2108 G Street NW, Washington, DC 20052

Thursday, November 7, 2024

SPRING 2025 SCHEDULE OF CLASSES
COURSE DESCRIPTIONS: UNDERGRAD / GRAD

1929 - The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) opens in New York.

1944 - Franklin D. Roosevelt is re-elected as President of the United States for a record fourth term.

2020 - 35th Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees: Depeche Mode, Whitney Houston, The Notorious B.I.G.

Latine LGBTQ+ advocates, doctoral student reflect on DC’s drag history. GW Hatchet.

I-83’s Passage Could Bring Open Primaries, Ranked-Choice Voting to Future DC Elections. What Might That Look Like?  Washingtonian.

Photo credit: Jenna Furtado

This newsletter edition we spotlight Jenna Furtado, a second-year American Studies MA student. Jenna is also a GW undergraduate alumni, receiving a Bachelor's Degree in History and Anthropology. Prior to beginning the MA program, Jenna worked as a research assistant for Harvard professor Mattias Fibiger. During this assistantship, she explored the Asian financial crisis of the 1990s by visiting the Library of Congress and the International Monetary Fund Archives.

Last semester, as part of her MA studies, Jenna wrote a research paper on the changing reception of Octavia Butler’s 1993 speculative fiction novel, Parable of the Sower. Butler’s novel follows a 15-year-old young Black girl as she navigates a post-apocalyptic Earth heavily affected by climate change and social inequality. During her research process, Jenna interviewed Butler’s literary executor, Merrilee Heifetz, who emphasized Butler’s impact on the Science Fiction world. She further explored Butler’s work this past summer when she received a grant from the American Studies Department to visit the Huntington Library in San Marino, California and explored Butler’s archives. Through this experience, Jenna was able to pour over Butler’s journals, novel drafts, and correspondences with her publishers. 

Currently, Jenna is working on an exhibition proposal about the history of reproductive health activism in Washington D.C. for her museum studies course. Jenna is particularly interested in activism in the 1950s, 60s, and 70s and is inspired to tell the stories of those who walked before her. She is committed to bringing an intersectional feminist lens to all of her research work. For example, her undergraduate history thesis focused on the Daughter of Bilitis, the first national lesbian civil rights organization.  

Jenna is currently working as a graduate teaching assistant for American Studies and University Professor Dr. Vanessa Northington Gamble. In the future, she hopes to further explore popular culture by examining the role of women in monster movies and exploring the biblical allusions in the most recent reboot of the Planet of the Apes franchise.

Asian American Masculinity at the Cutting Edge
GSEHD & GW University Seminar

The idea that Asian Americans are model minorities is everywhere in popular culture and academic discourse alike. These Asians are imagined as obedient, docile subjects, hard workers who assimilate respectfully. But there are many Asian Americans that break that mold, who are less industrious than they are extraordinarily violent. This dialogue between Dr. Takeo Rivera and Dr. Anna Storti, two leading scholars of Asian American gender and sexuality, will highlight how this reality is reflected in performances of Asian American masculinity ranging from the model to the monstrous. The event will be moderated by GW professor, Dr. James McMaster. This lecture is part of the series "Intersectional Masculinities: At the Junction of Multiculturalism and Patriarchy."

When: Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024; 5:30-7:00 PM EDT
Where: Zoom

Register here!

Sophia Endowed Lecture with Prof. Martina Ferrari
GW Department of Philosophy

Join GW's Department of Philosophy for their Sophia Endowed Lecture with Prof. Martina Ferrari, entitled ""A Time of Resistance: On Phenomenology, Historical Time, and Generative Passivity." Focusing on Maurice-Merleau-Ponty’s notion of Institution—here to be understood as a temporal structure of being and the subject—Ferrari argues that its critical resources and generative potential for a project of resistance are to be found in Institution’s passivity, not in its activity, as one may expect.

When: Friday, Nov. 15, 2024; 4:00 PM EDT
Where: Duques Hall, Room 359

Check back next newsletter for more department kudos!

Call for Applications: The Department of American Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill invites applications for a tenure-track position as assistant professor specializing in the history and politics of the production and consumption of culture in the 20th and 21st centuries. Click here to learn more // Deadline: Nov. 14, 2024

Call for Applications: The Huntington Library will begin accepting Research Fellowship Applications for the 2025-2026 fellowship year for Long-Term Fellowships, Short-Term Fellowships, and Travel Grants/Exchange Fellowships. Click here to learn more // Deadline: Nov. 15, 2024

Call for Applications: The Newberry Library is currently accepting applications for their 25-26 long-term and short-term fellowships. Click here to learn more // Deadline: Nov. 15, 2024 (long); Jan. 3, 2025 (short)

Call for Applications: The U.S. Institute of Peace is seeking applicants for the Peace Scholar Fellowship. This annual cohort program supports dissertation completion of doctoral candidates with projects related to peace and conflict, broadly defined. Click here to learn more // Deadline: Nov. 20, 2024

Call for Applications: Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Worcester, MA invites applications for a tenure-track Assistant Professor of Modern US History. Click here to learn more // Deadline: Nov. 30, 2024

Call for Papers: The Rutgers Art History Graduate Symposium is currently accepting papers for their upcoming event entitled "Artivism: Art History and Heritage in Global Conflict." Click here to learn more // Deadline: Dec. 15, 2024

Call for Applications: The Massachusetts Historical Society will sponsor dozens of research fellowships for the 2025-2026 academic year, ranging from short-term support to long-term residency. Click here to learn more // Deadline: Varies by Fellowship Type

Call for Papers: UVA's English Department Graduate Symposium is currently seeking abstracts for their upcoming symposium themed "Space and Place." Click here to learn more // Deadline: Jan. 3, 2025

Call for Papers: The Twentieth Annual Yale University American Art Graduate Symposium is seeking papers for their upcoming conference. Click here to learn more // Deadline: Jan. 31, 2024

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What We're Listening To:
"Don't Stop" - Fleetwood Mac
"Never Too Much" - Luther Vandross

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