OASIS - Orientale American Studies International School

WE REGRET TO INFORM YOU THAT OASIS 2020 HAS BEEN CANCELED DUE TO THE CORONAVIRUS EMERGENCY

Announcing the fifth year of “OASIS-Orientale American Studies International School,” a one-week school that will take place at Università Orientale’s conference center on the island of Procida, off the coast of Naples, May 24-May 29, 2020.  

School Directors:

Donatella Izzo (Università di Napoli “L’Orientale,” Italy)
Giorgio Mariani (“Sapienza” Università di Roma, Italy)

International Advisory Board:

Jonathan Arac (University of Pittsburgh, USA)
B. Anthony Bogues (Brown University, USA)
John Bryant (Hostra University, USA)
Jane Desmond (University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, USA)
Virginia Dominguez (University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, USA)
Ira Dworkin (Texas A&M University, USA)
Brian T. Edwards (Tulane University, USA)
Ronald A. Judy (University of Pittsburgh, USA)
Djelal Kadir (Pennsylvania State University, USA)
Lisa Lowe (Tufts University, USA)
Donald E. Pease (Dartmouth College, USA)
Bruce Robbins (Columbia University, USA)
John Carlos Rowe (University of Southern California, USA)
Mounira Soliman (Cairo University, Egypt)


Confirmed speakers:

Jonathan Arac (University of Pittsburgh, USA)
Susan Balée (Literary Essayist)
Colleen Glenney Boggs (Dartmouth College, USA)
Derrais Carter (University of Arizona, USA)
Jane Desmond (University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, USA)
Virginia R. Dominguez (University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, USA)
Ira Dworkin (Texas A&M University, USA)
Brian T. Edwards (Tulane University, USA)
Fred Gardaphé (Queens College-CUNY, USA)
May Hawas (American University in Cairo, Egypt)
Gordon Hutner (University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, USA)
Ronald A. Judy (University of Pittsburgh, USA)
Donald E. Pease (Dartmouth College, USA)
Mounira Soliman (Cairo University, Egypt)
 

Seminar leaders (afternoon seminars):

Jonathan Arac (University of Pittsburgh, USA)
Jane Desmond (University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, USA)
Donald E. Pease (Dartmouth College, USA)

Compact seminar: "Publishing Scholarly Articles"

Gordon Hutner (University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, USA, editor of American Literary History)  

Seminar leaders (MA afternoon seminars):

Masturah Alatas (Università di Macerata, Italy)
Dale Bauer (University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, USA)
Derrais Carter (University of Arizona, USA)
Mario Corona (Università di Bergamo, Italy)
Fred Gardaphé (Queens College-CUNY, USA)
May Hawas (American University in Cairo, Egypt)

The school will run from Sunday to Friday, included. Every day will feature 2 plenary 45-minutes lectures from distinguished scholars in the morning, each followed by discussion, and afternoon sessions, which will be devoted to presentations of participants’ individual research projects, followed by discussion. Participants will be divided in seminar groups of about 10, each led by a scholar. One afternoon will feature a compact seminar on "How to Get Published" offered by Gordon Hutner, editor of a major American literature journal. Program space will be also devoted to plenary discussion of participants’ papers. Lunch will be catered and consumed on site, followed by a short break for rest and group conversation: we thus hope to build a friendly intellectual atmosphere and constructive dialogue among the participants.

OASIS is a project inspired by the Futures of American Studies Institute at Dartmouth College, and aiming to create a similarly vibrant and generative institutional venue for the younger generations of American Studies students and scholars. OASIS is the first school of its kind in Italy; it is also the first such school to be held in southern Europe, and it is hosted by a university whose unique tradition of transnational dialogue with and focus on non-European cultures can be traced back to the eighteenth century. By establishing an American Studies school at “L’Orientale,” and by convening it in a Mediterranean island such as Procida, we hope to create a venue that is attractive to American Studies scholars and students not just from Italy but from the Mediterranean area at large. We especially hope that our school may prove attractive to Americanist students from the nearby Arabic countries of North Africa and the Middle East. By bringing together scholars from different areas of the world and at different stages of their career, we hope to create the conditions for a productive, truly global dialogue in American Studies.

OASIS is generously supported by the U.S. Diplomatic Mission to Italy and Università di Napoli “L’Orientale,” under the patronage of AISNA. More info at: www.oasis.unior.it