About
Languages: English, Spanish, French, Arabic
Teaching interests: My primary teaching interests fall into two categories. The first is world literature: how has it been, and how is it being (re)defined? Does the literary prize economy play as influential role in the world literary market as we often assume? And, how does the translation and circulation of literature happen differently in--and within-- the Global South?
The second category is trauma studies; in addition to foundational and evolving theories of trauma (and healing), my courses ask students to think about how knowledge of trauma is produced in the first place. Can we derive a theory of trauma from its textual representation? How can classical trauma theory avoid the pitfall of refracting other cultural contexts through its own lens?
Finally, I am also interested in critical theory (including postcolonial and globalization theory; psychoanalysis; affect theory) and genre theory (including documentary ethics, autofiction/autotheory).
Recent courses:
- “Adapting World Literatures” (CL323) Why, and how, are literary works adapted to produce new meanings, across different periods and cultures? How does the genre and medium of adaptation (e.g. theatre/film/TV, visual arts, graphic novel, video games) influence these meanings? Is there ever truly an "original" text? Upper Level Writing Requirement, with option to produce an adaptation as a final project.
- “Prizewinners: The Making of Good Fictions" (CL144) First-year seminar on the politics and economics of prestige in the judging of literary fiction from around the world.
- “Trauma and Healing in the Global South" (RCHUMS 334) How (and why) have Western European and US theories of trauma become “global”?What do we have to learn from ideas about trauma and healing in the Global South? How do their geopolitical and cultural contexts shape their epistemological interventions?
