Dr. Gary Richards recently led the book-in-common discussion of Tennessee Williams's A Streetcar Named Desire at the Louisiana Book Festival in Baton Rouge, LA. The discussion marked both the seventieth anniversary of Williams's play and the tricentennial of the founding of New Orleans. Richards also moderated a panel devoted to the novels of Ladee Hubbard and Crystal Wilkinson. … [Read more...]
Subramanian is Awarded Journalism Fellowship
November 16, 2017 by
Professor Sushma Subramanian was awarded a Genetics and Human Behavior Journalism Fellowship by the Department of Psychology at the University of Virginia, a grant aimed at early- and mid-career journalists. Continuing her focus on science writing, Subramanian will use the fellowship to observe researchers studying the physiology of the Bajau laut, a group in Indonesia known for their unique ability to see underwater and hold their breath for long periods while diving, to understand whether humans may have special adaptations for swimming. Congratulations! … [Read more...]
Scanlon Gives Community Lecture on Great War Lit
November 16, 2017 by
Dr. Mara Scanlon recently delivered a lecture at the Fredericksburg Branch of the Central Rappahannock Regional Library entitled "The Great War from the Margins: WWI Literature by Women and African Americans." The lecture was presented in conjunction with a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities for a Library of America program called "World War I and America." … [Read more...]
Subramanian Publishes New Article
October 23, 2017 by
Sushma Subramanian recently published the essay “My Forgotten Language" in the November issue of Discover Magazine. The piece looks into the neuroscience behind how she lost the ability to speak her first language, Tamil, after moving to the United States as a child and being encouraged to only use English by teachers, and what remains or can be recovered from that earlier tongue. … [Read more...]
Blevins Interviewed by Chilean Newspaper
October 3, 2017 by
Dr. Brenta Blevins was recently interviewed by La Tercera on the topic of futurism. The article is accessible at http://www.latercera.com/noticia/la-factoria-ideas/. … [Read more...]
English Alumna Publishes New Book
October 3, 2017 by
Congratulations to former English major Maura Way (UMW '94) whose poetry collection entitled _Another Bungalow_ was recently released by Press 53. … [Read more...]
Scanlon Publishes Essay on Rebecca West
September 11, 2017 by
Dr. Mara Scanlon's essay "Gender Identity and Promiscuous Identification: Reading (in) Rebecca West's The Return of the Soldier" was recently published in The Journal of Modern Literature. The article focuses on the frequently overlooked narrator of West's novel, set on the home front in the First World War. Using theories of readership, Scanlon argues that the narrator's zealous identification as a reader finally challenges the novel's own stated moral and seemingly inevitable outcome, one dependent on a model of stable identity that is radically undermined. … [Read more...]
Bylenok Publishes New Poem
September 11, 2017 by
This summer Dr. Laura Bylenok published her poem "Homologue: Husband" in the journal _Vinyl_. The poem is available here: http://vinylpoetryandprose.com/2017/06/laura-bylenok/ … [Read more...]
Professor Richards Presents in Rome
August 25, 2017 by
Dr. Gary Richards presented at the Carson McCullers in the World: A Centenary Conference, held in Rome, Italy 14-16 July 2017. His paper "Clock without Hands, Go Set a Watchman, and the Queering of Southern Integration" juxtaposed McCullers's final novel with the apprenticeship novel of fellow southern writer Harper Lee to examine these women's writers most significant contributions to what has come to be called civil rights literature. … [Read more...]
Dr. Barrenechea Presents at Two European Conferences
August 25, 2017 by
This summer Professor Antonio Barrenechea presented “El Vampiro y el Sexo: Hispanic Vampires from George Melford to Jess Franco” at the annual meeting of the Grupo de Estudios sobre lo Fantástico in Barcelona, Spain. He also presented "Undead Variants: Mexploitation's Recycling of Hollywood Vampires" at the annual meeting of the American Comparative Literature Association in Utrecht, Netherlands. … [Read more...]