Spring 2019 Newsletter from Cultural Studies & Comparative Liturature
Greetings from the Department of Cultural Studies and Comparative Literature,
It has been a long winter in Minnesota, and we are ready to welcome the arrival of spring.
Besides the change in seasons, we have much to celebrate this academic year. As part of CLA’s Career Readiness Initiative, we have launched an exciting new internship course for our undergraduate majors. Each semester, we will help place them in apprenticeships with film and media companies, literary presses, nonprofit organizations, film festivals, museums, and other venues. If you know of internship opportunities in the Twin Cities area (or beyond), please be in touch. Alumni networks are indispensable for helping our graduates succeed!
We are working to develop a stronger sense of connection and community among our alumni and our current students. Toward that end, we would love to hear from graduates of the former humanities or comparative literature departments, and/or the cultural studies and comparative department (which folded these programs together). Please drop us a line letting us know what you are doing now, how you have used your degree, and any accomplishments or milestones you’d like to share. We plan to share alumni news on our website and in future newsletters (with your permission, of course). You can write to me directly at ouell031@umn.edu.
Crossing a range of traditional disciplines, we continue our long aim to lead the public conversation about the powers of culture in the modern world. We hope you enjoy the following profiles of some of our faculty members, graduate students, and undergraduate students. You can also follow us on Facebook or Twitter.
Respectfully yours,
Laurie Ouellette
Professor and Department Chair
The relationship between music and philosophy has been a topic of discussion since the emergence of ancient philosophy. Recently named a McKnight Presidential Fellow, Michael Gallope explores how the ineffability of music inspires philosophers to address strange and perplexing questions relevant to modern social life. Read “Music and the Ineffable.”
A history of film class changed the direction of Dylan Mohr’s dissertation, leading to a search for information about the creators of a lantern slideshow in a prisoner of war camp in post-WWI Siberia. The search has led him to archives across the US and Europe and made him reflect on previous experiences as an archivist. Read “Art Supplies & Propaganda.”
Senior Elizabeth Schleisman is the recipient of 4 scholarships this semester. The College of Liberal Arts, The Tower, and the University of Minnesota Press all helped towards making her dreams come true. “It’s going just fantastic so far, I’ve definitely learned more than I could have just by sitting in a classroom, so I’m really grateful for that opportunity,” says Schleisman about her internship experience. Read “Double Major, Double Internship.”
Laurie Ouellette has spent her career viewing popular culture through an academic lens. “Things that appear trivial at first glance, like a reality TV show, might actually be circulating certain norms or prejudices or values,” she explains. “If we can think critically about the cultural and media environment that we’re immersed in, that’s an important step toward being engaged citizens.” Read “Alternate Reality."
