We are pleased to welcome visiting research scholars to our UMass Comparative Literature Program. To apply, please submit the following:
- a letter of application,
- a current curriculm vitae,
- a one-page research proposal, and
- one letter of recommendation.
Application letters should include a description of your interests and plans, particularly the faculty member(s) you are interested in working with; which classes you would like to attend; and any previous contact you may have had with any of our faculty members. Please include the dates you propose to be here. We strongly recommend that interested doctoral students or faculty apply as soon as they have received permission and/or funding from their institutions to allow us sufficient time to consider their requests. We receive many applications from post-graduate research scholars and only a few are selected, as our resources are limited.
Applications are reviewed on an ongoing basis for the following academic year. We do not provide any financial support, but if selected, you will be given a UMass ID (good for buses, dining halls, etc.), an email account, and access to our library (over 5 million books!). You are welcome to attend any classes, seminars, lectures, or conferences during your stay. UMass is conveniently located in the northeast and close to many other fine libraries and archives along the east coast.
Completed applications should be sent to Professor Jessica Barr, Comparative Literature Program Director, at @email.
Current Visiting Scholars:
Ruslana Dovhanchyna (PhD, Assist. Professor 2024-2025, PhD, Department of Translation Studies, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Ukraine) is a Fulbright visiting scholar pursuing her research on reader response to Ernest Hemingway war narratives in Ukraine and the USA. She has a range of versatile interests in Hemingway studies, literary and news translation, cognitive linguistics, paratext, semiotics, rhetorical analysis and public speaking skills. Her research interests focus on the dominant features of Ernest Hemingway’s style and their reproduction in Ukrainian translations. She is the co-author of the monograph “Iceberg in the Ocean of Translation: Rendering Hemingway’s Idiostyle in Translation” (2014) and the textbook “Make Your Way to Public Speaking: A Textbook on Rhetoric for Translation Students (and anyone learning to be persuasive)” (2016).
Ozum Arzik-Erzurumlu (Assistant Professor, Department of Translation and Interpreting, Bahcesehir University, Istanbul, Turkey) is pursuing her research on the ways in which interpreters positioned themselves and have been positioned within remote interpreting contexts drawing on Bourdieu’s concepts of habitus and field.
Past Visiting Scholars:
Ilyas Akman (Associate Professor, Department of Kurdish Language and Literature, Mardin Artuklu University, Mardin, Turkey) is conducting research on the topic "Why a Literature's Development is Delayed and What are the Solutions to This Delay: A Comparison of Zaza Literature with Haitian Literature."
Daniel Shaoqiang Zhang (2023, PhD Candidate, Centre for Translation Studies, University College London) is pursuing research on multimodal translations into Chinese in the UK healthcare system alongside issues of linguistic racism and the ethics of translation.
Güliz Akçasoy (2022–2023, Dokuz Eylül University, Izmir, Turkey) is a Fulbright scholar pursuing her doctoral research on the role of social network among activist translators/translations in bringing feminist epistemologies into the Turkish political field.
Volga Yılmaz-Gümüş (2022–2023, Assistant Professor, Department of Translation and Interpreting, Anadolu University Eskişehir, Turkey) is researching models for assessing student performance and translation quality in online translator training, including their design and implementation.
Jasmin Esin Duraner (2018–2019, Boğaziçi University, Istanbul, Turkey ) is a Fulbright scholar pursuing her doctoral research on the contribution of translation and translation activism in the LGBTI movement in Turkey.
Jie Zhang (2018–2019, PhD, Associate Professor of English Department, School of Foreign Languages and Literature, Tianjin University). Researching the cultural and social impacts on American literature post 9/11. Funded by the Chinese Scholarship Council.
Karima Bezerra De Almeida (2017–2018, Universidade Feral de Santa Catarina, Universidade Federald do Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil) is a Fulbright scholar pursuing her doctoral research on the poet Emily Dickinson.
Gao Jiayan (2015–2016, School of Foreign Languages, Peking University) is working on her dissertation "Translation and Re-narration in English translations of contemporary Chinese novels," in which she explores a new generation of rethinking traditional Chinese culture and values via a form of secret communication via translations. She received her BA at Xi'an University in Shaanxi, and her MA from Peking University. Funded by the Chinese Scholarship Council.
Zhu Yubin (2015–2016, Prof. of English, School of Foreign Studies, Anhui University) received his PhD in Translation Studies from Nanjing University in 2013 and is now a Head of the English Dept. at Anhui and a Postdoctoral Fellow at Shanghai International Studies University. His research is on "Rethinking Translation Competence in the Digital Age," using action research to deduce new patterns of translator behavior. Funded by the Chinese Scholarship Council.
Theresa Blanco de Saracho (2015), PhD Candidate, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid) is conducting research on "The Reception of Emily Dickinson in Spain," looking at all the translations of Emily Dickinson in Spain and how they have contributed to forging an image of an author in the receiving culture. Her visit will be self-funded.
Miao Anqi (2013–2014, Shanghai International Studies University in Shanghai) works on the role translation plays in national languages, both English and Chinese. Sponsored by the China Scholarship Council, Ministry of Education.
Luciana de Mesquita (2013–2014, Pontifical Catholic Univ. of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) researches Toni Morrison's reception in Brazil in literary criticism and translation. Sponsored by CAPES foundation of the Ministry of Education in Brazil.
Yang Wen Di (2013–2014, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China) researches issues of intertextuality, especially cultural specific elements in Chinese fiction in translation. He is an associate professor in the School of Foreign Languages at Central South University in Changsha. Sponsored by the China Scholarship Council of the Ministry of Education in China.
Chandrani Chatterjee (2012–2013, Asst. Prof. of English, University of Pune, India) works on post-colonial translation and issues of genre, class, caste, and gender. Sponsored by Fulbright.
Zhao Chunyu (2012–2013, Shanghai Jiao Tong University) works on globalization, cultural studies, and issues of gender and translation in China. Sponsored by the Shanghai Municipal Education Commission.
Katrin Rosenfield (2012–2013, Prof. of Philosophy, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul) works on the translation of classical Greek drama, including her own translations and theatrical presentations. She is also a scholar Robert Musil translations. Self-funded.
JiHae Kang (2011–2012, Prof. of Translation Studies, Ajou University, Suwon, Korea) works on the translation of news, especially in situations of conflict. Self-funded.
Roberto A. Valdeón (2011–2012, Professor of English and Translation Studies, Universidad de Oviedo, Spain) works on translation history in the New World, especially during the early Spanish colonial period. Sponsored by the Ministry of Culture of Spain.
Meri Vlashi (2010–2011, Univ. of Sapienze, Rome, Italy) works on minority cultures and oral traditions in film subtitling. Self-funded.
Deng Lianjian (2010–2011, Dean of College of Foreign Lang, Central South Forestry U. Changsha) works on Qing dynasty translations. Funded by the China Scholarship Council.
Lin Yuanbiao (2010–2011, PhD Cand. East China Normal University) conducts research on Lin Shu’s translation of British and American writers. Funded by the China Scholarship Council.
Lilian Valado (2009–2010, University of Vigo, Spain) works on issues of quality assessment. Funded by the Plan National I+D+i of Spain.
Lenita Esteves (2008–2009, Professor, Translation Studies, University of São Paulo, Brazil) works on the theory and practice of translation, having translated widely, including texts by Shakespeare and Joyce. Here she conducted research on ethics and translation, including issues of community translation/interpreting and in international situations of conflict. Funded by CAPES foundation of the Ministry of Education in Brazil.
Xin Hongjuan (2008–2009, School of Foreign Studies, Central South University in Changsha, Hunan, China) conducts research on the Tao-te-ching in English, focusing on the imagery of the text and how texts travel. Sponsored by Fulbright.