On June 24 and 25, 2024, we had the great pleasure of joining our English Studies Classes of 2024 on their Graduation Day Ceremonies! 

Congratulating everyone for their hard work and achievements, here are the accounts of these ceremonies by two of our colleagues:

June 24, 2024

Monday’s graduation ceremony of Class 2021-2024 celebrated the English Minor and American Studies students, together with professors from the Romanian and foreign languages departments and family and friends. Our very own Ștefana Iosif from the English Department gave the opening speech in which she emphasized both the privilege that we as professors enjoy in working with and molding great minds, but also the great advantages that our students benefit from and have made the most of during their academic journey. Quoting from Maya Angelou, Stefana placed importance on giving back and being “someone’s blessing”, highlighting qualities such as openness, empathy, and curiosity which the two Romanian-English valedictorians, Maria Corina Dimitriu and Bogdan Vișan also underlined in their stirring graduation speeches. Lorelei Caraman inspired the American Studies graduates with the reading of the poem “Wild Geese” by Mary Oliver, encouraging empathy and the ability to situate themselves in “the family of things”. Thus, Monday’s ceremony prompted both joy and reflection, looking back on the students’ progress and achievements, but also looking forward to what the future may have in store and the ways in which the young graduates can bring about change and become “someone’s blessing”.

Florina Năstase, Lecturer, PhD

Read more ...

Thematic issue

Pop Culture and Audience Reception in a Transnational Context

Of all modes of cultural exchange and diffusion in the last century, pop culture has been among the most dominant, lucrative, and influential in our daily lives. Films, television, music, video games, podcasts, comic books and graphic novels, genre fiction and other categories of pop culture production are constantly transferred and flow between countries and audiences.  At the same time, worldbuilding and storytelling increasingly extend across media platforms (transmedia), which draws in new international communities of users and audiences. But audience reception and the uses of a particular pop culture product can vary enormously across cultures.  We seek contributions that examine pop cultural phenomena within a transnational context, exploring the ways in which pop culture can be interpreted, used, marketed, and reworked differently across cultural boundaries or in the context of transmediality. 

For more information, please visit the journal's website.