Syllabus for ENGL 758D, The Speculative Situation, graduate seminar in the University of Maryland English department, Fall 2017.

An introduction to music appreciation and history that emphasizes the political, cultural, and social influences on music from antiquity to the 20th century. Contents include sacred and secular, vocal and instrumental, and folk and art music from across the Western world, including modern popular song. No previous musical experience necessary. All…[Read more]

Is the divide between human and machine becoming harder to maintain? From the Golem of folk tales to Frankenstein and even Siri, the concept of the semi-artificial person, or cyborg, is long-lived, appearing across popular, religious, and scientific imaginations. As technology becomes more personal, the cyborg becomes less alien, and the prospect…[Read more]

In La meitat de l’ànima and Temps d’innocència Carme Riera looks to the family album and personal history to reconcile with Spain’s turbulent past. The fictionalization of history emphasizes the unstable nature of the past and the improbability of “truth.” Through letters and photographs the past lives in the present yet remains elusive as m…[Read more]

As the entire world now knows, Dr. David Dao is the passenger who was dragged off a United Airlines Flight on April 9th, 2017 by Chicago security police who broke his nose, gave him a concussion and smashed two of his teeth. Some media have treated this as a horror perpetrated by a single airline that bullies passengers, or by a business model…[Read more]

Coloniality is a complex heritage encapsulating complex cultural challenges confronting the performance artist. Nigerian musical production appears to have been operating in a world without borders since the advent of colonialism. There have been non-indigenous forms brought into the cultural landscape which have challenged the performers. The…[Read more]

Coloniality is a complex heritage encapsulating complex cultural challenges confronting the performance artist. Nigerian musical production appears to have been operating in a world without borders since the advent of colonialism. There have been non-indigenous forms brought into the cultural landscape which have challenged the performers. The…[Read more]

PDF of slides for a panel presentation on Jane-Austen and Regency-themed video games.

“Oración vindicativa del honor de las letras y de los literatos” (1763) del dominico poblano Cristóbal Mariano Coriche es un ensayo novohispano que nace como respuesta a un discurso cuyo supuesto autor era nada menos que Jean Jacques Rousseau. En este discurso se sostenía que el trabajo intelectual desarrollado en distintas etapas históricas hab…[Read more]