Introducing Theresa MacPhail, Draper's New Fellow in Science Studies

We're delighted to welcome Draper alumna Theresa MacPhail as our new faculty fellow in Science Studies. Professor MacPhail will be teaching Introduction to Science Studies in the fall, and more information on the class will be available shortly. Her bio is below; please join us in welcoming her to the program.

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Dr. MacPhail received her PhD in Medical Anthropology from UC-Berkeley/UC-San Francisco. Her first book, Siren Song: A Pathography of Influenza and Global Public Health, is based on her dissertation research on the science and epidemiology of influenza in Hong Kong, the United States, and Europe, and is currently under development at Cornell University Press as part of their new series on expertise. Dr. MacPhail received her MA at the Draper Program with a focus in STS and Global Histories, and has a BA in Journalism from the University of New Hampshire.

Her work and research interests center on: the historical, cultural and social aspects of infectious disease; the development and utilization of new technologies within epidemiology and medicine; the production and circulation of information and knowledge in bioscience and public health; politics and the emergence of “global” public health policies; the construction of scientific expertise; new media, public communication, and the construction of narratives in the biosciences and epidemiology; and the process of decision-making in relationship to uncertainty and risk. Both her research and methodology integrate ethnography and anthropology with the fields of journalism, science & technology studies, history, and political science.

She is the current recipient of a writing fellowship from the D. Kim Foundation for the History of Science in East Asia and is a former recipient of the multi-year Chancellor’s Fellowship at UC-Berkeley. Her field sites and areas of geographic interest are Hong Kong, China, and the United States. Her next research project will examine the resurgence of bed bugs and the threat of dengue fever in the United States and in Hong Kong, focusing on local and national public health response, information campaigns, and how disease and pestilence play into the recent fears over the United States’ financial turmoil and intellectual and cultural decline as a “world power.”

Reminder: Theses (Sept Grads) and Thesis Topic Approval Forms (Jan Grads) Due Next Tuesday, 8/16!

One Last Reminder!

Those of you who intend to graduate this September will need to submit your completed and approved Master's theses to Draper no later than next Tuesday, August 16th. Any theses received after 6:00 PM on August 16th will be held over for January graduation. There will be no exceptions.

Thesis topic approval forms for students graduating in January 2012 are also due on August 16th.

For more information on thesis guidelines, please see Draper's Web site, here: http://www.draper.fas.nyu.edu/object/draper.program.thesisguidelines

All thesis related forms--including a sample cover page and second reader sheets--can also be downloaded from the Draper website, here:http://www.draper.fas.nyu.edu/object/draper.forms

If you have any questions or concerns about the thesis submission or graduation processes, please feel free to email us at draper.program@nyu.edu.

CFP: CUNY Comp Lit conference -- Desire: From Eros to Eroticism -- due 9/15

CUNY Graduate Center (365 5^th Avenue, New York, New York)

November 10-11, 2011

Desire: From Eros to Eroticism

The students of the Department of Comparative Literature at the City University of New York Graduate Center present an interdisciplinary graduate student conference on November 10-11, 2011.

The concept of desire has been the subject of much examination throughout centuries of literature. From the ancient Greek idea of eros to psychological analysis of the subject through contemporary negotiations of love and desire, the interpretation of desire has evolved, but it has always held a central role in literature and discourse. Desire serves as the motivation for action, and yet the most satisfying desire is often the one that remains unfulfilled. This conference will explore desire as it impels us forward in our pursuit of an end that may ultimately be unattainable.

We invite papers from all disciplines focusing on works from any period that explore desire as it is portrayed in literature, philosophy, theory, art, film, or society. Some of the questions this conference seeks to answer include, but are not limited to:

· How does desire serve as a motivating force?

· Must desire be fulfilled or does it serve another purpose?

· In what ways are the repercussions of desire demonstrated?

· How has the definition of desire evolved between different cultures or time periods?

· In what way does desire figure into political landscapes, contemporary or otherwise?

· What is the relationship between desire and cultural production and entertainment in the age of the Internet and other technologies?

· How does an author’s desire factor into the creation of a text?

· How does a character’s lack of desire affect the text?

· How does comprehension of desire help us to explore the human psyche?

· How is desiring the “undesirable” presented and addressed?

· How does desire relate to discussions of gender, sexuality, race, and other intersections of sexual politics?

· How does desire relate to other concepts such as love, seduction, intoxication, and pleasure?

Please submit a 300 word abstract for a 15-20 minute paper by September 15, 2011 to desireconference2011@gmail.com. Proposals should include the title of the paper, presenter’s name, institutional and departmental affiliation, and any technology requests. We also welcome panel proposals of three to four papers.

This conference is co-sponsored by the Writers’ Institute at the City University of New York Graduate Center, an un-MFA program devoted to bringing together the country’s most talented writers and today’s most celebrated editors, and by the Doctoral Students’ Council, the sole policymaking body representing students in doctoral and master’s programs at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York.