Our Research in Literary & Cultural Studies (LCS)
How are identities — race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, social class — constructed differently across cultures? How are identity categories and national imaginaries constructed through cultural products, such as literature, film, theater, visual arts and social media? Can learning about other cultures help us better understand our own?
Key aspects of this research include both high and popular culture, urban studies, migration, diaspora, exile, identity and gender. Literary and Cultural Studies (LCS) research in LCAL cuts across hemispheric and numerous national boundaries, ethnic identities and linguistic borders.
Literary & Cultural Studies Faculty Publications
Associate Teaching Professor of Arabic Studies
Mobilizing religious differences and terrorism, negotiating civil rights in Egypt
Abraham, Nevine. “Mobilizing religious differences and terrorism, negotiating civil rights in Egypt.” Digest of Middle East Studies, vol. 32, issue 2, 31 March 2023, pp. 84–101.
Visiting Assistant Professor of Korean Studies
When They Say They Are a K-Drama Fan, but Their First Drama Is Squid Game: What Is an Authentic K-Drama?
Berbiguier, Mathieu. “When They Say They Are a K-Drama Fan, but Their First Drama Is Squid Game: What Is an Authentic K-Drama?” The Journal of Fandom Studies, vol. 11, no. 2, Jun. 2023, pp. 117–32.
Professor of German Studies
The Freest Country in the World: East Germany's Final Year in Culture and Memory
Brockmann, Stephen. The Freest Country in the World: East Germany's Final Year in Culture and Memory (Rochester: Camden House, 2023).
Professor of Hispanic Studies; Director of the M.A. in Global Communication & Applied Translation Program
Latinx Literature in Transition
Dworkin y Méndez, Kenya C., and Elisa Sampson Vera Tudela, editors. Latinx Literature in Transition, 1444–1886. Volume 1, Cambridge University Press, 2025.
Assistant Teaching Professor of Italian Studies
Women and (Im)Possible Journeys in Igiaba Scego’s La linea del colore
Gemboni, Giuseppina. “Women and (Im)Possible Journeys in Igiaba Scego’s La linea del colore.” MHRA Working Papers in the Humanities, no. 18 (Voyages), 2024, pp. 25–33.
Associate Professor of Russian Studies
Art in Doubt: Tolstoy, Nabokov, and the Problem of Other Minds
Gershkovich, Tatyana. Art in Doubt: Tolstoy, Nabokov, and the Problem of Other Minds. Northwestern University Press, 2022.
Teaching Professor of Hispanic Studies
Centering Afro-Colombian Lideresa Felicita Campos: Counter-narrative Comics against Land Grabs
Gómez Gutiérrez, Felipe. "Centering Afro-Colombian Lideresa Felicita Campos: Counter-narrative Comics against Land Grabs." Hispania, vol. 107 no. 2, 2024, p. 233-254.
Paul Mellon Distinguished Professor of Hispanic Studies; Department Head
Yuyachkani's Human Rights Theater: Five Plays
Lambright, Anne, editor and translator. Yuyachkani's Human Rights Theater: Five Plays. MLA Texts and Translations, 2025.
Professor of Global French Studies; Director & Founder of the Center for Black European Studies & the Atlantic (CBESA)
The Three Graces of 21st-century French Racism: Innocence, Ignorance and Arrogance
Niang, Mame-Fatou. “The Three Graces of 21st-century French Racism: Innocence, Ignorance and Arrogance.” France and Post-Racial Utopia, Eds. Audrey Brunetaux and Lam-Thao Nguyen. Contemporary French and Francophone Studies, 26:4-5, 361-374.
Assistant Teaching Professor of Russian Studies
Acquaintance and Absence: Minor Characters and Indexical Characterization in Yuri Trifonov
Parker, David. “Acquaintance and Absence: Minor Characters and Indexical
Characterization in Yuri Trifonov.” Slavic & East European Journal, vol. 68, no.
2, June 2024, pp. 215–32.
Conference Papers
- Abraham, N. (2024, July). The Entangled Existence of Copts in the National and Religious Discourses in Lewis’s Turuq Al-Rab. [Paper presentation]. British Society for Middle Eastern Studies, Lancaster University, Lancaster, U.K.
- Berbiguier, M. (2025, April). PLAVE: ‘Virtual Idols’ as best representatives of K-pop’s Humanity [Paper presentation]. Digital Korea Conference, James Joo-Kim Center of Korean Studies, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Penn., U.S.
- Brockmann, S. (2025, May). Stunde Null und Wende: Die Einheit als Wiederkehr der Vergangenheit [Paper presentation]. Conference on Die lange Stunde Null: Figuren-Konstellationen-Medien und Formate der kulturellen und politischen Transformation 1945-1949, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
- Gemboni, G. (2025, March). Mare Monstrum. Notes on the Postcolonial, the Mediterranean, and Eco-anxiety [Paper presentation]. American Association for Italian Studies annual conference, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Penn., U.S.
- Gershkovich, T. (2024, September). Tolstoy’s Legend of the Green Stick in Soviet and Émigré Children’s Journals [Paper presentation]. Leo Tolstoy: Poet, Thinker, Reformer/Lew Tolstoi: Dichter, Denker, Reformator, Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany.
- Gómez, F. (2024, November). Unraveling Monstrous Realities and Survival Strategies: Gender, Environmental, and Posthuman Perspectives in Dengue (2012) [Paper presentation]. Framing the Unreal: Exploring Graphic/Visual Science Fiction and Fantasy, Ca' Foscari University of Venice, Hybrid.
- Lambright, A. (2024, June). Te Ata in Peru: An Early View of Global Indigeneity [Paper presentation]. Native American and Indigenous Studies Association Conference, Bodø, Norway.
- Niang, M. (2025, July). Global Black French Studies for our Time [Plenary lecture]. Society for French Studies Annual Conference, University of Bristol, Bristol, U.K.
- Parker, D. (2023, October). Capital Improvements: Platonov, Gilyarovsky, and the Stalinist Reconstruction of Moscow [Paper presentation]. Association for Slavic, East European, & Eurasian Studies Virtual Convention (ASEEES).
Invited Talks
- Abraham, N. (2024, September). Towards Societal Transformation: Rethinking Religion, Morality, and Women's Rights in Morocco [Invited talk]. International Interdisciplinary Workshop on "Bridging the Gulf: Gendering Empowerment and Progress,” Women’s Studies Center, Lady Brabourne College, Kolkata, India.
- Berbiguier, M. (2025, April). La Vague Coréenne est-elle terminée ? Coup de projecteur sur le (s) K-pop fandom(s) [Invited talk]. Paysages Culturels et Médiatiques en Asie, Toulouse, France (Online).
- Brockmann, S. (2019, November). The Collapse of East Germany, the Fall of the Berlin Wall, and Why They Matter to Us Today [Invited talk]. Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, La., U.S.
- Dworkin y Méndez, K. C. (2024, October). Popular Theater and the Two-Sided Mirror: A Window on the Past [Invited talk]. Florida Historical Society Annual Meeting & Symposium, Orlando, Fla., U.S.
- Gershkovick, T. (2025, July). "Silhouettes of Russian Writers: Literary and Philosophical Essays by Yuli Aikhenvald," translated by Tatyana Gershkovich and Stephen H. Blackwell [Book presentation]. Pushkinsky Dom: Nabokov Readings. https://www.academicstudiespress.com/9798887197203/
- Gómez, F. (2024, January). Narrativas gráficas antirracistas en Colombia: Luchadoras sociales en Historia gráfica de la lucha por la tierra [Invited talk]. CORALA (Comics and Race in Latin America), University of Manchester, Manchester, U.K.
- Niang, M. (2024, December). (Why) Are We Late? Black French Studies for the Now [Plenary lecture]. Australian French Studies, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia.
- Parker, D. (2023, April). Soviet Postmodernism [Invited talk]. Nature of Inquiry Course, West Virginia University, Morgantown, W. Va., U.S.
LCAL Spaces & Labs
Center for Black European Studies & the Atlantic (CBESA)
CBESA is an interdisciplinary research hub dedicated to the collection, production, restoration, dissemination and promotion of scholarship on people of African descent in Europe.
The Kenner Room
The Kenner Room is a dynamic space dedicated to fostering immersive learning, innovative teaching and groundbreaking research at Carnegie Mellon University.
Language Acquisition, Processing, and Pedagogy (LAPP) Lab
LAPP Lab takes an interdisciplinary approach to understanding the mechanisms and architecture underlying language acquisition and processing. Our work bridges linguistics, psychology, speech science, and education, and aims to contribute real-world pedagogical innovations that improve language teaching and learning.
LCAL Studio & Humanities Commons
The LCAL Studio serves as a gathering space for student groups and classes and also hosts a multimedia workspace and rental equipment.