New Faculty Fall 2024
Unraveling the ancient past one tablet at a time
In the half-dark of a third-floor office, Danielle Levy lifted a clay tablet out of its box. Carefully examining it with gloved hands, she explained how 3,500 years ago, a student in the ancient city of Nippur had copied a teacher’s cuneiform script—and smudged any mistakes smooth with their fingertips.
Ancient objects each tell their own unique stories, the University of Chicago undergraduate has learned. Through her work on Akkadian—the language of ancient Babylonia—the fourth-year student has discovered her passion for uncovering and sharing its unique history.
Howard Aronson, advocate for study of Slavic and non-Slavic languages, 1936-2024
Prof. Emeritus Howard “Howie” Aronson, who built the foundation for the University of Chicago to become a major hub for research in Balkan and Caucasian languages, passed away in Chicago on Oct. 26. He was 88.
In his four-decade career at UChicago, Aronson advocated for the study of Slavic languages and linguistics—and for the incorporation of indigenous and non-Slavic languages of the former Soviet Union into the field. A leading expert in both Balkan and Caucasian languages and linguistics, he particularly focused his scholarship on Bulgarian and Georgian. Aronson also contributed to the study of Russian, English, Yiddish, among others.
Werewolf books and movies that make us more human
A full moon rises. A howl pierces the air. At the University of Chicago, a new course explores how scary stories of wolfish transformations can spring from our deepest anxieties about being human.
In “The Werewolf in Literature and Film,” a new College course offered by the Department of Comparative Literature, students explore the fuzzy boundaries between animal and human across time and media. The class is taught by seventh-year doctoral candidate David Delbar, a self-described “amateur lycanthropologist.”
Lessons from the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures
For four years, Prof. Jacqueline Stewart, AM’93, PhD’99, has applied her knowledge of film as a scholar and archivist to educate a wider audience. She served first as the chief artistic and programming officer and then as director and president at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures. This fall, she returns to UChicago to teach and work on her own scholarship.
During her time in Los Angeles, this specialist in Black and silent cinema continued to serve as a host for Turner Classic Movies—a tenure that began in September 2019. Adding to her laurels, Stewart received a MacArthur Fellowship in 2021.
