Forthcoming event

EXTENDED DEADLINE: Anglicists and Americanists Today. Facing Ideology and Its Discontents

Afis2 mic siteCelebrating 100 Years of English and American Studies in Iasi 

International conference, 8-9 May 2025, Iasi

Our contemporary world at large has undergone dramatic shifts of paradigms in the last 80 years or so. Between 1945 and 1960, most of the new states in Asia and Africa achieved at least an autonomy if not complete independence from their European colonial rulers. This situation generated a need for political and cultural (self)identification and self-determination. Decolonisation reshaped the world. In its wake, Asian, African, and Western intellectuals reshaped the cultural paradigm: Fanon, the theorists of the so-called “Subaltern Studies”, Michel Foucault’s analysis of the relation between power and knowledge, Edward Said’s groundbreaking Orientalism (1978) shook the plinth and the whole scaffolding of entrenched colonial culture. In Europe, the French upheavals of 1968, with their makeshift barricades and graffiti protests, paved the path for radical movements of restless emancipation. From France, the zest for ceaseless discontent has spread and conquered both sides of the Atlantic. The advancement of technology inspired Julian Huxley, a brother of novelist Aldous Huxley, to envisage in “Transhumanism” (1957) an era of social and cultural change, a future when humanity transcends itself. In the 21st century, Huxley’s concept of transhumanism coexists with Posthumanism and a range of other theories and movements in what looks like a cacophony of narratives and discourses.

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Anunțuri / Announcements

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

English Studies Graduation Day 2024Monday’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

CFP 2 2024Thematic 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

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Interculturalia 2025: Looking at the (Post)-canon to Get to Grips with the new Zeitgeist

WhatsApp Image 2025 04 14 at 01.11.18 c2047a34InterCulturalia #7, an intersection of 5 languages and several fields, organised by the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures in partnership with the Faculty of Geography and Geology, the Faculty of Law and the University of Medicine and Pharmacy ”Grigore T. Popa” of Iaşi took place on the 11th and 12th of April this year.

Despite the chilly weather, its spirit was as enthusiastic as ever. The topic of interrogating centers, margins and norms in the age of the (post)-canon challenged the participants and the keynote speakers to look into it and chart a vast and complex territory through interdisciplinary methods. In the German Studies, the literary canon and xenotransplantation were tackled together. Thus, the humanities and the medical sciences engaged in a dialogue.

Afaceri cu Litere: întâlniri cu absolvente remarcabile în luna martie

În luna martie, Catedra de engleză a avut onoarea de a organiza și găzdui, prin reprezentantele sale, dr. Sorina Ciobanu și dr. Alexandra Vrînceanu, o serie de întâlniri cu absolvente remarcabile, care au reușit să își construiască afaceri și cariere de succes cu... Litere. Ne-am dorit să sărbătorim succesul feminin și totodată să le oferim posibile modele de reușită și determinare studentelor și studenților noștri. Fiecare dintre întâlniri a fost la fel de remarcabilă ca protagonista ei și ne-a arătat o nouă față a vieții și succesului după Litere.

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Elena Cuvinciuc-AvivElena Cuvinciuc-Aviv, traducătoare și fondatoarea uneia dintre cele mai longevive firme de traduceri din Iași, Eurocontact, ne-a captivat cu energia și optimismul ei, care au ajutat-o să se reinventeze continuu, atât pe plan personal, cât și în afaceri. Elena nu a plecat fără să ne spună că „Viața e prea scurtă pentru a fi banal”, îndemnându-ne să avem curajul de a încerca lucruri noi și de a gândi creativ, de a nu rămâne blocați în situații aparent fără ieșire.

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