Christina Vagt (German Margarita facilitated the community successfully and Slavic), and Renan Larue (French meditation group Isla Vista Zen in passed her last & Italian). Sage intends to continue Fall 2019 and Winter 2020 at St. qualifying exam working on Arctic environmental Michael’s University Church. In Spring on contemporary humanities for her dissertation. 2020, Margarita defended her last children’s literature Sage is also currently working on exam in Performance Studies, Dance in Hebrew under her first publication, an article titled: Studies, and Feminist Theory, titled the guidance and dedication of the “Animals and Energy: Angry Inuk, Oil “The Faulty Materiality of Absence members of her committee: Sara Extraction, and the Nuances of Animal and the Somatic Semiotic: Writing Pankenier Weld (Germanic and Conservation in Areas of Subsistence and Re/constructing Dance.” The Slavic), Russell Samolsky (English and Hunting.” exam committee consisted of Jewish Studies), and Jin Sook Lee Professors Ninotchka Bennahum (Education). In 2020, Mariam (Chair), Leo Cabranes-Grant (Spanish Lmaifi was awarded and Portuguese), and Sven Spieker In the Fall, Elena a Max Kade (Germanic and Slavic). Margarita’s Festa delivered Fellowship to Spring 2020 Eastern European Art a paper entitled conduct research class curated an online exhibition of “Digital Cultural on her project quarantine-themed mail art, titled Remembering” at “When Paratopia “IsoMailArt,” which showcases the Epistemologies Breeds Creation: a Psychoanalytic original student work, inspired by of Memory Study of Filiation in French Intranger historic mail artists. In addition, Conference at King’s College, Rap Music.” Margarita received a Max Kade London. Her research on the interplay

COMPARATIVE LITERATURE 13 Other Graduate Student Updates

Daniel Martini of Performance Studies, and the University, Singapore), all of which co-organized monthly syndication and publication were postponed due to the outbreak the Scriptworlds of Money on the Left in Monthly of COVID-19. He was accepted to Conference with Review Online. In addition, in the last the translation workshop with Patrick Prof. Sowon Park year Maxximilian presented at the 3rd Chamoiseau at UC Irvine in May, (English) at UC International Conference on Modern which was also postponed due to Santa Barbara in Monetary Theory at Stonybrook COVID-19. In spring 2020, Marcel June 2019 for international scholars University in September, 2019, and received the “Outstanding Teaching who are part of the Prismatic the International Confederation Assistant Award” in the Department Translation project based at Oxford, of Associations for Pluralism in of Germanic & Slavic Studies and is funded by the British Arts and Economics (ICAPE) at the University of actively involved in creating online Humanities Research Council. He California, San Diego in January 2020. assessments for the German language also began mentoring undergraduate program. He taught GER 1, GER 2 and students in interdisciplinary research After a year at GER 3 during the 2019-2020 academic methodologies through the UCSB and Paris-8 in France year. National Science Foundation funded from 2018–19, it Unconscious Memory project. Daniel was a pleasure for In addition to joined the new Medical Humanities John Schrank to dissertation writing certificate program (offered through return to UCSB and teaching, UCSB’s Professional and Continuing and serve as an Wendy Sun was Education) as core faculty. Finally, he associate for Comp Lit 100 in Fall accepted to studied and developed innovative 2019 and TA for 30B in Winter 2020. the annual MLA pedagogies through the Mellon Despite the inimical circumstances of 2021 conference, Engaging Humanities project. the pandemic, John was pleased and the annual Holocaust Educational Collectively, he co-developed grateful to make significant progress Foundation conference (postponed to and taught on two entirely new on his research and writing as an IHC 2021), the German Association Annual interdisciplinary GE courses. Daniel Dissertation Fellow for Spring 2020. In Conference in 2020, and the Rocky also gave a talk this year: “The Summer 2020, John had the delight Mountain MLA annual conference Cognitive Affordance of Lettrisme: to co-teach neurohumanities in Comp (postponed to 2021). Wendy taught as The Importance Of Schizotypal Lit 27 for a third time with Juliana a Teaching Associate in Summer 2020, Personality Type” with Madeleine Acosta-Uribe, MD (MCDB); given the teaching two undergraduate classes, Gross (Psychology & Brain Science, collaborative exigencies of the era, organizing academic workshops, and UC Santa Barbara), at a conference it was especially heartening to see getting ready to prepare for and apply entitled “Cognitive Futures,” students embrace interdisciplinary to the academic job market. University Mainz, June 22, 2019 and thinking. John also presented received the UCSB Academic Senate’s “Announcing Relativity: The Train Reem Taha Outstanding Teaching Assistant Whistle and the Doppler Affect” at successfully Award in Spring 2020. the 2020 MLA Annual Meeting in completed her first Seattle, WA exam in the field Accomplishments of Mediterranean from the last During his first year Studies, a 50- year include the in the Comparative page paper forthcoming Literature entitled “Rethinking Leo Africanus: publication of Program at UC The Mediterranean as a Temporal Maxximilian Seijo’s Santa Barbara, and Spatial Decolonial Tool.” Her journal article in Marcel Strobel committee members included the Journal of Environmental Media was accepted to Professors Bernadette Andrea titled “Governing Media Information several academic conferences (MSA (English) as chair, Dwight Reynolds through a Green New Deal: History, 2020, Queer Studies Conference (Religious Studies), and Edward Theory, Practice,” a special issue at UNC Asheville, EAAS 2020, and English (History and Medieval on Maxximilian’s Money on the Left Global Cities: Culture, Ecology, World Studies). Reem received a block grant podcast in Liminalities: A Journal Literature at Nanyang Technological summer stipend for summer 2019, which she used to study Spanish in

14 UC SANTA BARBARA Other Graduate Student Updates

Granada, where she also enjoyed third conference talk “TERRRRRFs: students during the COLA movement. learning about al-Andalus between Trans-Exclusive Radical, Redefining, In Spring 2020, Jordan was elected history and memory in contemporary Reinventing, Reversing, Recasting President of the QTGSU as well as Spain. She used the opportunity to do Feminists” at the 27th Lavender VP of Graduate Student Affairs for research on her dissertation topic at Languages and Linguistics Conference the GSA. They were also awarded the Escuela de Estudios Árabes. was unfortunately postponed. In two Outstanding Teaching Assistant addition, they participated in the Awards: one by their home program In the past year, IHC Foundation in Humanities of Comparative Literature and another Jordan J. Tudisco Prison Pedagogy Program, teaching one by the Academic Senate! was extremely literature by correspondence to active on campus. incarcerated students, were selected In the past year, In Winter 2020, to teach in this program a second David Vivian they completed year, and became a Public Fellow for published his first their second the IHC Public Humanities program. article titled “Eco- exam in Trans Studies on “Transing In Winter and Spring 2020, they epistemology Trauma” with Professors Jenn worked for the Resource Center and Eschatology: Tyburczy (Feminist Studies), Lal for Sexual and Gender Diversity Examining the Zimman (Linguistics), and Maurizia (RCSGD) as Graduate Fellow for Savior Complex in Jacques Roumain’s Boscagli (English). They also were the Education Initiatives and in Summer Gouverneurs de la rosée and Patrick instructor of record for two classes – 2020 were hired for the new position Chamoiseau’s Les Neuf Consciences French 101C in the Winter, and C LIT of Graduate Assistant for Education du Malfini” (Forthcoming, French 113 in the Summer. Jordan gave talks Initiatives. This past year, they served Forum, 2020). David was also at two conferences this year: “Trans as a graduate representative for instructor of record for two classes: Crossings: Gender Transgressions both the Comparative Literature French 147D – Literary Translation in and Modern Mobilities” at the Program and the Graduate Student Winter 2020 and FR154F – Time off in Early Modern Center “Queer Association (GSA) during a busy year Paris in Summer 2020. Crossings, Unruly Locales, 1500- filled by an ERC visit and a graduate 1800” Conference in Santa Barbara; student strike, were the Education and “Visual Pedagogies: Teaching and Outreach Coordinator for the Trauma through Comics and Visual Queer and Trans Graduate Student Narratives” at the “Drawing Diversity” Union (QTGSU), and acted as a Comix Symposium at UCSB. Their point of contact between faculty and

Our Grads at the 2020 Institute for World Literature

In the summer of 2020, Marcel Strobel from Comparative one colloquium on world literature and sociology by Literature participated in the first virtual Harvard Institute Liana Pshevorska. Every week, they had a panel of three for World Literature, originally to be held in Belgrade, students who would present their work to the rest of the Serbia where he studied under scholars such as David group followed by an intensive discussion and feedback Damrosch, Stefano Evangelista and Mads Rosendahl circle. The amount of positive and supportive feedback Thomsen. Despite the outbreak of COVID-19, it was that he received was helpful in determining the future an illuminating experience where faculty and students direction of his studies but also in gaining the courage from all over the world came virtually together, to pursue the research that he pursues. The colloquium shared their research projects and created a scholarly provided him with innumerable sources that he can use for communal environment amidst a pandemic. As a first- his research as well as with a safe space where long-lasting year international PhD student in comparative literature, relationships with other scholars could emerge. Marcel Marcel Strobel was truly excited to participate in this Strobel is beyond grateful for the financial and intellectual year’s Harvard IWL and develop his literary skills in a very support that he received from the Comparative Literature unique environment. Over the course of four weeks and Program and the GCLR in particular without which he many early mornings, he participated in two seminars would not have been able to participate in the institute. (Stefano Maria-Evangelista’s “Citizens of Nowhere” and Mads Rosendahl Thomsen’s “Migrant Writing”) and

COMPARATIVE LITERATURE 15 UCSB Memory Studies Group

Under the auspices of the Comparative Literature In 2019-20, we first focused on melancholy and nostalgia. Program and the Graduate Center for Literary Research, Professor Sven Spieker (Germanic and Slavic Studies, our Memory Studies Group bridges literary, cultural, Comparative Literature, History of Art and Architecture) and historical analysis of memory as an activity. In moderated our first session on October 24, 2019. Readings addition to examining the nature of memory itself, and discussions dealt with memory and mourning in the we seek to investigate the relationships between Russian and Eastern European contexts. history and memory, past and present, testimony and witnessing, ethics and politics, being and time, digital and global as well as individual and collective memory.

To mark the 30th-anniversary of the Our third session focused on On February 28-29, 2020, our fall of the Berlin Wall in Nov. 1989, “left melancholia” and was held group took part in the international we met on Dec. 5 and discussed the on February 12, 2020. After our conference, “Memory and first part, “Hypochondria of the Heart. discussion of Svetlana Boym’s rich Responsibility,” organized by Michael Nostalgia, History, and Memory,” dissection of nostalgia as post- Rothberg (the Society Samuel Goetz from Svetlana Boym’s The Future communist aesthetic and her Chair in Holocaust Studies) at UC Los of Nostalgia (2001) and the movie cross-genre readings illuminating Angeles; Linshan Jian and Wendy Sun Good Bye Lenin! (2003). Our Guest the globalized spread of longing, gave papers, and Claudio Fogu and Moderator was again Prof. Sven we turned to the sadness and loss Catherine Nesci participated in the Spieker. associated with contemporary closing roundtable. melancholia by examining left-wing inflections of the affect and ailment: In Spring 2020, we held a virtual Benjamin's critique of left melancholia session with Professor Nakamura in the 1930s, Wendy Brown's take on (Theater & Dance, UCSB) to discuss Benjamin's vision in 1999 and critique her book, Transgenerational of neo-liberal societies, and the Remembrance (2020), which deals recent progressive move by Marxist with artistic production in the historian Enzo Traverso and defense commemoration and memorialization of a memory of the future in Left-Wing of the Asia-Pacific War (1931–1945) Melancholia (2016). Our session was in Japan since 1989. Our session was moderated by Prof. Catherine Nesci moderated by Prof. Catherine Nesci (French and Italian, Comparative (May 27, 2020). Literature).

Thanks to Dr. Alexandra Noi (History), our Graduate Coordinator in 2019-20, and to Linshan Jiang (East Asian Languages and Cultural Studies), our Web Master. ucsbmemorystudies.wixsite.com/home/people gclr.complit.ucsb.edu/

16 UC SANTA BARBARA Undergraduate Honors Reception

The annual Comparative Literature award ceremony (which Similar to the Comparative Literature award ceremony, is traditionally held as an end-of-the-year reception at the annual Germanic and Slavic award ceremony went Mosher Alumni Hall) went virtual this year, like everything virtual on May 21st. Hosted and moderated by Professor else. Our students’ achievements (remarkable by any and Chair Elisabeth Weber, the Department of Germanic measure but especially admirable in these challenging and Slavic Studies awarded twenty-two undergraduate times of anxiety & isolation) were honored on May 18th and graduate students for their dedicated work as Majors, in a lovely Zoom and PowerPoint ceremony, beautifully Minors and teaching assistants in the department during designed by Melissa Powell and hosted by Undergraduate the 2019-2020 academic year. Thanks to Melissa Powell’s advisor Roberto Strongman and Comparative Literature wonderfully designed PowerPoint, the department was Chair Dominique Jullien. Awards for Comp Lit Majors able to honor and validate students’ hard work during and Minors, as well as teaching assistant awards were the difficult times of a pandemic. We congratulate every presented against a background of virtual fireworks and awardee and thank them for their excellent scholarly balloons. Well done! achievements! Well done!

Outstanding Students in a Comparative Literature Certificate of Excellence Awards Russian (nominated Lower-Division Section: Cassandra Bija, Nancy Clarin, by Katia McClain, Sara Weld, Sven Spieker, Jeff Bellomi): Jake Denton, Genesis Taber, Wen Xu. Caitlyn Hwang, Ryan Patton, Jessie Wall, Victoria Porter, Anika Temple, Alison Roper. Certificates of Excellence for outstanding work in an upper-division Comparative Literature course: Mina Certificate of Excellence Awards German (nominated Bamasci, Cassandra Bija, Guillermo Fernandez, Jack by Viktoria Gabriel, Evelyn Reder, Marcel Strobel, Michael Greenberg, Charli Hurley, Sabrina Li, Angel Lin, Cian Hoffmann, Melissa Sheedy and Kelsey White): Maddie Martin, Gilbert Nazari, Zilia Nguyen, Julian Sanchez, Russell, Julia Tomasulo, Jacob Rodier, Alva Garcia-Solis, Mariana Serna, Sarah Webster, Crystal Yu. Neil Atam, Vanessa Rivera-Herrera, Renee Beverly-Aylwin, John (Jack) Kroesche, Sanchit Saiganesh. Certificate of Excellence in Translation Workshops: Guillermo Fernandez (Undergraduate) and Daniel Martini Harry Steinhauer Award, presented by Elisabeth Weber, and Ursula Friedman (Graduate). was awarded to Zihua Li.

Distinction in the Translation Studies Minor: Maribelle Randell Magee Memorial Award, presented by Katia Assaad Boutros, Daniela Jimenez de Anda, Michelle Yuan. McClain and Larry McLellan, was awarded to Katie Smith.

Distinguished Service to the Comparative Literature Distinction in the German Major (presented by Elisabeth Program was awarded to Naz Keynejad for her work as Weber & Evelyn Reder) was awarded to Aliza Lee and Lead TA and Social Media Coordinator. Ramon Rosas.

Distinction in the Comparative Literature Major was ACTR National Post-Secondary Russian Essay Contest awarded to Angel Lin, and to Jenny Zhang, whose Honors Winners (presented by Larry McLellan) was awarded to Thesis was accepted for publication by CLUJ, UC Berkeley Brooke Horsley and Andrew Zanazanian. Undergraduate Journal of Comparative Literature. Outstanding Teaching Assistant in the German Program Recognition as Distinguished Graduating Seniors was presented by Kelsey White & Evelyn Reder was awarded to presented to Angel Lin who also received a Certificate of first-year graduate student Marcel Strobel. Excellence.

Outstanding Teaching Assistant Awards in Comparative Literature were awarded to Daniel Martini and Jordan J. Tudisco.

COMPARATIVE LITERATURE 17 PASC Staff Updates

LAIS, Elena Baez, was provided the opportunity, and the Whitney Ater joined the PASC Staff transition proved to be successful. Then in March 2020, team as the Financial and Academic COVID-19 changed everyone’s lives but the transition to Personnel Analyst on Monday, February work remotely for the rest of PASC staff Loida Chan, Tyler 24, 2020. The position was previously McMullen, Adrian Mejia, Mayra Ponce Ascencio, Melissa occupied by Iryna Zdanovich. In this Powell, and Teresa Salinas wasn’t very difficult since role, Whitney supports both the the opportunity to test working remotely was already in financial and academic personnel practice. So far, PASC has been able to meet expectations units with work task assignments under Iryna’s direction. of working remotely. There is a limited requirement to go Whitney earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Cultural to campus with the exception of weekly mail collection Anthropology from UCSB. Whitney has previous UCSB and distribution. They have all become Zoom experts! work experience with the Department of Music as an As a third item, PASC would like to encourage everyone Academic Personnel Assistant and from Psychological and to feel free to contact them if they have any questions Brain Sciences as a Research Coordinator. Welcome to an about administrative functions and/or building or office amazing team! space issue. It has been a very different 5 months for the PASC and they believe that they have stepped up to the Iryna Zdanovich was a Financial Analyst challenge. We thank all our staff for their excellent and for PASC and has been appointed dedicated work during this difficult and uncertain times. as PASC Manager for Financial and Academic Services in October 2019. It has been a challenging and exciting year for her as a new manager and a new supervisor, learning new skills and processes. This year is unique due to remote working. Still, Zdanovich admits that the entire staff was able to manage all the work issues by setting up processes and expectations and keeping constant communication. “Communicate, follow up, repeat – don’t let anything slip through the cracks” is their new motto. Zdanovich enjoys working collaboratively with the financial unit members, with the PASC management team and the advising unit. They plan future goals and develop and revise action plans to improve efficiencies, streamline workload, and develop “best practices” to address their customers’ needs.

In December 2019 (pre-Covid) the PASC became the first campus unit to allow a Non-Exempt employee to work remotely. Carol Flores, PASC Student Advising Manager, learned of the option while in a campus managers meeting (ABOG) where HR presented the topic. Our Undergraduate Coordinator for Spanish and Portuguese/

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18 UC SANTA BARBARA COMPARATIVE LITERATURE BOARD

Julie Carlson, PhD (English) Juan P. Lupi, PhD (Spanish and Portuguese) Nadège Clitandre, PhD (Global Studies) Didier Maleuvre, PhD (French and Italian) Francis M. Dunn, PhD (Classics) Eric Prieto, PhD (French and Italian) Colin Gardner, PhD (Art) Dwight F. Reynolds, PhD (Religious Studies) Bishnupriya Ghosh, PhD (English & Global Studies) Sven Spieker, PhD (Germanic and Slavic Studies) Dominique Jullien, PhD (French and Italian) Roberto D. Strongman, PhD (Black Studies) Xiaorong Li, PhD (East Asian Languages & Cultural Elisabeth Weber, PhD (Germanic and Slavic Studies) Studies) Sara Pankenier Weld, PhD (Germanic and Slavic Studies)

AFFILIATED FACULTY

Gerardo V. Aldana, PhD (Chicana and Chicano Studies, Sara Lindheim, PhD (Classics) Anthropology) George Lipsitz, PhD (Black Studies) Ofra Amihay, PhD (Religious Studies) Alan Liu, PhD (English) Bernadette Andrea, PhD (English) Juan P. Lupi, PhD (Spanish and Portuguese) Paul Amar, PhD (Global and International Studies) Didier Maleuvre, PhD (French and Italian) Stephanie Batiste, PhD (English) Harold Marcuse, PhD (History) Rick Benjamin, PhD, Adjunct Professor (Comparative David B. Marshall, PhD (English) Literature) Ellen McCracken, PhD (Spanish and Portuguese) Silvia Bermúdez, PhD (Spanish and Portuguese) Mireille L. Miller-Young, PhD (Feminist Studies) Heather Blurton, PhD (English) Catherine Nesci, PhD (French and Italian) Maurizia Boscagli, PhD (English) erin K. Ninh, PhD (Asian American Studies) Mary Bucholtz, PhD (Linguistics) Ben Olguin, PhD (English) Leo F. Cabranes-Grant, PhD (Theater and Dance, Elide V. Oliver, PhD (Spanish and Portuguese) Spanish and Portuguese) Sowon Park, PhD (English) Julie Carlson, PhD (English) Sara G. Poot-Herrera, PhD (Spanish and Portuguese) Thomas A. Carlson, PhD (Religious Studies) Eric Prieto, PhD (French and Italian) Swati Chattopadhyay, PhD (History of Art and Rita M. Raley, PhD (English) Architecture) Dwight F. Reynolds, PhD (Religious Studies) Nadège Clitandre, PhD (Global Studies) Katherine Saltzman-Li, PhD (East Asian Languages & Elizabeth Heckendorn Cook, PhD (English) Cultural Studies) Susan Derwin, PhD (Germanic and Slavic Studies) Russel Samolsky, PhD (English) Andrew E. Duffy, PhD (English) Chela Sandoval, PhD (Chicana and Chicano Studies) Francis M. Dunn, PhD (Classics) Bhaskar Sarkar, PhD (Film and Media Studies) Dorota Dutsch, PhD (Classics) Greg Siegel, PhD (Film and Media Studies) Jody Enders, PhD (French and Italian) Cynthia Skenazi, PhD (French and Italian) Claudio Fogu, PhD (French and Italian) Sven Spieker, PhD (Germanic and Slavic Studies) Colin R. Gardner, PhD (Art) Swati Rana, PhD (English) Bishnupriya Ghosh, PhD (English) Roberto D. Strongman, PhD (Black Studies) Giles B. Gunn, PhD (English, Global Studies) Barbara Tomlinson, PhD (Feminist Studies) Richard Hecht, PhD (Religious Studies) Jennifer Tyburczy, PhD (Feminist Studies) Ellie D. Hernandez, PhD (Feminist Studies) Candace J. Waid, PhD (English) Barbara Holdrege, PhD (Religious Studies) Janet R. Walker, PhD (Film and Media Studies) Yunte Huang, PhD (English) William B. Warner, PhD (English) Dominique M. Jullien, PhD (French and Italian) Elisabeth Weber, PhD (Germanic and Slavic Studies) James Kearney, PhD (English) Sara Weld, PhD (Germanic and Slavic Studies) Wolf D. Kittler, PhD (Germanic and Slavic Studies) Hangping Xu, PhD (East Asian Languages & Cultural Esther Lezra, PhD (Global Studies) Studies) Xiaorong Li, PhD (East Asian Languages & Cultural Kay Young, PhD (English) Studies)

COMPARATIVE LITERATURE 19 UC SANTA BARBARA Comparative Literature Program 4206 Phelps Hall Design & Layout Santa Barbara, CA 93106-4130 Ocean o' Graphics Information: (805) 893-3161 Marine Science Institute Fax: (805) 893-8341 KG Creative Services