New Center for Literary and Comparative Studies Receives Provost Approval

Professor of English Robert Levine, who holds the University title of Distinguished-Scholar Teacher, will serve as the Center's first director.

The Center will provide a public venue for important research that engages progressive issues in the field of literary studies. Examples of such issues include the rise of multi-ethnic and global perspectives; the advent of digital media; the transformation of reading habits; and the integration of visual and verbal communication. "The need for such a center is crucial," reads the proposal submitted to the provost this past fall. And the University of Maryland, with its ideal location in the DC Metro area, "is unusually well suited to address such professional and public issues."

The Center will create a publicly visible image of currently existing and newly developed literary research, as well as creative activity, in the Department. There will be greater opportunity to host and sponsor visiting faculty and graduate fellows, as well as increased professional development opportunities for graduate students.

According to Department Chair Kent Cartwright, the Center will help the Department's alumni re-connect with the campus and the department. "This will be a focal point for alumni interest and involvement in the ongoing intellectual activities of the Department," he says.

Professor Robert Levine Levine, the Center's inaugural director, has recently published Dislocating Race and Nation: Episodes in Nineteenth-Century American Literary Nationalism (University of North Carolina Press, 2008); and won the Choice Magazine Outstanding Book Award for his earlier book, Martin Delany, Frederick Douglass, and the Politics of Representative Identity (North Carolina, 1997). He also holds the prestigious position of associate general editor of The Norton Anthology of American Literature. In addition, Levine has been a notable leader in the department, where he has coordinated the American literature area group, organized conferences, and served as director of graduate studies. 

"Bob brings brilliance and vitality in all that he does, and we look forward to working with him as the department launches this exciting new venture," says Cartwright.