Faculty

If winning a Grammy is a sign of creative achievement then Chicago could well be described as the contemporary classical music epicenter of the world. Year after year for the past two decades, a Grammy ceremony doesn’t pass without the name of a Chicago musician, producer, or ensemble etched on one of its gilded trophies.

The unique story of women at the helm on Chicago’s art music scene is a lineage that begins with Grammy award winning composer and UChicago University Professor Augusta Read Thomas, and passes to Lisa Kaplan, the pianist, founding member and Executive Director of Eighth Blackbird.

For her perceptive interpretations of American literature, politics and culture, Berlant will receive the 2019 Hubbell Medal for Lifetime Achievement, making her one of two UChicago faculty members to be honored this week by the Modern Language Association.

On Jan. 11 at the MLA Conference in Seattle, Berlant will be joined by Asst. Prof. Edgar Garcia, who will be recognized for his recent article on Native American pictography.