Three Students Present Research at ACLA Conference
April 18, 2019 鈥� Mayesha Awal (C鈥�20), Karla Leyja (C鈥�19), and Angelica Rossi-Hawkins (C鈥�21) had something of a nontraditional spring break.
While many of their peers went home or took vacations, the three students stayed on campus to present original papers at the 2019 , the country鈥檚 largest annual gathering of comparative literature scholars.
Each presented their research papers as part of the conference鈥檚 undergraduate research seminar, 鈥淪paces of Otherness in a Globalized World.鈥� Awal鈥檚 paper was titled 鈥淭he Political Takeover of Mentalities: The Otherization of Both the Jew and the Arab;鈥� Leyja鈥檚, 鈥淔rom Affect to Memory: Challenging the Borders of Latinidad in Literature;鈥� and Rossi-Hawkins鈥� 鈥淭he Contagion of Nationalist Othering: Mediterranean Colonialism in Miramar and Memoria del Vuoto.鈥�
More than 80 students from around the world applied to participate in the undergraduate research seminar; only 15 were selected.
鈥淥f the 184 multiday panels that comprised the ACLA conference, the Undergraduate Seminar was particularly dear to me,鈥� said , who organized the conference. 鈥淚 believe it is crucial to offer undergraduate students meaningful opportunities to showcase their research, and I am very proud of the sophisticated comparative scholarship that our panelists presented. I could have not asked for a better outcome.鈥�
Awal鈥檚 paper focuses on 鈥渢he relationship and the 鈥榦therization鈥� of the Arabs and Jews of the Israeli-Palestinian Crisis through the analysis of various works of literature.鈥� Drawing from works by Benjamin Tammuz, A.B. Yehoshua, Amos Oz, and Sayed Kashua, Awal addressed themes of 鈥渓ove, separation, death, growing up in the middle of the conflict, identity, and courage鈥� in what was originally her final paper in Prof. Maital Orr鈥檚 鈥淩e-examining the Middle-Eastern Crisis Through Literature and Film鈥� class.
鈥淭he characters in these works often have to face the reality of the trauma that arises as a result of the political conflict,鈥� Awal said. 鈥淲hat I find intriguing is how thoughts of these characters often give rise to nostalgic recollections of the days where the Arabs and the Jews did not see one another as the 鈥榦ther,鈥� prior to political conflict and hostilities among different families.鈥�
Rossi-Hawkins鈥� paper stems from a project she began while enrolled in the Liberal Arts Seminar, an intensive humanities course exclusively for first-year 海角论坛 students. She examines themes of colonial oppression and decolonization through Frantz Fanon鈥檚 Wretched of the Earth, then analyzes 鈥渢he tension between multi-faceted reality and the vestiges of colonial polarity鈥� through Naguib Mahfouz鈥檚 Miramar and Marcello Fois鈥� Memoria del Vuoto.
鈥淚n high school, I had been taught to study culture 鈥� history, literature, and art 鈥� within parameters dictated by modern political borders,鈥� Rossi Hawkins said. 鈥淚n the Liberal Arts Seminar, I began to perceive Mediterranean countries as a cultural unit. As an Italian, this new way of thinking of my native region deeply challenged me and excited me. 鈥� My essay for the ACLA is the first of many forays into this subject.鈥�
The Georgetown participants in the research seminar came away with valuable feedback on their work and a powerful first impression of high-level academic inquiry.
鈥淚 had the honor of listening to perhaps the most intelligent group of people within my age group that I have ever met,鈥� Rossi-Hawkins said. 鈥淚 was simultaneously challenged and moved not only by my co-presenters’ arguments, but by their sophistication and variety.鈥�
鈥淲hat I found most fulfilling about my experience is that the undergraduate seminar paralleled the experience of graduate students and academic professionals,鈥� Awal said. 鈥淚n the future, I aspire to acquire my Ph.D. and pursue a career in academia, so I am very grateful to have had the opportunity to participate.鈥�