Fall 2008
Annual Theme 2008–09:
Disciplinarity IPRH 11th Annual Conference: April 9–10, 2009
Letter from the Director, Dianne Harris It is with great pleasure that I begin my first year as Direc-
of prominence in our academic and intellectual lives thanks
tor of the Illinois Program for Research in the Humanities.
to the talent, vision, and efforts of past directors Michael
Trained as a historian of the built environment, I envision the
Bérubé, Suvir Kaul, Matti Bunzl, and continuing Senior
IPRH spatially, as the public square of the University of Illi-
Associate Director Christine Catanzarite. Their impact as
nois. Historically, of course, plazas and public squares served
leaders, and of the IPRH as an institution, can be variously
as the sites in which everyday discussion, debate, even riots
measured. Since 1998, for example, 57 faculty members
and revolutions took place (although I confess to hoping that
received a semester of release time to pursue the production
our revolutions are primarily intellectual, despite my scholarly
of scholarship; 66 graduate students received fellowships
fascination with riots). For many of us, public squares, as
that assisted in the completion of their dissertations; IPRH
Dean John Unsworth of the Graduate School of Library and
brought 71 speakers from other universities to speak at its
Information Science recently reminded me, are now virtual
annual symposia, and 38 outside speakers to participate on
spaces. Yet the physical location and material presence of
panels and to give lectures. Chris Catanzarite has organized
public squares still matters around the globe. Unsworth’s
dozens of film screenings, and our exhibition space has
remarks, as he noted, were based on Lawrence Lessig’s
hosted the work of artists from near and far. With Krannert
pessimistic 2001 predictions about the fate of the commons
Art Museum and Krannert Center for the Performing Arts,
in the digital era, but from where I sit, public intellectual life
IPRH continues to connect faculty, students, and commu-
appears stronger and more dynamic than ever.
nity members with visual and performing artists through a
As the IPRH begins its second decade, I hope it will increasingly serve as the physical locus and as the virtual site for wide-ranging discussions among Illinois faculty, students, and community members—that it will increasingly be viewed as our own public square. IPRH occupies a place
series of hosted conversations. We’ve co-sponsored myriad campus events, and sponsored hundreds of campus reading groups that help bring faculty and students together to share ideas in an atmosphere conducive to creative and critical thought. Because of these, the University of Illinois boasts
one of the most vibrant intellectual communities anywhere.
celebrating the quartercentenary of Milton’s birth. In March
Indeed, the extent and the tenor of cross-disciplinary
2009, IPRH will host a panel discussion and exhibition
exchange that takes place on our campus is extraordinary,
related to a conference entitled “Climate Change: Human
making Illinois a uniquely collegial environment that fosters
Costs” organized by the University of Illinois Working Group
exciting new thought. IPRH activities have made it easier to
on Climate Studies. We will continue one of our most impor-
find colleagues, collaborators, inspiration, and an intellectual
tant missions: providing the time, space, and community for
community of vital humanist scholars. This is an accomplish-
a group of outstanding faculty and graduate student Fellows
ment of which we can be justifiably proud.
to pursue their scholarly work. Given this range of topics
Could we be doing more? Absolutely! Decadal evaluations are both healthy and necessary and this year will see development of a strategic plan for IPRH as it moves into the next decade. This fall, keep an eye out for our redesigned website, which we hope will better reflect the dynamic nature of the humanities on this campus and provide improved accessibility. One of our campus’s greatest strengths is the potential that resides here for synergetic projects that connect faculty across disciplines. Planned events for this academic year reflect that potential, such as the panel IPRH will co-sponsor with noted visiting choreographer Robert Wood and Professor Brenda Farnell from the Department
and activities, our annual theme of “Disciplinarity” seems particularly apt. We remain devoted to humanities research, serving as the locus for humanities discussions and debates on this campus, but we will also increasingly look beyond disciplinary boundaries to examine the fruitful possibilities for scholarship that bridges between the sciences and the humanities, the digital world and the written word. And of course, we will work to strengthen existing ties and to build new connections beyond the boundaries of our campus. We welcome your thoughts and suggestions for the future of IPRH and hope you’ll stop by our version of the public square to say “hello.” The door is open. Let’s talk.
of Anthropology; or human rights jurist and author Geoffrey Robertson’s participation in a conference organized by Professor Feisal Mohamed of the Department of English
Annual Theme 2009–10: Representation In this election year in the United States, issues of political
it. Representation is a matter of crucial importance in our
representation and alienation have occupied the head-
discussions of artistic endeavors from literature and visual
lines—and have been important conversations across
art and music to the recent proliferation of “new media”
historical periods and through a multitude of American
and virtual worlds (where digitally-created avatars stand
elections, at the national, state, and local levels. On the
in for gamers) and “reality” television. The term also reso-
global stage, matters of citizenship, participatory govern-
nates with investigations of cognitive psychology, artificial
ment, and grassroots political movements give rise to cru-
intelligence, neuroscience, and mathematical logic.
cial concerns and complex debates. Political and ideological discourses have confronted the negotiations of power and marginalization, citizenship and disenfranchisement, here and abroad, then and now.
The IPRH welcomes applications from all disciplines and departments. We seek faculty and graduate students in a variety of areas of humanistic inquiry whose projects reflect on the question of representation in all of its various
Representation is also a significant part of our ongoing
interpretations. The topic should also provide an opportu-
investigations of literature and philosophy, arts and aesthet-
nity for artists to consider the relevance of representation
ics, language and semiotics, cognition and logic. From
in their creative work, from the visual and performing arts
the works of Plato and Aristotle, considering representa-
to contemporary media and cultural practice. The IPRH
tion and its relationship to the “real,” to examinations of
encourages applications from all sectors of the university
language and its abilities and limitations in expressing
with an interest in interdisciplinary and humanities-inflected
reality, examinations of representation have shaped our
research.
understanding of the world around us and our place within
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IPRH Faculty Fellows 2008–09 IPRH Faculty Fellows are asked to teach a course—during the fellowship year or the year immediately following— on a subject related to the fellowship project. Through these courses, the Fellows illustrate the connection between exceptional research and outstanding teaching, and continue the dialogue on the fellowship topic long after the year has ended. Descriptions of the courses proposed by the following IPRH Faculty Fellows can be found on the IPRH website.
Jodi Byrd American Indian Studies / English Colonial Cacophonies, Postcolonial Worlds: American Indian Studies and the Frontiers of Disciplinarity This project proposes a revisionary disciplining of American Indian Studies as a postcolonial interdisciplinary intellectual project that engages indigenous epistemologies as the foundations for critical theory. It is an examination of academic discourses that have shaped discussions of settler colonialism in the United States and the Pacific. My argument is that Southeastern Chickasaw Indian sacred histories that address haksuba, or chaos, provide theoretical models through which to reconceptualize how colonialism functions within settler societies. Indigenous philosophies’ challenge to traditional disciplines offers new ways of engaging issues of diaspora and rootedness and present alternatives to political and cultural aesthetics.
Melissa Littlefield Kinesiology and Community Health / English Disciplining Forensics: A Textbook Rhetoric of Literary Boundaries A survey of contemporary forensics textbooks for undergraduates and professionals alike reveals that the history of this scientific discipline often begins with literature. While literature coexists with science in these moments, the relationship is provisional at best, derisive at worst. Through a case study of forensic science textbooks, I argue that the dual-pronged conception of historicide and reiteration can illuminate three aspects of disciplinarity: disciplinary construction, disciplinary transgression, and disciplinary memory. To do so, I examine a selection of historical and contemporary textbooks and the literature they reference as a means to theorize disciplinarity in a post-interdisciplinary context.
Feisal G. Mohamed English Historicism, Formalism, and How Practitioners of English Read Milton My current book project, Milton in Our Time, explores the politics of current historicist and formalist approaches to literature. Of especial concern will be unpacking how each of these critical modes exists within politically fraught discursive fields imperfectly acknowledged due to the supposed critical distance lent by disciplinarity. Given the quatercentenary in December 2008 of the birth of this most political-minded of English poets, this seems an especially apt moment to explore Milton’s historically complex relationship to the politics of reading literature.
Sarah Projansky Gender and Women’s Studies / Cinema Studies Feminist Girls’ Studies as Emerging Discipline My book project, Spectacular Girls: The Media and the Politics of Social Change, offers a historically grounded analysis of turn of the twenty-first century U.S. public policy and popular media about girls. Focusing on mass magazines, film, television, and sports, the book explores ways media define girlhood—particularly in terms of gender, race, sexuality, nationality, and the body—and addresses ways media can lead to social policies and social change. The book’s introduction, the focus of this fellowship, argues that “Girls’ Studies” is an emerging discipline where multiple existing disciplines converge, compete, and change. It asks how the forces of disciplinarity and interdisciplinarity play out when girls, a historically under-researched group, are at the center of inquiry.
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Gabriel Solis School of Music, Musicology Performing Genre and the Self: Tom Waits, Masculinity, Americana, and Rock at the End of “The American Century” This project is an investigation of Tom Waits’ work in music and theater. It considers the circulation of ideas about art, entertainment, commerce, rebellion, conformity, and Americana in his work, looking at their relationship to key identity constructs of the twentieth century in the West: race, class, gender, and age group. The book will speak to both the history of American vernacular culture and its prospects as a locus of artistic and political energy in changing circumstances, arguing that this work can still be seen as socially and culturally productive without falling into clichéd dialectics of resistance and co-optation.
Sharra Vostral Gender and Women’s Studies / History Producing an Epidemic: Rely Tampons, Toxic Shock Syndrome, and Conflicting Disciplinary Expertise This project examines conflicting notions of scientific expertise arising out of different disciplinary commitments, through the public health crisis of Toxic Shock Syndrome (TSS) linked to Rely tampons during the early 1980s. Conflicting data and truth claims about TSS, based on diverging disciplinary expertise, threatened to undermine scientific authority. This project asks: when expertise is based upon disciplinary knowledge, how are scientific truth claims produced? What and whose lives are at stake due to such clashes? Ultimately, the Food and Drug Administration served as the arbitrator between stakeholders, sanctifying the disciplinarity of medicine and prohibiting further sales of Rely.
IPRH Gradate Student Fellows 2008–09 Patrick W. Berry English, Writing Studies Making Teachers, Making Literacy: Negotiating the Rhetoric of Crisis and Myth Writing teachers’ practices are shaped by all they know about literacy, including the cultural narratives about literacy that flow with and against disciplinary currents. My project approaches disciplinarity through the literacy narratives of those who teach writing at the college, secondary school, and community outreach level. Because writing teachers are immersed in popular culture that cherishes narrative links between literacy and social mobility, they may resist teacher preparation courses that prize narratives questioning this link—indeed, that call such linking a myth. Understanding how teachers chart a practical path through or around this tension can provide new directions for literacy research.
Anne Brubaker English Literature in the Age of Mathematics: Science, Gender, and the Multiplicity of Modernity This project investigates mathematics both as a critical trope in modernist fiction and criticism and as a powerful cultural force, integral to the development of competing modernist forms. Unlike much previous scholarship, which assumes implicitly or explicitly the unidirectional influence of various sciences on the literary (and mostly male) imagination, this project traces both the role mathematics played in shaping American modernist literature and criticism as well as the contributions of modernist writers—especially women writers—to the philosophy of mathematics. My project aims to go beyond the reflection model typical of traditional modes of interdisciplinary criticism to instead trace the various ways literature “talks back” to the discipline of mathematics.
Peter Craft—Nicholson-IPRH Fellow English Warfare, Trade, and “Indians” in English Literature, 1652-1719 Although Peter Heylyn’s interdisciplinary Cosmographie was a bestseller in the seventeenth century (1652, eight editions before 1700) and continues to influence perceptions of Native Americans, the work has received little recent scholarly attention. Because I focus on English perceptions of and encounters with “Indians” in the Americas and India proper, it is necessary to move outside of the boundaries of my specific time period and discipline to trace the origins of ideas whose manifestations in the seventeenth century are variants on pre-existing representations, and to move forward chronologically to show the relevance of persistent stereotypes to twenty-first century American readers.
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Kevin Healey Institute of Communications Research The Spirit of Networks: New Media and the Changing Role of Religion in American Public Life The demise of the so-called “secularization thesis” (that secularism will replace traditional religion) has prompted a re-evaluation of established disciplinary boundaries. Scholars who study media and religion have forged a new paradigm that integrates political-economic and cultural studies approaches. My research follows this initiative by constructing a contemporary history of religion in American public life (2000-2008) with a specific emphasis on the role of new media. The current critical juncture in media policy constitutes a moment of challenge and opportunity for scholars and activists of all stripes to redefine the role of religion in American public life.
Luis Eduardo Herrera Ethnomusicology Politics of Creation/Creation of Politics: Music Making, Political Repression, and Cold War Strategies in Dictatorial Argentina My dissertation examines the intersections of music and politics, the role of U.S. Cold War development funds toward Latin America, and how music negotiates authority, domination, censorship, and resistance during the 1960s at the Latin-American Center for Advanced Musical Studies in Argentina. By looking at music as a semiotic system, I show how politics became intertwined with and perform through musical experience. Ultimately, through a musicological lens I examine how politicized art questioned and challenged the political system, illuminating the reciprocal nature of the politics of creation and the creation of politics.
Jeff Kyong-McClain—Nicholson-IPRH Fellow History Excavating the Nation: The Discipline of Archaeology and Control of the Past in Republican Southwest China This project examines the role of the discipline of archaeology in constructing “China” in ancient time and space on China’s southwestern frontier, and conversely the way China’s southwestern borderlands shaped understandings and practices of the new discipline. Heralded as a scientific way to understand China’s past by Republican-era intellectual and political elites, they attempted to use archaeology to control the past of the southwest, and in the process discursively marginalized the status of ethnic minorities in the area. The parameters of the discipline were, however, not entirely settled and local antiquary traditions, regional power holders, missionary-scholars, and the common people contested a strict definition of archaeology.
Rebecca Nickerson East Asian Languages and Cultures Shaping the Body Domestic: Gender, Race, and Physical Culture in Imperial Japan This project examines bodies as sites where imperial ideologies of gender, sexuality, and race were both inscribed and contested in 1920s and 1930s Japan through an analysis of cosmetics, clothing, and physical education. I challenge History’s disciplinary boundaries by employing “alternative archives” in order to move away from state-centered narratives of modern Japanese history and toward a narrative that incorporates women as agents in history. By focusing on the complex processes through which bodies become gendered, sexualized, and racialized in an increasingly consumer-oriented society, I highlight the constitutive role that women played in the articulation of imperial power.
Sarah L. Rasmusson Institute of Communications Research Whiteness, Girl Studies, and the Age of American White Womanhood Harvey Girls. Hertz Girls. Hooters Girls. This project examines the prevalence, playfulness, and sometimes politicization of women as girls. It argues that “girls” are an assemblage that index public crises while managing the ideals and instabilities of American white womanhood. Before girls and whiteness get fully disciplined in new fields of study, it seeks to explain why womanhood is continually recast as girlhood, the girling of women as process and periodization, and how girls collapse whiteness with femininity and feminism. Ultimately, girls unhinge conceptions of white women and are an overlooked organizing principle for U.S. history, society, and culture.
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Iprh Film Series—Disciplinarity: Films on Film All films will begin at 5:30 p.m. in Room 62, Krannert Art Museum As the IPRH undertakes a yearlong examination of the topic of disciplinarity, the film series will take the opportunity to turn its attention to film itself. The fall semester lineup, below, considers the act of creating film art—from the pressures facing directors both real and fictional to the growing pains of the early film industry, films about filmmaking are on the agenda. The spring schedule, to be announced later in the year, takes up the issue of film from the other side of the lens, examining what it means to be a member of the film audience. All of these films investigate their subject matter in interesting and provocative ways. They bear watching (or re-watching) because of the theme, but also regardless of it. The series is free and open to the public; we hope to see you there.
September 11
8½
(1963, dir. Federico Fellini; 138 min.) starring Marcello Mastroianni, Claudia Cardinale, Anouk Aimée Successful director Guido Anselmi (Mastroianni), fresh from a smash hit film, finds himself personally and artistically drained as he contemplates his follow-up project. Spending time at a health spa as he faces this creative crisis, he finds his reverie intruded upon by demanding actors, producers, business associates, and above all, the many women in his life, past and present. Guido’s dilemmas—reconciling fantasy and reality, commerce and art—animate Fellini’s semi-autobiographical masterpiece about finding meaning in the circus of life.
October 9
Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse
(1991, dir. Fax Bahr and George Hickenlooper, with additional footage by Eleanor Coppola; 96 min.) commentary by Francis Ford Coppola, John Milius, George Lucas, Martin Sheen, Robert Duvall, Frederic Forrest A group of men undertakes a perilous mission into the jungle, and descends into violence and insanity....The long, arduous, costly process of making Francis Ford Coppola’s 1979 film Apocalypse Now is a story as harrowing as the film itself. Using behind-the-scenes footage (including some shot secretly by Coppola’s wife Eleanor) and new interviews with the film’s actors, writers, and—most dramatically—Coppola himself, this insightful and harrowing documentary reveals the madness and genius at the heart of the creative process.
October 30
Ed Wood
(1994, dir. Tim Burton; 127 min.) starring Johnny Depp, Martin Landau, Sarah Jessica Parker, Patricia Arquette, Bill Murray Ed Wood, once voted the Worst Director of All Time, nevertheless approached each of his films as if it was Citizen Kane (made by his idol, Orson Welles, the anti-Ed Wood). Working with an enthusiastic but spectacularly untalented troupe of misfits, Wood created such schlock classics as Plan 9 from Outer Space and Glen or Glenda. Here, Burton’s affectionate and respectful vision celebrates Wood’s passion for film, and gives us a collection of fearless, flawless performances— most notably Depp as Wood and Martin Landau (a richly deserving Oscar winner) as Bela Lugosi.
November 13
Singin’ in the Rain
(1952, dir. Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly; 103 min.) starring Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds, Donald O’Connor, Jean Hagen A classic film from the Golden Age of the Hollywood musical, about another significant moment in film history: the arrival of the talkies in the motion picture industry. The sometimes hilarious challenge of adapting to the new technology of synchronous sound serves as the backdrop for Hollywood in-jokes, a sweet backstage romance, and some of the splashiest, most memorable musical numbers ever filmed. What a glorious feeling to watch Kelly, Reynolds, and O’Connor— and Donen’s sure-handed direction—in one of the greatest films to come out of Hollywood.
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IPRH Reading Groups The IPRH awards financial support to interdisciplinary faculty and graduate student Reading Groups, which meet regularly throughout the year and frequently organize public events on topics of interest to a broad range of disciplines. IPRH Reading Groups may be formed around any topic or theme; they need not be coordinated with the IPRH theme for this or any other year. Reading Groups should aim to foster collaborative study in the humanities, and to investigate questions of sufficient breadth to draw scholars from a diverse array of intellectual traditions. The IPRH will consider proposals for Reading Groups for the 2009–10 academic year in spring 2009; full application guidelines can be found on the IPRH website, and the proposal deadline is April 1, 2009. The following groups have been awarded support by the IPRH for 2008–09. Detailed descriptions of the groups can be found on the IPRH website: www.iprh.uiuc.edu. Please contact the Reading Group organizers (listed below) directly for more information about the groups and their activities.
1898 and Beyond: The Caribbean and the Pacific Between Two Empires
Digital Literacies
Organizer: Augusto Espiritu (aespirit@illinois.edu)
(pberry2@illinois.edu)
Archives, Community, and Use
Drugs, Culture, and Society
Organizers: Noah Lenstra (nlenstr2@illinois.edu) and Kaitlin Costello
Organizers: Daniel Larson (dmlarson@illinois.edu) and Will Morris
(kcostel4@illinois.edu)
(wfmorris@illinois.edu)
Asian American Cultural Studies
East Asian Language Pedagogy
Organizers: Junaid Rana (jrana@illinois.edu) and Soo Ah Kwon
Organizers: Misumi Sadler (sadlerm@illinois.edu) and Jeeyoung Ahn
(sakwon@illinois.edu)
Ha (j-ahn3@illinois.edu)
Asian / American Feminisms
Eastern European Reading Group
Organizers: Nima Patel (nimap@illinois.edu) and Sonia Mariscal
Organizers: Fedja Buric (buric@illinois.edu) and Keith Hitchins
(smarisc2@illinois.edu)
(khitchin@illinois.edu)
Authenticity
The German Colloquium
Organizers: Gabriel Solis (gpsolis@illinois.edu) and Andrea R.
Organizers: Harry Liebersohn (hliebers@illinois.edu) and Peter
Stevens (arstev@illinois.edu)
Fritzsche (pfritzsc@illinois.edu)
Centers and Margins in East Asian History and Culture
Girls’ Studies
Organizers: Gail Hawisher (hawisher@illinois.edu) and Patrick Berry
Organizer: Ruth Nicole Brown (rnbrown@illinois.edu)
Organizers: David Stramecky (dstrame2@illinois.edu) and Jeff
Historical Cartography
Kyong-McClain (kyongmcc@illinois.edu)
Organizers: Max Edelson (edelson@illinois.edu) and Jovita Baber
Comparative Politics Workshop
(jbaber@illinois.edu)
Organizer: José Antonio Cheibub (cheibub@illinois.edu)
Critical Technologies of Race
Intimacy, Domesticity, and the Nation: South Asia and Beyond
Organizer: Fiona Ngô (ngo@illinois.edu)
Organizers: Shefali Chandra (sc23@illinois.edu) and Nathaniel Chio
Digital History
(nchio1@illinois.edu)
Organizers: Clare Crowston (crowston@illinois.edu) and Rayvon
The Korea Workshop
Fouché (rfouche@illinois.edu)
Organizers: Nancy Abelmann (nabelman@illinois.edu) and Jungwon Kim (kimjw@illinois.edu)
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Lacanian Reading Group
Queer Studies: Sexualities, Races, Nations
Organizers: Nancy Blake (nblake@illinois.edu) and Junjie Luo (jluo3@
Organizers: Martin Manalansan (manalans@illinois.edu) and Siobhan
illinois.edu)
Somerville (sbs@illinois.edu)
Language and Social Interaction
Re-Imagining Border Crossings
Organizer: Andrea Golato (golato@illinois.edu)
Organizers: Natalie Havlin (nhavlin@illinois.edu) and Ariana Ruiz (aaruiz3@illinois.edu)
Language Style, Identity, and Globalization Organizers: Young-sun Lee (ylee33@illinois.edu) and Erica Britt
Religion, Secularism, and British Nationhood
(erbritt2@illinois.edu)
Organizers: Zia Gluhbegovic (zgluhbe2@illinois.edu) and Elizabeth Hoiem (hoiem@illinois.edu)
Law, Race, and Space Organizers: Ken Salo (kensalo@illinois.edu) and Ryan Griffis (rgriffis@
Rhetorical Studies
illinois.edu)
Organizers: Ned O’Gorman (nogorman@illinois.edu) and Cara Finnegan (caraf@illinois.edu)
Medicine / Science Organizers: Leslie J. Reagan (lreagan@illinois.edu) and Brian
Russian Studies Circle
Hoffman (bshoffma@illinois.edu)
Organizers: Diane P. Koenker (dkoenker@illinois.edu) and Harriet Murav (hlmurav@illinois.edu)
Migration and Language Organizers: Douglas Kibbee (dkibbee@illinois.edu) and Dorothee
Social Development Consortium
Schneider (schndr@illinois.edu)
Organizers: Eva Pomerantz (pomerntz@illinois.edu) and Peggy Miller (pjm@illinois.edu)
Modern Art Colloquium Organizers: Jonathan Fineberg (fineberg@illinois.edu) and Jennifer
Southern History
Greenhill (jgreenhi@illinois.edu)
Organizer: Vernon Burton (ovburton@illinois.edu)
Native Language Acquisition Interrupted
The Tertulia for Latin American History
Organizers: Silvina Montrul (montrul@illinois.edu) and Elabbas
Organizers: Anita Bravo (aibravo@illinois.edu) and Sonia Mariscal
Benmamoun (benmamou@illinois.edu)
(smarisc2@illinois.edu)
Oral History: New Issues in Practice and Preservation
Theoretical Approaches to Otherness in the Early Modern Period
Organizers: Susan Davis (sgdavis@illinois.edu) and Chris D’Arpa
Organizers: Benjamin Davis (brdavis@illinois.edu) and Edisa Denic
(cdarpa2@illinois.edu)
(denic@illinois.edu)
Participatory Action Research
Trans-East Asian Cinema
Organizer: Abbilyn Harmon (amille22@illinois.edu)
Organizers: Yanjie Wang (ywang40@illinois.edu) and Chi-Rong Wu (wu22@illinois.edu)
Phronetic Social Science Organizers: Tim Green (tfgreen@illinois.edu) and Lisa Bates
Youth Literature Interest Group
(lkbates@illinois.edu)
Organizer: Christine Jenkins (cajenkin@illinois.edu)
Deadline for Reading Group proposals for 2009–10: April 1, 2009 Guidelines can be found on the IPRH website.
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The Odyssey Project 2008-09 The Odyssey Project will launch its third year in Champaign-Urbana this fall with a new group of faculty and students. The Odyssey Project is a yearlong, college-accredited course in the humanities offered at no cost to adults in the community living below or slightly above the federal poverty level. The purpose of the course is to introduce students to the humanities and to help them reenter the world of higher education. Odyssey Project graduate Mamie Brown gives the commencement address on May 10, 2008 as Coordinator John Marsh and State Senator Mike Frerichs look on.
The program, which runs from late August through early May, offers instruction in five discrete disciplines in the humanities: literature, philosophy, art history, U.S. history, and writing and critical thinking. The class typically enrolls 25 to 30 students; prospective students must live at 150% of the poverty level or lower, be 17 years of age or older, be able to read an English-language newspaper, and, in interviews with the project coordinator, demonstrate a desire to complete the course. The course is hosted by its community partner, the Douglass Branch Library. There is no tuition fee, and books, transportation vouchers, and child care are also free to all students. Students who complete the course receive six hours of college credit, which can then be transferred to other two- or four-year colleges. The Odyssey Project is a joint undertaking of the IPRH and the Illinois Humanities Council. Funding for the course is also provided by the University of Illinois Office of the Chancellor and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
Teaching the Odyssey Project Michael Burns (English), Critical Thinking and Writing—Michael Burns earned his master’s degree in Language and Literacy in 2007
from the City College of New York. Currently a Ph.D. candidate in the Center for Writing Studies at the U of I, his research interests include studenthood; student/teacher discourse; embodiment and space; orality and literacy; and modern American literatures.
Rebecca Ginsburg (Landscape Architecture), Art History—Professor Ginsburg earned her Ph.D. in architectural history from the University of California-Berkeley in 2001. She is the co-editor of the forthcoming book Slave Space: The Physical Environments of North American Slavery. Her research areas include domestic landscapes; public history; interior space; geographies and landscapes of the Atlantic slave trade; and material culture.
Mark Leff (History), U.S. History—Professor Leff earned his Ph.D. in history from the University of Chicago in 1978. Selected publications include The Limits of Symbolic Reform: The New Deal and Taxation, 1933–1939 and “Revisioning U.S. Political History.” He specializes in 20th century U.S. history and public policy. He is the recipient of numerous teaching awards, and was named “Illinois Teacher of the Year” in 1998 by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.
John Marsh (English), Literature—John Marsh is the editor of You Work Tomorrow: An Anthology of American Labor Poetry, 1929–1941. In addition to articles and essays published in American Literature, Legacy, The William Carlos Williams Review, Pedagogy, Workplace, and Inside Higher Ed, he is currently completing a book entitled “Modern American Poetry and the Labor Question,” which examines the role workers and the poor played in the development of early 20th-century U.S. poetry. He is also the Coordinator of the Champaign-Urbana Odyssey Project.
Cris Mayo (Educational Policy Studies / Gender and Women’s Studies), Philosophy— Cris Mayo is the Interim Director of the Gender and Women’s Studies Program and an Associate Professor in the Department of Educational Policy Studies and Gender and Women’s Studies. Her research interests include sex education, multicultural education, sexual minorities in public schools and school policy, and the philosophy of education. In addition to many articles, she is the author of Disputing the Subject of Sex: Sexuality and Public School Controversies.
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Letter from the Senior Associate Director Last year’s tenth anniversary celebration prompted a look back at the accomplishments of the IPRH during our first decade—and now, we are turning our gaze to the future, as we look forward to a new decade and a new adventure. Please join me in welcoming Dianne Harris to her new role as Director; she comes to the IPRH as a past Fellow (during the 2004–05 year) and a past member of the Advisory Committee, and with a slate of ambitious and innovative ideas for building upon our existing programs and expanding our reach even more broadly both on and off campus. I invite you to join us on the evening of September 9 for the IPRH open house reception, which will provide an opportunity to welcome Dianne to the IPRH, celebrate the start of an exciting new year, and mark the opening of an exhibition of new art works by Art and Design faculty member Barbara Kendrick. Some new projects that have been in development for the past year are also making their debut this fall. They include an expanded online resource for external research opportunities and grants in the humanities, and the addition of an earlyfall fellowship proposal-writing workshop for faculty (similar to our long-running graduate student workshop, which also continues). More details about these programs can be found on page 13. We would also like to extend our thanks to the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and the Nicholson Endowment Fund for their continued support of our graduate student fellowship program via the Nicholson-IPRH Fellowships—which have once again allowed us to increase our graduate student awards from six to eight for the year, and support more of the exceptional work that is being done by graduate students in the humanities. The humanities disciplines have always provided opportunities to examine the past and the present, to envision new models of the future, to index transformation and resilience in people and ideas and events. These concepts will no doubt be a part of our discussions throughout the year as we examine the theme of “disciplinarity”—but they will also be woven into the fabric of the IPRH itself, as we embark upon a new decade and a new era. We hope you will join us for the conversation.
NEH Summer Stipend Awards The IPRH invites applications for the National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Stipend program for summer 2009. The program provides opportunities for individuals to pursue advanced work that will enhance their capacities as interpreters of the humanities for academic and general audiences. Recipients usually produce scholarly articles, monographs on specialized subjects, books on broad topics, archaeological site reports, translations, editions, or other scholarly tools. Awards are for $6,000 for two consecutive months of full-time research and writing. Summer Stipend recipients may hold other research grants during the tenure of their awards, but they must work full-time on their projects during the two months of their tenure. Faculty applicants must be nominated to the NEH by their home institutions, with two nominations (at any rank) allowed from each campus. Applicants from the U of I must submit their proposals to the IPRH no later than Wednesday, September 10 at 5 p.m. for consideration; the designated applicants will then submit their applications to the NEH. Complete eligibility and application information can be found on the IPRH website. Faculty who are planning to submit an application are strongly encouraged to contact Christine Catanzarite to discuss the details of the application process. The IPRH is pleased to congratulate Ramona Curry (English), whose nomination last fall led to an NEH Summer Stipend for summer 2008.
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Calendar of Events and Deadlines All IPRH events are free and open to the public. Please check the IPRH website for updates and additions to this schedule throughout the year.
September 8
October 30
Graduate Student Workshop—Crafting a Fellowship/Grant Proposal for the Humanities
IPRH Film Series—Ed Wood 5:30 p.m.
5 p.m.
Krannert Art Museum, Room 62
Humanities Lecture Hall November 13
Participants: Christine Catanzarite (IPRH/Cinema Studies) and Deborah Richie (Graduate College)
IPRH Film Series—Singin’ in the Rain
Co-sponsored by the IPRH and the Graduate College; open to all U of I graduate students.
5:30 p.m. Krannert Art Museum, Room 62
September 9
December 2
IPRH Open House and Exhibition Opening
Applications and supporting materials for IPRH Faculty and Graduate Student Fellowships for 2009–10 must be received by the IPRH by 5 p.m.
7–9 p.m. Humanities Lecture Hall
Application guidelines and additional information can be found on pages 14 and 15.
The reception celebrates the new academic year and the opening of“Learning To Speak Irish: There is no ‘yes’ or ‘no’ in the Irish language”, an exhibit by Barbara Kendrick (Art and Design, U of I). The exhibit will be on view at the IPRH from September 4 through late October.
February 1 IPRH Faculty and Graduate Student Fellowship Awards for 2008–09 announced
September 10 Deadline for National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Stipend applications, 5 p.m.
March 20
More information about the awards can be found on page 10. Contact Christine Catanzarite for details.
Submission guidelines can be found on page 13.
Deadline for IPRH co-sponsorship requests, 5 p.m.
April 1
September 11
Deadline for IPRH Reading Group proposals for 2009–10, 5 p.m.
IPRH Film Series—8 ½
Application guidelines can be found on the IPRH website.
5:30 p.m. Krannert Art Museum, Room 62
April 9–10 IPRH 11th Annual Conference—“Disciplinarity”
September 17
The conference will feature presentations by the IPRH Faculty and Graduate Student Fellows for 2008–09.
Faculty Workshop—Crafting a Fellowship/Grant Proposal for the Humanities
A complete conference schedule will be announced in early 2009.
4 p.m. Humanities Lecture Hall Participants: Dianne Harris (IPRH / Landscape Architecture) and Christine Catanzarite (IPRH / Cinema Studies); open to all U of I faculty.
Human Interest The IPRH publishes Human Interest each year in the early fall. Additional information is available throughout the year online, and through the IPRH mailing list. Contact Christine Catanzarite to be added to the mailing list.
October 7 Deadline for IPRH co-sponsorship requests, 5 p.m. Submission guidelines can be found on page 13.
Editor: Christine Catanzarite Project Manager: Sarah Williams Design: Melissa Lynch
October 9 IPRH Film Series—Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse
Produced by Creative Services | Public Affairs for the Illinois Program for Research
5:30 p.m.
affirmative action institution. Printed on recycled paper with soy ink. 08.227
in the Humanities. The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is an equal opportunity,
Krannert Art Museum, Room 62
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2007–08 in Review The Odyssey Project The Odyssey Project is the free course in the humanities offered to low-income adults in the ChampaignUrbana community. Faculty for the Champaign-Urbana course is drawn from departments at the U of I. Tuition is free; books, child care, and transportation vouchers are provided. Bard College in New York grants a certificate of achievement to any student who completes the course and six college credits to those completing it at a high level of performance.
I Tried To Tell You
Art at IPRH
Postcard Collages
I Tried To Tell You
In fall 2007, nineteen students began the course,
Joel Ross, Art and Design
and seven graduated in a May 2008 ceremony that
September 5–October 12
featured an address by State Senator Mike Frerichs. Teaching in the course during the 2007–08 year were
Postcard Collages
James Barrett (U.S. History), Timothy McDonough
Timothy Van Laar, Art and Design
(Philosophy), John Marsh (Critical Thinking and Writ-
October 23–December 7
ing), Audrey Petty (Literature), and Dana Rush (Art History).
Absent the Landscape of Journey
Absent the Landscape of Journey
Steven Hudson, Parkland College
Panel Discussions
January 29–February 28
The Role of Philosophy in the Humanities Today Crafting a Fellowship/Grant Proposal in the
¿Que Bola?: Cuban Hip Hop in Motion
Humanities Paris Through the Global Lens
Marc Perry, Anthropology / African American Studies
The Nation and the Left
March 5–May 9
¿Que Bola?: Cuban Hip Hop in Motion
Jews and Their Neighbors, Before, During,
and After WWII
IPRH Film Series Vertigo Truly Madly Deeply Pennies from Heaven Thirteen Conversations about One Thing Blow-Up Sullivan’s Travels Children of Men The Graduate
Arts Initiatives Curtain Call Discussion, KCPA—The Tempest AandBC Theatre Company
Rupture IPRH 10th Annual Conference March 27–28 Keynote Address: Cloning Terror: The War of Images, 9-11 to Abu Ghraib W.J.T. Mitchell—English and Art History, University of Chicago
Conference Panels: The IPRH at 10 (featuring past IPRH directors Michael Bérubé and Matti Bunzl, and Interim Director Christine Catanzarite)
Gallery Discussion, KAM—Facades Co-curator Judith Hoos Fox
The Interdisciplinary Humanities Center and the University (featuring
Gallery Tour and Discussion, KAM—Blown Away KAM director Kathleen Harleman and Education Director Anne Sautman
War and Postwar
past IPRH Fellows)
Social Ruptures, Past and Present Rupturing the Arts
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External Opportunities in the Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences The IPRH website www.iprh.uiuc.edu has expanded its section devoted to External Opportunities. When you follow the link from our homepage, you will find an extensive list of resources for humanities-related funding—and the list will be updated throughout the year, as we receive announcements from humanities centers and other organizations in the U.S. and abroad. The list includes visiting positions and residential fellowships; non-residential grants and virtual groups; library, archive, and museum funding; calls for papers; and other short- and long-term funding opportunities. In addition to making the External Opportunities listings available to the campus community, the IPRH will host two open workshops (one for faculty, one for graduate students) dedicated to the proposal / grant-writing process for scholars in the humanities, arts, and other humanities-related disciplines in September. These workshops will review strategies for writing successful proposals, and will provide an opportunity for participants to ask questions about the IPRH fellowship application process. No advance registration is required for these events.
September 8 Graduate Student Workshop—Crafting a Fellowship/Grant Proposal for the Humanities 5 p.m., Humanities Lecture Hall Participants: Christine Catanzarite (IPRH/Cinema Studies) and Deborah Richie (Graduate College) Co-sponsored by the IPRH and the Graduate College; open to all U of I graduate students
September 17 Faculty Workshop—Crafting a Fellowship/Grant Proposal for the Humanities 4 p.m., Humanities Lecture Hall Participants: Dianne Harris (IPRH/Landscape Architecture) and Christine Catanzarite (IPRH/Cinema Studies); open to all U of I faculty
Requesting Iprh Co-Sponsorship Support The IPRH invites submissions requesting co-sponsorship support to meet one established deadline per semester (fall: October 7; spring: March 20). These deadlines will enable the IPRH to consider all requests for support on a competitive basis, and to determine how to most effectively allocate our co-sponsorship resources in a time of limited funding. The average amount that the IPRH will contribute to an event is $100. In addition, we can support a limited number of conferences/symposia in amounts up to $500. Proposals for conference support must be submitted by the deadline dates in order to receive consideration. Proposals for non-conference events will be accepted outside of deadline periods under special circumstances, but funding will be contingent upon availability. Requests for support should include the following: • A brief but specific outline of the proposed event, including dates and one-paragraph speaker biographies where
appropriate • An outline of the proposed budget for the event, including any funding commitments that have already been secured
The IPRH does NOT provide financial support for the following: • Events sponsored by current IPRH Reading Groups • Events sponsored by registered student organizations • Events that take place less than three weeks from the date of application for support
Send all requests for support via e-mail to Christine Catanzarite (catanzar@illinois.edu), or by campus mail to: IPRH, 805 West Pennsylvania Ave., MC-057. Notification of support will be sent to all applicants within one week of the deadline date.
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Application Guidelines
Faculty Fellowship Awards Applications are invited from U of I faculty members for selection as IPRH Faculty Fellows for the 2009–10 academic year. The fellowship will provide release time for one semester in residence to enable Fellows to develop projects related to the broad theme of “Representation;” to teach one course, at the undergraduate or graduate level, that is related to the fellowship project; and to participate in the year’s activities, including the yearlong interdisciplinary Fellows’ Seminar and the IPRH annual conference in the spring. The IPRH is especially interested in fostering interdisciplinary work, and encourages the submission of joint applications from faculty members in different disciplines. Each applicant should submit two (2) complete sets of the following materials, in this order: • A completed IPRH application form, including 100-word abstract (the form can be downloaded from the IPRH website) • A current curriculum vitae • A statement of 2,000 words describing the faculty member’s research on the proposed project • A description of the proposed course, including a tentative syllabus
The applicant should arrange for the IPRH to receive two (2) letters in support of the application, and a letter of support from the executive officer of the applicant’s primary department, attesting to the department’s willingness to release the applicant from all regular teaching duties other than thesis direction for one semester in 2009–10. (Executive officers of campus units who submit an application to the IPRH must include a letter from the dean of their college, approving the application and any release time that would result from a successful proposal.) Applicants should make certain that their teaching and research obligations do not prevent them from participating fully in IPRH activities, and should identify in the narrative statement any other applications being made for either sabbatical leave or for other campus or external grants and fellowships. In the narrative statement, the applicant should describe his/her research in reasonable detail, explaining its relevance to the IPRH theme for 2008–09 and its significance to the broader scholarly community at the U of I and elsewhere. The statement should be prefaced by a project title and brief abstract (no more than 100 words). The statement should also indicate the applicant’s willingness to participate in IPRH activities, especially the annual conference and Fellows’ Seminar. Applications being made for joint projects should include all of the elements required of faculty applicants as described above, with the exception of the following: each applicant should complete a copy of the IPRH application form; the narrative statement should be 3,000 words and jointly authored to address both the collaborative nature of the project and the individual strengths brought to it by each applicant; and each applicant should arrange to have two support letters and the letters from their department’s executive officer sent to the IPRH. If the applicants intend to teach a joint course, then one course proposal and sample syllabus should be submitted; if each applicant plans to teach an individual course, then the applicants should submit two course proposals and syllabi. All IPRH Fellows are expected to maintain residency on the U of I campus during the award year. Faculty members who have previously held an IPRH fellowship may not reapply to the IPRH for five years following the award year. Faculty members are likewise prohibited from holding IPRH fellowships and Center for Advanced Study, Center on Democracy in a Multiracial Society, or other campus release-time awards simultaneously. Only full-time tenured and tenure-track U of I faculty are eligible to apply for the awards. Completed applications must be submitted, and letters of support must arrive, by 5 p.m. on Tuesday, December 2, 2008. Be sure that both sets of application materials are assembled and complete, and proofread all submissions carefully; changes or additions cannot be made after the application has been submitted to the IPRH. Send all materials to: Illinois Program for Research in the Humanities 805 West Pennsylvania Avenue, MC-057 Urbana, Illinois 61801 Letters of support should be mailed to this address; sent via fax to (217) 333-9617; or e-mailed to Christine Catanzarite at catanzar@illinois.edu. IMPORTANT: Please submit letters in one format only: if a letter is sent by e-mail or fax, do not also send a hard copy. All applications will be acknowledged shortly following the deadline. Please do not contact the IPRH about the status of a file; because of the volume of applications that the IPRH receives, we cannot answer individual questions about materials that have been sent. For more information about the IPRH fellowship program, please contact Christine Catanzarite at 244-7913 or catanzar@illinois. edu. Awards will be announced on or about February 1, 2009.
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Application Guidelines
Graduate Student Fellowship Awards Applications are invited from U of I graduate students for selection as IPRH Graduate Student Fellows for the 2009–10 academic year. The fellowship will enable advanced graduate students to develop their dissertations or research projects related to the theme of “Representation;” and to participate in the year’s activities, including the yearlong interdisciplinary Fellows’ Seminar and the IPRH annual conference in the spring. Graduate Student Fellows receive a $7,000 stipend and a tuition/fee waiver if one is not otherwise provided. Each applicant should submit two (2) complete sets of the following materials, in this order: • A completed IPRH application form, including a 100-word abstract (form can be downloaded from the IPRH website) • A current curriculum vitae, including a list of all graduate courses taken, papers published, presentations made, and
assistantships and fellowships held • All graduate transcripts (official copies in the first set of materials, and duplicate copies in the remaining set) • A statement of 2,000 words describing the student’s research on the proposed project, including preparation to
undertake this research and all progress on the project to date The applicant should arrange for the IPRH to receive two (2) letters in support of the application; these letters should speak to the applicant’s abilities and achievements, to his/her progress on the project, and to the intellectual value of the project itself. One of these letters must come from the faculty member supervising the student’s dissertation or equivalent research. Applicants should make certain that their teaching and research obligations do not prevent them from participating fully in IPRH activities, and should identify in the narrative statement any other applications being made for other campus or external grants and fellowships. In the narrative statement, the applicant should describe his/her research in reasonable detail, explaining its relevance to the IPRH theme for 2009–10 and its significance to the broader scholarly community at the U of I and elsewhere. The statement should be prefaced by a project title and a brief abstract (no more than 100 words). The statement should also indicate the applicant’s willingness to participate in IPRH activities, especially the annual conference and the Fellows’ Seminar. All IPRH Fellows are expected to maintain residency on the U of I campus during the award year. Graduate students who have previously held an IPRH fellowship may not reapply. Graduate Student Fellows may also hold appointments as teaching/research assistants during the award year, but these appointments may not exceed one-third time (33 percent). Graduate students may not hold an IPRH fellowship and a Center on Democracy fellowship, or any other similar campus or off-campus award, simultaneously. Completed applications must be submitted, and letters of support must arrive, by 5 p.m. on Tuesday, December 2, 2008. Be sure that both sets of application materials are assembled and complete, and proofread all submissions carefully; changes or additions cannot be made after the application has been submitted to the IPRH. Send all materials to: Illinois Program for Research in the Humanities 805 West Pennsylvania Avenue, MC-057 Urbana, Illinois 61801 Letters of support should be mailed to this address; sent via fax to (217) 333-9617; or e-mailed to Christine Catanzarite at catanzar@illinois.edu. IMPORTANT: Please submit letters in one format only: if a letter is sent by e-mail or fax, do not also send a hard copy. All applications will be acknowledged shortly following the deadline. Please do not contact the IPRH about the status of a file; because of the volume of applications that the IPRH receives, we cannot answer individual questions about materials that have been sent. Please note: The IPRH will sponsor a fellowship-writing workshop for graduate students on Monday, September 8 at 5 p.m. at the IPRH. This workshop, which is co-sponsored by the Graduate College, will address the elements of a successful fellowship or grant proposal, with special emphasis placed on proposals submitted for on-campus awards for humanities graduate students. The workshop is free and open to all U of I graduate students; no advance registration is required. For more information about the IPRH fellowship program, please contact Christine Catanzarite at 244-7913 or catanzar@illinois.edu. Awards will be announced on or about February 1, 2009.
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Illinois Program for Research in the Humanities University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 805 West Pennsylvania Avenue Urbana, Illinois 61801 www.iprh.uiuc.edu Telephone (217) 244-3344 Fax (217) 333-9617
The Illinois Program for Research in the Humanities at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign was established in 1997 to promote interdisciplinary study in the humanities, arts, and social sciences. The IPRH grants fellowships to U of I faculty and graduate students, who work in yearlong symposia on thematic topics such as “Cities,” “The South,” “Violence,” “Difference,” “Belief,” “Beauty,” “Rupture,” and the theme for 2008–09, “Disciplinarity.” The program coordinates and hosts an annual conference, typically during the spring,
IPRH Staff Dianne Harris, Director harris3@illinois.edu Christine Catanzarite, Senior Associate Director catanzar@illinois.edu Pam Hall, Office Manager phall1@illinois.edu Stephanie Uebelhoer, Office Support Assistant
coordinated with the annual theme and featuring presentations by the IPRH Fel-
suebelho@illinois.edu
lows. The IPRH also provides financial support to faculty and graduate student
The Odyssey Project
reading groups, coordinates numerous lectures and panel discussions, sponsors
John Marsh, Project Coordinator
exhibitions by campus and visiting artists in it lecture hall, and hosts a yearlong
jemarsh@illinois.edu
film series coordinated with the annual theme. The IPRH offers a free yearlong
Tara Lyons, Graduate Assistant
humanities course, the Odyssey Project, for members of the Champaign-Urbana
tllyons@illinois.edu
community who live at or near the poverty level; this course, which is supported by the U of I and a grant from the Illinois Humanities Council, is taught by U of I faculty. In addition to its own programming, the IPRH shares its resources with other university departments and programs, serving as a major co-sponsor of lec-
IPRH Advisory Committee 2008–09 Adrian Burgos, History Debra Hawhee, Communication / English
tures, programs, and conferences on campus throughout the year and coordinat-
Laurie Hogin, Art and Design
ing its activities with other units wherever possible.
James Treat, Religion Gary Xu, East Asian Languages and Cultures
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