Francine Masiello, Professor Emerita, Spanish and Portuguese & Comparative Literature, is being interviewed by Robert Kaufman, Associate Professor, Comparative Literature; Faculty Co-Coordinator, "El Grupo"; Affiliate and former Co-Director of the interdisciplinary graduate Program in Critical Theory. The interview was conducted in April 2025.
As a newly minted assistant professor at Cornell University in 2014, Tom McEnaney decided to launch a new course on punk music.
“The only thing that I knew about Cornell was that Greg Graffin from Bad Religion had done his Ph.D. in zoology there,” McEnaney said. “So I thought I would teach a class about punk and maybe invite Graffin.”
Ava Ratcliff (2027) | Greek and Latin, Comparative Literature
For her SURF project, Ava studied Catullus 64, a short Latin epic poem often discussed for its influence on later works like Virgil’s Aeneid. Rather than focusing mainly on how the poem connects to other classical texts, her research explored how Catullus 64 works on its own through its structure, language, and imagery. In particular, she became interested in the poem’s surprising representations of trees and the natural world, opening up new ways of thinking about environment, art, and human emotion in Latin poetry.
The mentorship program allows an emerging translator to establish and develop a close working relationship with an experienced translator on a literary translation project chosen by the emerging translator. Applications are accepted annually from mid-September through late November.
Daphne Rose (she/her) is a 2025 SURF L&S researcher majoring in Comparative Literature. For her SURF project this summer, Daphne will be researching the topic, “”A Necessary Excavation”: Female Trauma from Tragedy to Autofiction”.
After 8 weeks in Buenos Aires last year through the Berkeley Global Internships Program, recent Comparative Literature Graduate Lexi DeHart knew she wanted to return to Argentina for a longer period of time. She applied for a Fulbright grant while still completing her internship. As a Fulbright ETA (English Teaching Assistant) in Argentina, Lexi will spend 10 months living and working in the city of Bahia Blanca, which is in the province of Buenos Aires, about 800km South of the City of BSAS.
Eric Naiman is a Professor in the Department of Comparative Literature and the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures. He is the author of the books Sex in Public (Princeton University Press, 1997) and Nabokov, Perversely (Cornell University Press, 2010). His teaching mainly focuses on 19th and 20th-century Russian literature, as well as early Soviet culture. Dr. Naiman received his JD from Yale Law School, and his PhD in Slavic Languages and Literatures from the University of California, Berkeley.
We are proud to share that Aileen Zerrudo, a distinguished alumna of UC Berkeley’s Comparative Literature program, has been named the campus’s next Associate Vice Chancellor for Communications & Public Affairs and Chief Communications Officer.
Frank Cahill, a doctoral student in comparative literature at UC Berkeley, is the national word list coordinator for the Scripps National Spelling Bee.
Marcus Gabbert/For the S.F. Chronicle
Roni Masel is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Comparative Literature, and holds the Norma and Sam Dabby Professor of Jewish Studies. Professor Masel’s main research interests include Hebrew literature, Yiddish literature, Jewish history, queer theory, and postcolonial theory. Masel is currently completing a book for which the working title is, Bad Readers: Misreading, Mistranslation, and Other Textual Malpractices in Hebrew and Yiddish.Dr. Masel received a PhD from New York University, and a B.A. from Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Comparative literature student Frank Cahill competed in the Scripps National Spelling Bee as an eighth grader. This year, on May 28 and 29, he’ll be on the other side of the stage.
Angel's passion for Comparative Literature continues to drive her exploration of literature, history, and philosophy across cultures. For the second year in a row, Angel has been awarded the prestigious Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowship. This summer, she will travel to Almaty, Kazakhstan, where she will continue her studies of Russian.
Congratulations to Angel on receiving her second FLAS Fellowship!
Roxana (Qinhong) Wang, a recent graduate of the UC Berkeley class of 2024, has been awarded a 2025-26 Schwarzman Scholarship. Wang, who studied Comparative Literature and Ancient Greek and Roman Studies in the College of Letters & Science, was selected as one of 150 scholars from a pool of nearly 5,000 candidates. She is Berkeley’s sixteenth recipient of the award since its inception in 2013.
The last Big Give took place ... on March 12, 2020 - just moments before our world changed. Since then your UC Berkeley community has kept the blue and gold spirit strong: repurposing labs for COVID research and PPE fabrication; making sure students have what they need to thrive in challenging times; innovating ways to keep connections strong for classes, clubs, and cohorts; and shining light on expert perspectives that illuminate pathways through some of the most complicated times in modern history.
We have a farewell jam in Ishi ... Courtyard with Professor Tom McEnaney, Comp Lit/French adviser Tony Soyka, and Professor Rick Kern.
Professor Beth Piatote is a featured playwright in the 12th Annual Short Play Festival by Native Voices at the Autry. The festival includes two readings of Piatote's play, Tricksters, Unite! (March 20 at The Autry Museum and March 27 at La Jolla Playhouse).
Plays selected for this year's festival examine "Tricksters in their traditional form, but also in the modern roles they play today."
Professor Beth Piatote is cited ... as an inspiration for Sariel Sandoval, a math and engineering Native American student from Montana. You can read the full story from Berkeley News here
News archive and events happening in the Department of Comparative Literature.