AmericanStudies Unibuc

You are kindly invited to a lecture by doctoral candidate André Filipe Amaral Francisco (ULICES/ULisboa, Portugal), titled "HBO and the Persistence of Neo-noir on American Television” on Monday, May 18, from 6:30pm, in Room 4 (first floor, 7-13 Pitar Mos St.).

You are kindly invited to welcome Fulbright ETA Paris Mercurio, who will be giving a lecture on “Not Just Cornfields: Exploring University Life & Regional Culture in the Midwest” on Friday, May 15, from 11am to 1pm in MLK lecture hall. Professional practice terms apply. You don't have to be an American Studies major to apply, everybody's welcome! :)

This presentation will discuss American university culture broadly and dive more specifically into student life at a small liberal arts college in the midwestern United States (as well as the differences between larger public universities and private liberal arts schools). We will dive into the unique history of Oberlin College in Ohio—informed by Paris’s experience as a student there—as well as the intertwined history and culture of the greater Cleveland area.

With Paris’s post-grad experience teaching English in Indonesia through Oberlin Shansi as a starting point, there will also be a brief discussion of our own University of Bucharest Fulbright ETA Isaura Bozu and Paris’s respective experiences teaching in Asia, and potential pathways for students who may be interested in opportunities to teach English abroad.

Bio: Paris Mercurio is a writer and educator from New Jersey, USA, and the current Fulbright English Teaching Assistant at Ovidius University. She studied Creative Writing at Oberlin College in Ohio, then moved to Yogyakarta, Indonesia, where she spent two years as a Shansi Fellow at Gadjah Mada University. Within her writing and teaching, she enjoys digging into questions and conversations related to literature, music, and the internet.

Please find below a message from Dr. Cornelia Vlaicu, who teaches Native-American literature in the American Studies Program:

"I am pleased to let you know that the next meeting of the Indigenous Voices and Expressions Reading and Conversation Club will take place on Tuesday, May 12, from 6pm in Puskin Room. We'll talk about the booming genre of Indigenous horror. To illustrate the unsettling way in which it engages with contemporary Indigenous experiences, we'll discuss the short story "Quantum" by Nick Medina, from the bestselling volume Never Whistle at Night: An Indigenous Dark Fiction Anthology, edited by Shane Hawk and Theodore C. Van Alst Jr. Medina is a member of the Tunica-Biloxi Tribe of Louisiana; an "Indigenous horror master" (People Magazine), he has published three highly praised novels, and his fourth is upcoming. Any and all interested students are welcome, regardless of whether or not you attended the previous reading club meetings. I encourage people who plan on coming to send me a brief note at [email protected] - e-mailing is not required, though, just come in if you feel like spending a little time talking about award-winning contemporary Indigenous writers."

This is an invitation for all students (you don't have to be an American Studies major). Professional practice terms apply.