Dear EL&L community,
It is September again, and we write to welcome you back to another academic year. Our course enrollment numbers this year are through the roof, and all the pieces are all falling into place. This is going to be a good year. Below are some exciting updates which we look forward to as a community.
New Faculty
First, we would like to welcome two new faculty members to the Department: Dr. Jordy Rosenberg and Dr. Deena Dinat.
Dr. Rosenberg (he/him/his) is the author of the novel Confessions of the Fox. His scholarly research focuses on gender and sexuality studies and eighteenth-century literature. Dr. Rosenberg will be teaching in our First Year Program as well as a graduate seminar on Transgender Marxism.
Dr. Dinat’s (he/him/his) research and teaching focuses on contemporary South African, African, and world literatures. He is interested in notions of subjection, power, and capitalism in postcolonial societies, and will teach a variety of undergraduate courses.
Drs. Dinat and Rosenberg will undoubtedly enrich the student experience and add to our department. Welcome!
Curriculum Updates
We have begun our search for an Assistant Professor of African Literatures and Cultures. In anticipation of this appointment, we are developing an African Literatures course for our undergraduate curriculum.
We are developing a suite of new courses in response to the Faculty of Arts Place and Power requirement, which will come into effect in the Fall of 2024. This new requirement aims to work with students to investigate and question the relations of local and global power that shape and inform the place(s) where they, and we, come from, learn, and teach.
We will honour our commitment to curriculum renewal at the graduate level by following through on the Department’s approval of new 500-level courses which reflect the growing diversity of our faculty and our discipline.
Finally, in preparation for the implementation of the Indigenous Strategic plan, we will dedicate the 2023/2024 year to learning about and promoting the resources both inside and outside of the Department that can be (and are already being) mobilized to decolonize our teaching, our research, and our field of study.
Upcoming Events and Guest Speakers
We are excited to present an exceptionally enriching lineup of visiting speakers, whose areas of expertise include the Indigenous eighteenth century, Shakespeare and race, environmental humanities, Black diaspora literature and theory, transgender history, and more. These speakers include Drs. Robbie Richardson (Princeton), Ayanna Thompson (Arizona State), Robert Markely (Illinois, Urbana-Champaign), Christina Sharpe (York), Kadji Amin (Emory, WGSS), and Jules Gill Peterson (Johns Hopkins).
The President’s Excellence Chair in Network Cultures, Dr. Kavita Philip, will be sponsoring a Media and Misinformation series with guests Paris Marx and Yusra Hasan.
We will continue to support the Critical Conversations series, in collaboration with the English Graduate Student Caucus.
The Shakespeare First Folio Research Cluster will be running a symposium that will feature four panels of Folio scholars, a public-facing panel of speakers including Prof. Emma Smith (Oxford), Prof. Linc Kesler (UBC), and Aaron Pratt (Harry Ransom Center, Texas), and a special new collaboration with Bard on the Beach.
Details about each of these events and more will be forthcoming on our website and social media platforms.
For now, welcome newcomers and welcome back faculty and continuing students. Together, let’s make this year matter.
Patricia Badir, Professor & Department Head
Glenn Deer, Associate Professor & Associate Head, Curriculum
Liz Hodgson, Professor & Associate Head, Undergraduate
Sandra Tomc, Professor & Associate Head, Graduate
