Rebecca Fine Romanow

 

University Addresses:                                                                                                             Home Address:

University of Rhode Island      University of Massachusetts Boston                                     41 Orchard Avenue

Department of English            English Department                                                             Weston, MA 02493                                                                                     

Independence Hall                 Wheatley- 6-20                                                     Home Phone 781-894-8383

60 Upper College Road         100 Morrissey Boulevard                                               

Kingston, RI 02881               Boston, MA 02125                                        Email: rromanow@mail.uri.edu

Phone: 401-874-5931            617-287-6759                                                        rebecca.romanow@umb.edu

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EDUCATION

2005                           Ph.D., University of Rhode Island, English Literature (anticipated, August,                                                                                      2005).

                                   ABD, December, 2004, with Distinction

                                   Coursework completed, GPA 4.0, December, 2003

 

2000                           M.A., University of Massachusetts Boston, English 2000.  3.88 GPA

 

1978                           M.B.A., cum laude, Boston University, Graduate School of Management.

 

1974                           A.B., cum laude, with Distinction in English Literature, Boston University.

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DISSERTATION

The Postcolonial Body in Queer Space and Time

            This dissertation, under the direction of John Leo, examines the ways in which the notion of the postcolonial correlates to Judith Halberstam’s idea of queer space and time where, in“[detaching] queerness from sexuality” (1), “queer space . . .describes . . .space enabled by the production of queer counterpublics” (6).  Emphasizing authors from Africa, the Levant, and India in the diaspora in London from the mid-1960s through 1990, the reading of both postcolonial lands and subjects as “queer counterproductive” space reveals a depiction of bodies in these texts as located in and performing “queer space and time.”  I argue that the first wave of postcolonial literature produced by diasporics presents the body as the site where the non-normative is performed, revealing the beginnings of a corporeal resistance to the re-colonization of the diasporic individual residing in England from the Wilson through the Thatcher regimes.  This study emphasizes the ways in which early postcolonial literature enacts Deleuzian models of the Body Without Organs, proving that a rejection of subjectifying processes through the representation of the body has always been present in diasporic postcolonial literature.  Reading through the theories of Foucault, Deleuze and Guattari, and Hardt and Negri, as well as Halberstam and queer theory, I discuss the poetry and journals of Arthur Nortje, Hanif Kureishi’s The Buddha of Suburbia and Sammy and Rosie Get Laid, and Tayeb Salih’s Season of Migration to the North, tracing a geographic arc from homeland to London to the return to the homeland, traveling through the queer space and time of the postcolonial.

 

 

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

 

University of Massachusetts Boston

Position: Lecturer, English Department

 

Spring, 2001- Fall, 2005

 

Responsible for the development of all course syllabi and text selection for my sections at UMass Boston.

 

2 sections of EN 201, Five British Writers:  Representative works by five of the most important writers from the fourteenth to the nineteenth century, studied as introductions to philosophical and humanistic studies, explored as reflecting and shaping the leading ideas, assumptions, and values of their ages.  Texts included were Chaucer, Shakespeare’s The Tempest, the poetry of Lord Byron, Braddon’s Lady Audley’s Secret, and Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray.

 

1 section of EN 200, Literary Studies I:  This course offers guided practice in the close reading of three major literary genres-poetry, fiction, and drama-with works to be drawn from various historical periods.  The course explores the distinctive features of each genre, along with the concepts and terminology necessary to understand it accurately and communicate about it effectively.  Close reading is integrated with aesthetic and evaluative responses to the literary works.  These included major works of fiction by Tagore, Kafka, Coetzee, Salih, Ibsen, and Pirandello, world poetry, and selected theory by Said, Foucault, Barthes, and Butler.

 

1 section of EN G183, Literature and Society: Banned Books and Changing Cultures (new First Year Seminar developed for UMass Boston): this seminar, for students with less than 30 credits, explores several texts of fiction and poetry which have faced extensive censorship in the 20th century, focusing on four major areas where censorship occurs: politics, society, sexuality, and religion, exploring the cultural climates which either banned and outright forbade certain works.  Texts examined include Huxley’s Brave New World, The Outlaw Bible of American Poetry, Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, and Rushdie’s The Satanic Verses, as well as critical theory on censorship.  (Spring, 2005)

 

1 section of EN 101/102 (Honors):  Small-class instruction and practice in writing for college courses on various kinds of topics, many from experience and observation, chosen to develop the student's confidence and ability, designed for the Honors program.  This section focuses on the thematic of banned and censored texts, including  Huxley’s Brave New World, The Outlaw Bible of American Poetry, Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, and Rushdie’s The Satanic Verses, as well as critical theory on censorship. Five shorter essays and a research project are written through multiple drafting and revision.  (Fall, 2005)

 

18 sections of EN 102, Freshman English II:  Continuation of ENGL 101, with emphasis on topics and research writing assignments of the kinds encountered in many types of college courses.  My sections read essays by Foucault, Nietzsche, Said, and Geertz from Bartholomae’s and Petrosky’s Ways of Reading, writing four essays and a longer research project over the course of the semester.  Alternate syllabi combine critical theory and film. 

 

4 sections of EN 101, Freshman English I:  Small-class instruction and practice in writing for college courses on various kinds of topics, many from experience and observation, chosen to develop the student's confidence and ability.  Readings have included the screenplay of Kaufman’s Adaptation, Barthes’ “Death of the Author,” and Plimpton’s Paris Review Book, as well as critical essays read in conjunction with film.  Five shorter essays and a research project are written through multiple drafting and revision.

 

2 sections of EN 281Z:  An intensive reading and writing course for upper-level transfer students, this course is designed to help students develop the kinds of analytical reading and writing abilities that are an important part of a University education. 

 

2 sections of EN 099:  Pre-college level course designed to develop writing skills, and gain exposure to the practices and principles of academic writing.  Barnet and Bedau’s Current Issues and Enduring Questions has been used as the main text, with readings and essays that focus on multiple viewpoints and the construction of critical thought and argument.

 

2 sections of CRW Z282: course specifically designed to equip upper-level students with the skills necessary to pass the University of Massachusetts Boston Writing Proficiency Requirement.  Materials focus on previous reading sets developed for the Writing Proficiency Exam and have included “Dirty Words,” “Islam and the West,” and “Darwin.”

           

Spring 2000   English 102: Freshman English II (2 sections) (Graduate Assistant)

Fall 2000       English 200: Literary Studies (Graduate Assistant for Professor Susan Horton)

 

University of Rhode Island

Position: Teaching Assistant

 

Fall, 2002-Fall, 2005

 

1 section of ENG 304, Film Genres: Literary study of the particular conventions and evolution of one or more film genres.  This course, “Rock ‘n’ Roll and Rebels: The Postwar Youth Film,” was developed for URI, and examines domestic and international film since 1950, exploring the intersection of this genre with popular music, cultural studies, and critical film theory.  (Fall, 2005)

 

1 section of ENG 251, British Literature I:  Selections from British literature, beginnings to 1798.  Readings were selected from The Norton Anthology of British Literature.

 

1 section of EN 243, The Short Story: Critical study of the short story from the early 19th century to the present.  Readings include a range of short fiction, drawn from World Literature.

 

2 sections of ENG 110, Introduction to Literature: Analysis of literature through reading and discussion of a number of genres derived from a variety of literary cultures.  Texts included Plimpton’s Paris Review, Shakespeare’s The Tempest, The Outlaw Bible of American Poetry, and Kaufman’s film and screenplay of Adaptation.

 

1 section of WRT 105, Forms of College Writing: Practices in writing papers frequently assigned in introductory and general education courses across the curriculum.  May include summaries, syntheses, annotations, reaction papers, text analysis, and documented thesis-support papers.  Emphasizes disciplinary conventions.  Writing Across the Curriculum is the required text.

 

2 sections of WRT 104, Writing to Inform and Explain: Writing emphasizing the sharing of information.  Varieties and strategies of expository writing for differing audiences and situations.  Genres may include reports, proposals, letters, reviews, websites, academic essays.  Designed by the URI Writing Department, readings and assignments are based on Trimbur’s Call to Write.

 

3 sections of WRT 101, Freshman Composition: First-year composition course designed to prepare students for responding to a range of writing situations and demands.  The syllabus is designed by the URI Writing Department and uses the text Call to Write.

 

Spring 2005   English 304, Pop Genres and Audiences: Literary study of the particular conventions and             evolution of one or more film genres   (Graduate Assistant for Professor John Leo)

Fall 2004       English 110, Violence in Literature: Analysis of literature through reading and discussion    of a number of genres derived from a variety of literary cultures (Graduate Assistant for             Professor Naomi Mandel)                                   

Spring 2003   English 302, Topics in Film Theory and Criticism: Introduction to film theory and criticism.  Emphasis on semiotics, auteur theory, psycho-analysis, genre studies, feminist theory,             materialist critique, or cultural studies, with focus on range of popular, experimental, and     documentary film traditions (Graduate Assistant for Professor John Leo)

Fall 2002      English 304, American and European Film Genres, 1960 to the Present: Literary study of the particular conventions and evolution of one or more film genres   (Graduate Assistant for   Professor John Leo)

 

University of Massachusetts Dartmouth

Position: Visiting Lecturer, English Department

 

2001-2002 AY

            English 102: Critical Writing and Reading II

            English 101: Critical Writing and Reading I (2 sections)

 

Quincy College, Quincy, MA

Position: Adjunct Faculty, English Department

 

2000-2001 AY 

              English 225: Creative Writing

              English 201: English Literature I

              English 202: English Literature II

              English 221: World Literature I

              English 102: Introduction to Literature

 

Massachusetts Bay Community College

Position: Adjunct Faculty, English Department

 

Fall, 1999-Spring 2002

            6 sections of EN 101, Freshman English I

            2 sections of EN 102, Freshman English II

            6 sections of WRT 100

            2 sections of WRT 100 Lab

 

Cambridge School of Weston, Weston, MA

Position: Visiting Faculty, English Department

 

Spring 2000   The Artist in Literature (2 sections)

                       Directed Independent Study: The Writing of Poetry

 

Private Tutor

Students from Weston High School and the Cambridge School of Weston

1997-2002

 

Wellesley Public Schools, Wellesley, MA

Position: Substitute Teacher

Fall 1999-Spring 2000

 

Weston Public Schools

Position: Substitute Teacher

Fall 1996-Fall 1998

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TEACHING INTERESTS

 

 Postcolonial Literature, 20th Century British Literature, 19th and 20th Century World Literature,  Film Studies, Critical Theory, Cultural Studies, Literature of Exile and the Diaspora, Literature of the Body, Late Victorian Literature, Creative Writing, Composition

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BOOKS

 

Theory and the World: Critical Thinking in Reading and Writing.  Ed. Rebecca Fine Romanow and Edith Mueller.  (textbook designed for First Year Composition, Introduction to Literature, and Introduction to Critical Theory courses, is under serious consideration by Houghton Mifflin, and is in the process of instructor review).

 

Postcolonial Ethics.  Ed. Rebecca Romanow.  (collection of essays under publisher review).

 

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CHAPTERS

 

“The Postcolonial Rogue: Kureishi’s The Buddha of Suburbia and the Picaresque Hero.”  The Postcolonial Picaresque.  Ed.  Shannon Young.  (completed collection under publisher review).   

 

“Release from “Immaturity”: Remapping Postcolonial Ethics in Kureishi’s Sammy and Rosie Get Laid.  Postcolonial Ethics.  Ed.  Rebecca Fine Romanow.  (collection under publisher review).                     

 

PUBLICATIONS

 

June, 2005  But...Can the Subaltern Sing?”  Journal of Comparative Literature and Culture.  CLC                                     Webjournal. < http://clcwebjournal.lib.purdue.edu/clcweb05-1/contents05-1.html>.

 

November, 2003  Kielen poispyyhkiminen rockmusiikin globalisoitumisessa
                        Sigur Rós ja hopelandicin poliittisuus”
(The Erasure of Language in the Globalization of Rock Music: Sigur                           Ros and  the Politics of Hopelandic”).  Trans.  Mikko Jakonen.  Megafoni (Finland).  19 Nov 2003.                               <http://megafoni.kulma.net/index.php?art=137>.

 

July, 2003   The Erasure of Language in the Globalization of Rock Music: Sigur Ros and  

                              the Politics of Hopelandic.”  Politics and Culture (2003).  Vol. 3

                            <http://aspen.conncoll.edu/politicsandculture/page.cfm?key=251>.

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PANEL CHAIR

 

October, 2005   “The Exile in Literature.”  Central New York Conference on language and  Literature, SUNY Cortland, NY

April, 2005    “The Postcolonial Body.”  Northeastern Modern Language Association Conference, Cambridge, MA

 

    

PRESENTATIONS AT CONFERENCES AND GUEST LECTURES

 

December, 2005     Hanif Kureishi’s The Body: Postcolonial Melancholia and the Queer Space of the                                                                 Aging Body.”  The Aging Body in Late Modernity.  Modern Language Association. Washington, D.C.

November, 2004    “Slam Poetry.”  Guest Lecturer, Introduction to Literature, University of Rhode Island

October, 2004        ‘The Mocking Phantom': Mustafa Sa'eed, Season of Migration to the North, and the Ghost of                                          Imperialism."  Central New York Conference on Language and Literature, SUNY Cortland, NY

May, 2004              “But . . . Can the Subaltern Sing?”  Cultural Studies Association Conference,

                                Northeastern University, Boston, MA

November, 2003    “Refusing Hybridity: The New Barbarian and Hanif Kureishi’s The Buddha 

                                of Suburbia.  South Atlantic MLA, Atlanta, GA

October, 2003        “Arthur Nortje: The Body of the Poet in Exile.”

                                 New York Conference on Language and Literature, SUNY Cortland, NY

June, 2003             The Erasure of Language in the Globalization of Rock Music: Sigur Ros and the Politics of Hopelandic.”

                                Founding Cultural Studies Association Conference

                                Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA

January, 2003         Volatology: Bringing Controversy into the Classroom.”  CIT Conference on Teaching for Transformation,

                                University of Massachusetts Boston, Boston, MA  

November, 2002     “Rebel without a Cause.”  Guest Lecturer, American and European Film Genres, University of Rhode                                  Island  

 

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INTERVIEWS     

“URI Ph.D. student rocks on with Iceland’s Sigur Rós.”  Jan Wenzel.  URI Reporter.  February 2004.

“At large by Rick Massimo: Syllables send anti-English global message.”  Rick Massimo.  The   Providence Journal.  5 Sept.    2004.  Reprinted in The Alternative Rock News.  Sept. 2004.  <http://www.topix.net/music/alternative-rock>                  

 

AWARDS

 

Spring, 2005          Graduate Assistant, Professor John Leo, University of Rhode Island

November, 2004    PhD Written Comprehensive Exams passed with Distinction

Fall, 2004              Graduate Assistant, Professor Naomi Mandel, University of Rhode Island

2002-2003 AY      Graduate Assistant, Professor John Leo, University of Rhode Island

2002-2006             Teaching Assistantship

                              University of Rhode Island

Spring-Fall, 2000  Graduate Assistantship

                               University of Massachusetts Boston

1978                       M.B.A., cum laude

                               Boston University

1974                       A.B., cum laude and with Distinction in English Literature

                               Boston University

 

ACADEMIC SERVICE

 

2005-2206 AY             Steering Committee for Part-time Faculty, University of Massachusetts Boston

Spring, 2005                 Mentored Teaching Assistant, English 102, University of Massachusetts Boston

Fall, 2004                      Mentored Teaching Assistant, English 102, University of Massachusetts Boston

2004-2005 AY              Personnel Committee, English Department, University of Massachusetts Boston

2004-2005  AY             Academic Advisor for English Majors, University of Massachusetts Boston

May, 2004                     Reviewer for Rhetorical Visions, Prentice Hall Publishers, invited

Spring, 2004                  Mentored Teaching Assistant, English 102, University of Massachusetts Boston

2003-2004 AY              Graduate Committee, English Department, University of Rhode Island

2003-2004 AY              TA Policy Committee, English Department, University of Rhode Island

July, 2003                      Reviewer for 7th edition of Ways of Reading, Bedford/ St. Martin’s Press, invited

2002-2003 AY              Graduate Committee, English Department, University of Rhode Island

Fall, 2002                       Mentored Teaching Assistant, English 102, University of Massachusetts Boston

Summer, 2002               Mentored Teaching Assistant, English 101, University of Massachusetts Boston

2001-present                  Grader for the Writing Proficiency Exam and Portfolio, University of Massachusetts Boston

2001-present                  Grader for Placement Exams, University of Massachusetts Boston

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OTHER WORK EXPERIENCE

1974-1982

Bank of Boston, Boston, MA

Position: Assistant Vice President, Corporate Services Division