The Department of Comparative Literature at the University of California, Berkeley

The Department wishes to congratulate our recent doctoral graduates on their successful job searches. Best wishes and continued success in all your endeavors.

Juan Caballero:  Visiting Assistant Professor, Departments of English & Spanish, Christian Brothers University, Memphis, TN

Sarah Chihaya: Assistant Professor, Department of English, Princeton University

Paul Haacke: Adjunct Instructor 2012-13, Department of Media, Culture & Communication, NYU

Stiliana Milkova, PhD 2007: Assistant Professor of Comparative Literature, Oberlin College

Karen Spira: Assistant Professor, Department of Spanish, Guilford College

Karen Zumhagen-Yekplé, PhD 2008: Assistant Professor, Department of English, Tulane University; book contract with University of Chicago Press

For a list of job placements since 2005, please click here.

Comparative Literature graduate student Mandy Cohen has just been selected as the inaugural winner of the Renate Voris Fellowship Award for her dissertation in progress, titled “Here and Now: The Modernist Poetics of Do’ikayt.”  The merit-based Fellowship is awarded annually to a graduate student in German or Jewish Studies or related fields in the Arts and Humanities

The judges’ citation singles out Mandy’s critical practice: “compelling close reading, with the purpose of developing  conceptual claims on the basis of poetic form (rather than the other way around, ‘applying’ theory to artistic practice).”

Please join us in congratulating Mandy!

Please join us in congratulating Tim Hampton, Tony Cascardi, and Francine Masiello, Comparative Literature faculty who have recently received prestigious awards and honors—both internal Berkeley Awards and others from national organizations.  More information on each can be found in the News section.

Dwinelle Language & Literature Departments Ceremony
Thursday, May 23rd
1:00-4:00pm, Zellerbach Hall
Reception immediately following on the Mezzanine Level in Zellerbach Hall

Students may register to participate online by May 3rd.   The University-wide Commencement ceremony will be held on Saturday, May 18th. Additional information is posted here.

Graduate student Yael Segalovitz wins 1st place in 2013 Distinguished Fellows Video Contest

The Comp Lit Library is now home to a number of new books, and the updated library catalogue can be found at the following link: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B8FW4j-PxePiMUFJOWFHd3Zobnc/edit.  Library users should note that while the document provides a record of the library’s holdings, it does not support online checkout; please continue to fill out check-out cards in the library for all borrowed material.  Contact Kathryn (kcrim@berkeley.edu), Laura (l.wagner@berkeley.edu), or Tristram (triswolff@berkeley.edu) with any library questions.

Th Department of Comparative Literature would like to congratulate Professor Judith Butler, she is this year’s recipient of the Adorno Prize. This distinguished award recognizes outstanding achievement in philosophy, theater, music or film.  Previous winners of the prize include the film director Jean-Luc Goddard (1995) and the philosopher Jacques Derrida (2001).

Read an interview with Professor Butler about the award here.