Interdisciplinary Graduate Workshops

Made possible by a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

The Mahindra Humanities Center interdisciplinary workshops, open to Harvard graduate students in all departments and programs, are intended to foster discussion of important areas of study that often cross departmental boundaries. While the workshops are especially focused on dissertation work, they will include periodic discussion of general issues and questions. Harvard graduate students at all levels of study, from the first year of graduate school to the dissertation stage, are encouraged to attend. Workshop meetings will include: discussions of chapters and works-in-progress, research areas, theoretical questions of general interest, current issues in the field, and professional development.

To join a workshop or to receive more information about a workshop, please contact the graduate student coordinator(s).

American Literature in Comparative and Ethnic Perspectives
Faculty Directors: Glenda R. Carpio (English and African and African American Studies); Werner Sollors (English and African and African American Studies)
Graduate Student Coordinator: Jack Hamilton, jchamilt@fas.harvard.edu

American Studies scholars and graduate students now work comparatively—placing literature and culture of the United States into hemispheric, transnational, and global contexts, focusing on themes of race, ethnicity, migration, or multilingualism. This workshop supports work in these areas and promotes conversations across the boundaries of various graduate programs. Topics include discussions of what it means to compare and new approaches to ethnic issues, as well as new research on literature, art, music, photography, and film.

The Discovery of the Classical World(s): Perspectives from the Outside
Faculty Directors: Adrian Staehli (Classics); Paul Kosmin (Classics)
Graduate Student Coordinators: Elizabeth Mitchell, emitchell@fas.harvard.edu; Monica Park, monicapark@fas.harvard.edu

This colloquium brings together students and scholars from different fields who are looking at the classical world with a sense of distance, and who seek to "other" such a world rather than working from it as a baseline. The theme, "Classical world(s)," is open to interpretation in the widest sense and ripe for deconstruction, while "discovery" can refer to encounters and interactions across space or over time: 5th century BCE Persian and 19th century CE American "discoveries" of the classical world are equally welcome. Papers will be diverse, but a small number of discussion sessions will also seek to draw out broader themes and to locate "classicism(s)" as a historical and contemporary concept.

Drama Colloquium
Faculty Directors: Martin Puchner (English and Comparative Literatures); Ju Yon Kim (English)
Graduate Student Coordinators: Matt Franks, mfranks@fas.harvard.edu; Rebecca Kastleman, kastlem@fas.harvard.edu

The study of drama provokes conversations across historical periods, literary traditions, and artistic media, inviting a range of theoretical approaches and disciplinary orientations. This workshop will provide a forum for these discussions, drawing together students and faculty from national literature and area studies programs as well as other departments within the University. The workshop offers an opportunity to develop research in dramatic literature, dramatic criticism and theory, theater history, theater practice, and performance studies. Biweekly meetings will consist of textual discussions, graduate student presentations, and faculty lectures. More information about this workshop can be found on the Drama Colloquium website.

The Middle East Beyond Borders: Culture, Religion, Politics
Faculty Directors: Malika Zeghal (Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations and Religion); Ahmed Ragab (Divinity School and History of Science)
Graduate Student Coordinators: Bethany Kibler, bkibler@fas.harvard.edu; Aylin Yildirim Tschoepe, ayildirim@fas.harvard.edu; Kirsten Wesselhoeft, wesselh@fas.harvard.edu

The Middle East Beyond Borders workshop takes for its founding premise that the “Middle East” as an object of inquiry must fundamentally engage notions of boundaries, mobility, and transformation. The aim of the workshop is to foster an interdisciplinary community of scholars whose research and diverse expertise will help generate new methods, language, and frameworks through which to engage the past and present of the region, as well as discussions on its future.

North American Religions
Faculty Directors: Ann Braude (Divinity School and History of American Civilization); David Hempton (Divinity School and History of American Civilizations); Dan McKanan (Divinity School and History of American Civilizations)
Graduate Student Coordinator: Kip Richardson, krichard@fas.harvard.edu

The North American Religions workshop provides a forum for graduate students and their advisors to collectively consider, critique, and comment on graduate student research in process. The workshop spans the entire range of American history and civilization, from the seventeenth century to the present, and encompasses a variety of disciplines, methodologies, and specializations.