There was no funnier sight gag in early cinema than the catastrophe of epidemic contagion. Habitual tics such as yawning, laughing, sneezing, hiccupping, itching, coughing, barking, sobbing, and blinking spread like wildfire when too many nervous bodies found themselves together in close quarters. Associate professor of Cultural Studies and Comparative Literature discusses this phenomena in an article featured in Los Angeles Review of Books.

The Department of Cultural Studies and Comparative Literature (CSCL) stands in solidarity with the Black Midwest Initiative in condemning the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis Police Department custody. 

Thank you to all students who submitted essays to the 2020 contest.

Cultural Studies & Comparative Literature alumnus, P. Carl recently published his memoir Becoming a Man: The Story of Transition. This New York Times book review introduces P. Carl and highlights striking moments from the memoir.