Pope.L's New Exhibition at Neubauer Collegium Is Shaped by COVID-19
The Neubauer Collegium for Culture and Society has opened My Kingdom for a Title, a new solo exhibition featuring work by Pope.L, an acclaimed artist and scholar in the University of Chicago’s Department of Visual Arts.
On display through May 16, this is the first exhibition to be organized at the Neubauer Collegium gallery since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. The global health crisis has unavoidably cast a shadow over the show’s conception and development; it contains allusions to the COVID crisis with a degree of directness that is unusual in Pope.L’s work, which is often elusive and ambiguous.
Humanities Scholar Hoda El Shakry Receives the Prestigious MLA Scaglione Prize
Many non-Muslims know very little about the Qurʾan. Pervasive Islamophobia—particularly in the post 9/11 era—has even led some to mistakenly view the Qurʾan as a trigger for acts of terrorism. Hoda El Shakry’s book The Literary Qurʾan: Narrative Ethics in the Maghreb (Fordham University Press, 2019) seeks to upend that perspective by demonstrating how the Qurʾan simultaneously models and teaches critical reading practices.
To recognize her efforts to change this paradigm, El Shakry received the Modern Language Association’s Aldo and Jeanne Scaglione Prize for Comparative Literary Studies on Jan. 9 for The Literary Qurʾan. “El Shakry shows that the Qurʾan has been an endlessly suggestive model for interpretation for writers across the Maghreb’s linguistic divides,” wrote members of the MLA Selection Committee about her book.
Norman Golb, Renowned Scholar of Medieval Jewish History, 1928-2020
Prof. Emeritus Norman Golb, a multilingual scholar renowned for his pioneering research about medieval Jewish history and the Dead Sea Scrolls, died on Dec. 29. He was 92 years old.
Remembered by his students as an intellectually generous, kind and patient teacher, the University of Chicago professor of more than 50 years was known for his encyclopedic knowledge—particularly in the study of Qumran, the West Bank archaeological site where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered. A prolific author, Golb was fluent in Hebrew and Arabic and used his expertise to examine primary sources.
Humanities Grad Student Nova Smith Receives Diversity Leadership Award Tonight
Every year, the University of Chicago honors members of the UChicago community who demonstrate leadership and a sustained commitment to justice and equality. In addition to faculty, alumni and staff, this year’s Diversity Leadership Awards also recognize the contributions of UChicago students.
This year’s recipients are Prof. Anita Blanchard, MD’90; Rami Nashashibi, AM’98, PhD’11; Jessica Jaggers of Chicago Booth; and UChicago students Nova Smith (Cinema and Media Studies Department) and Demetrius Johnson Jr. They will be honored Jan. 12 during a virtual celebration of UChicago’s annual Martin Luther King Jr. commemoration.
Jacqueline Stewart Is One of 2020 Chicagoans of the Year
Chicagoan of the Year Jacqueline Stewart is a longtime University of Chicago film professor, archivist and curator, and director of the South Side Home Movie Project. More recently, she is the first Black host of Turner Classic Movies. In January, she takes an extended leave the university to become the director of the Academy of Motion Pictures museum.
Meet the Staff: Annie Williams
In this month's edition of "Meet the Staff," Annie Williams talks about her work and new hobbies.
Twenty-Three UChicago Faculty Receive
Twenty-three University of Chicago faculty members have received named professorships or have been appointed distinguished service professors.
Profs. Maud Ellmann, Maryellen Giger, Melissa Gilliam, Ralph Koijen, Raphael Lee, Salikoko Mufwene, Stefan Nagel, Lucia Rothman-Denes, Margaret Beale Spencer, Amir Sufi and Dmitri Talapin received distinguished service professorships, while Profs. Anthony Casey, Jing Chen, Herschella Conyers, Dhammika Dharmapala, Rina Foygel Barber, Laura Gagliardi, Anastasia Giannakidou, R. Tamara Konetzka, Stephan Palmié, Selywn Rogers, Sonja Starr and Alexander Todorov received named professorships.
What You Should Read Over Winter Break
The end of the year and beginning of the new represent a moment to take a breath and consider the past, present and future. We asked University of Chicago scholars and staff, including Prof. Srikanth Reddy and Asst. Prof. Mitchell S. Jackson in the Department of English Language and Literature, what they’ve read this year that they’d recommend to the campus community: Their list includes subjects ranging from the multigenerational family struggles of Korean immigrants living in Japan, to a treatise on mushrooms and capitalism, to a meditation on what therapy can bring to our lives.
Media Mentions December 2020
The latest media mentions, quotes, profiles, and writings from Division of the Humanities faculty, students, staff, and alumni. Visit us on Twitter and Facebook for more updates.
Grant to Support Humanities Scholar's New Novel on Black Cult Leader
Asst. Prof. Mitchell S. Jackson is accustomed to pushing the boundaries of artistic creation, both writing and teaching fiction and non-fiction. Now, the University of Chicago scholar has been recognized with a prestigious award—one that will help support a new work of historical fiction.
Jackson recently received a 2021 Creative Capital Grant, which will provide him with up to $50,000 in direct funding as well as additional long-term career development services from a community of diverse artists. Specifically, this grant will fund his project, John of Watts, which is inspired by the rise and fall of the Black cult leader Eldridge Broussard Jr.