News : Comparative Literature : UMass Amherst

Call for Papers: Crossroads (April 2026) "Alterity and the Comparative Imagination"

We are pleased to announce the eighth annual Crossroads Conference, organized by the Program in Comparative Literature at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, to be held April 10–11, 2026.

This year’s theme, “Alterity and the Comparative Imagination,” invites participants to reflect on the ethics and aesthetics of engaging with “others” through comparative literary study. The conference seeks to explore how difference, plurality, and relation shape both our methodology of study and our readings of texts.

We are also very happy to share that Dr. Leela Gandhi, John Hawkes Professor of

December 17, 2025

Chinmay Pandharipande Co-Founds Online Collective

Comparative Literature Ph.D. student Chinmay Panharipande announced the unveiling of a website for a new collective organization of comparatists this week, which will also be a useful resource for the field. Chinmay writes, "Comparatists in Conversation (CiC) is a collective of readers, scholars, and educators dedicated to advancing comparative and multilingual literary study. We support early career scholars through mentorship, dialogue, and collaborative platforms. At its core, CiC is a space for comparative, multilingual, and ethically engaged conversation.” Congratulations, Chinmay, on the

October 28, 2025

Commonwealth Honors College: Feature with Professor Nahla Khalil

Commonwealth Honors College recently featured an article written by Leila Metres, UMass student and CHC communications assistant, entitled How Picking Up Arabic in College Has Reignited My Love of Learning.

The article features Professor Nahla Khalil

https://www.umass.edu/honors/news/picking-arabic-college

September 3, 2025

Kate Edwards Dissertation Defense

On July 30, 2025, between 11:00am-2:00pm ET. PhD candidate Kate Edwards will be defending their dissertation entitled: "Transformative Encounters: Metamorphoses in Eastern and Central European Media".

July 8, 2025

Selma Asotić publishes book of poetry

Award-winning poet and Comparative Literature Ph.D. student Selma Asotić will publish her first book, Say Fire, with Archipelago Press in September 2025. The book, which has been heralded as a "masterful debut," is available for pre-order now through Penguin Random House and Archipelago Books.

May 14, 2025

Honors Thesis Presented by: Ved Shankavaram, “From the Idiot Box to Peak TV: A Pedagogical History of Television Studies - Past, Present and Future"

Join us on Tuesday, May 6, 2025- Herter 301, at 11:30 a.m.

Ved Shankavaram is pleased to present their Commonwealth College Honors thesis focused on the development of the discipline of television studies, “From the Idiot Box to Peak TV: A Pedagogical History of Television Studies - Past, Present and Future".

Refreshments will be served

May 1, 2025

Javor Stein, Presents "On the Necropolitics of Language Disability: Speech-Language Justice in the Colonial Matrix"

Join us on Thursday, May 1, 2025-Herter 301, from 2:30-3:30pm

This research, culminating in a thesis-length essay, takes a critical approach to speech-language pathology through disability studies along with decolonial and critical race studies. Jav has already presented this project at the Undergraduate Research Conference and NeMLA.

May 1, 2025

Master's Thesis Defense of Enrique Urbina

on Tuesday, May 13, between 10:30am and 12:30pm, Enrique Urbina will defend his MA thesis, entitled "Haunted World-Ecologies and Collapsed Environments in Contemporary Haunted Houses Across the Americas"

April 29, 2025

Master's Thesis Defense of Aishwarya Marathe

on Wednesday, May 7, between 9 and 11am, Aishwarya Marathe will defend her MA thesis, entitled "Ghar Ki Baat: Narratives of Domestic Violence Trauma in Indian Literature and Film"

The defense will be held in Herter 601

April 29, 2025

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