More than 100 staff members work in the Division of the Humanities. We’ll introduce you to our staff in this continuing series.

Trevor McCulloch
Student Affairs Administrator
Department of English Language and Literature

What do you like most about your job?

Talking to undergraduate students about their interests and what they’re enjoying in their classes. Their enthusiasm is infectious, and I love hearing firsthand how they’re exploring their passions. I also work alongside some wonderful administrative staff and faculty—everyone has been so kind and welcoming!

What was the last good book you read?

Patricia Highsmith’s Edith’s Diary. Highsmith is a favorite of mine, and I’ve been working my way through all her novels. I would never call her vision of the world warm or optimistic (she was known in life to be quite misanthropic!), but I find her books perversely comforting. Though not quite a thriller, the title character succumbs to her pathologies through her banal life, much like many of Highsmith’s characters, who discover their capacity for violence and madness in the everyday. Anyone can be a psychopath! This probably says more about me than it does about Miss Highsmith . . .

You might work with me if . . .

You need any information regarding undergraduate studies, course scheduling, or general information about the English department.

Have you come across someone or something recently—like an activity, object, or idea—that’s been inspiring or uplifting?

I’ve recently been engaging (or reengaging) with the films of Chantal Akerman and catching up on some blind spots in her filmography. Her personal history isn’t the sunniest, and her films are often steeped in alienation and loneliness. But in their formal beauty and generous humanity, they search for connection and meaning while grappling with the difficulty of a world that often seems to limit connection. Seeing the films actively work through these problems has been poignant, and even at their bleakest, they represent a powerful search for truth and meaning.

The latest media mentions, quotes, profiles, and writings from Division of the Humanities faculty, students, staff, and alumni. Visit us on X, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Facebook for more updates.

Commitment to History
Anandabazar Patrika
Rochona Majumdar (South Asian Languages and Civilizations) pays tribute to Shyam Benegal, who began his career at the height of the Indian new wave. She highlights his work in film, television, and documentary highlighting his commitment to history, radical cinema, and social critique. From Ankur (1974) to Mammo (1994), his films expose systemic oppression while exploring India’s evolving identity.

Snehalata Mukhopadhyay: The teen whose dowry death shook 20th-century Bengal into action
The Indian Express
Rochona Majumdar (South Asian Languages and Civilizations) is featured in the article through her book Marriage and Modernity: Family Values in Colonial Bengal. In it, she examines Snehalata Mukhopadhyay's tragic suicide, which stemmed from her family's inability to afford the dowry required for her marriage, as one of the most debated cases in Bengali and Indian history. Prof. Majumdar provides critical historical context and analysis, linking this personal tragedy to broader themes of family values, societal expectations, and gender oppression in colonial Bengal.