Summer Research

• Days/Times:
• Instructor: Marrati, Paola
• Room:  
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 20/20
• PosTag(s): n/a

Summer Research

• Days/Times:
• Instructor: Siraganian, Lisa
• Room:  
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 20/20
• PosTag(s): n/a

Summer Research

• Days/Times:
• Instructor: Lisi, Leonardo
• Room:  
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 20/20
• PosTag(s): n/a

Summer Research

• Days/Times:
• Instructor: Hashimoto, Satoru
• Room:  
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 20/20
• PosTag(s): n/a

Summer Research

• Days/Times:
• Instructor: Ong, Yi-Ping
• Room:  
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 20/20
• PosTag(s): n/a

Summer Research

• Days/Times:
• Instructor: Bennett, Jane
• Room:  
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 20/20
• PosTag(s): n/a

Summer Research

• Days/Times:
• Instructor: Schmelz, Peter John
• Room:  
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 4/4
• PosTag(s): n/a

Summer Research

• Days/Times:
• Instructor: El Guabli, Brahim
• Room:  
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 4/4
• PosTag(s): n/a

In this course, we will examine the evolution of the modern hermeneutic tradition, from textual hermeneutics to philosophical hermeneutics, in relation to a range of posthermeneutic approaches to the study of literature, concerning questions of media, materiality, affect, and presence. We will consider how “post”-hermeneutics is not simply anti- or non-hermeneutic, but rather in complex dialog with hermeneutics, and is inscribed into the modern hermeneutic tradition since the late 18th century. Throughout the semester, we will return to a selection of literary works that serve as case studies with which to apply the theoretical and philosophical frameworks examined. Readings may include works by Friedrich Schleiermacher, Wilhelm von Humboldt, Hans-Georg Gadamer, Jürgen Habermas, Susan Sontag, Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, Friedrich Kittler, Hans Ulrich Gumbrecht, and Brian Massumi, among others.

• Days/Times: M 3:30PM - 5:30PM
• Instructor: Haubenreich, Jacob
• Room:  
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 10/10
• PosTag(s): n/a

Humanists possess a reservoir of scholarly abilities that prime them for contributing to debates well beyond the academy. This semester-long workshop will introduce graduate students to the basics of writing for such broad audience. Each session will be organized around particular topics in public humanities writing, including the pitching, writing, editing, and publishing processes of newspapers, magazines, and online outlets. We will also consider the forms of writing that most allow scholars to draw from their academic training and research: reviews, personal essays, op-eds, interviews, and profiles. Throughout the course we will see how the interdisciplinarity, comparativism, and multilingualism of fields from across the humanities can be helpful for reaching wide audiences. Beyond the nuts and bolts of getting started in so-called “public” writing, this course aspires to teach graduate students how to combine quality writing with academic knowledge, scholarly analysis with a general intellectual readership—and, ultimately, make academic knowledge a public good. Taught in English.

• Days/Times: T 3:30PM - 5:30PM
• Instructor: Seguin, Becquer D
• Room: Gilman 443
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 10/10
• PosTag(s): n/a

The academic profession is becoming increasingly interdisciplinary. However, in many cases, graduate training has yet to fully adapt to this shift. Beyond the changing nature of knowledge production, which now requires scholars to engage with fields of expertise that might not have been necessary in the past, institutions—especially liberal arts colleges—are seeking candidates who can work across disciplines to fill gaps in their curricula and foster collaborative scholarly synergies with colleagues in other fields. Moreover, academia is shaped by both continuities and interruptions, and interdisciplinary scholarship, with its venture-friendly approaches, offers a way for students to revisit old questions and explore new ones by endeavoring to explore uncharted paths. Hence, students in the humanities will benefit from both the opportunities and the challenges that come with engagement with interdisciplinary critical approaches. This year-long seminar draws on the experience of a broad pool of interdisciplinary scholars at Johns Hopkins University. It seeks to introduce students to a variety of conceptual, epistemic, experiential, experimental, and methodological approaches that JHU faculty members have used to produce interdisciplinary knowledge. Students will have the opportunity to hear directly from these faculty members, read their work, and discuss the processes and methodological choices they made—or chose not to make—in their interdisciplinary work. By revisiting old questions and raising new ones from an interdisciplinary perspective, this seminar will help incoming graduate students in the humanities develop a deeper appreciation for interdisciplinary scholarship and gain insight into the professional opportunities that can arise from proactively embracing approaches that span multiple disciplines. The students will also have opportunities to collaborate with each other throughout the year.

• Days/Times: W 9:00AM - 11:30AM
• Instructor: El Guabli, Brahim
• Room: Gilman 208
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 15/15
• PosTag(s): n/a

Knowing who or what counts as a person seems straightforward, until we consider the many kinds of creatures, objects, and artificial beings that have been granted—or demanded or denied—that status. This course explores recent debates on being a person in culture, law, and philosophy. Questions examined will include: Should trees have standing? Can corporations have religious beliefs? Could a robot sign a contract? Materials examined will be wide-ranging, including essays, philosophy, novels, science fiction, television, film. No special background is required.

• Days/Times: MW 12:00PM - 1:15PM
• Instructor: Staff
• Room: Gilman 208
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 5/5
• PosTag(s): n/a

This course explores recent developments and disputes in critical theory in relation to their longer philosophical genealogies. The three topics—autonomy, form, and critique—have been the subject of much recent debate, contention, and new analysis, yet each was also a source of critical and philosophical interest in years past. Our aim will be to make sense of today’s exciting and controversial interventions in conversation with earlier theory. “Historical” theory writing will include Poe, Adorno, Benjamin, Lukács, Cavell, R. Williams, Shklovsky, and Jameson; contemporary theory will include Stephen Best, Barbara Fields, Sharon Marcus, Walter Benn Michaels, Sianne Ngai, Nicholas Brown, Rita Felski, Caroline Levine, Mark McGurl, and Toril Moi.

• Days/Times: M 1:30PM - 4:00PM
• Instructor: Siraganian, Lisa
• Room: Gilman 208
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 12/12
• PosTag(s): n/a

Presentations by faculty, students, and invited speakers.

• Days/Times: W 10:30AM - 12:00PM
• Instructor: Schmelz, Peter John
• Room: Gilman 208
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 12/12
• PosTag(s): n/a

Graduate student having directed work with a specific faculty.

• Days/Times:
• Instructor: Hashimoto, Satoru
• Room:  
• Status: Approval Required
• Seats Available: 5/5
• PosTag(s): n/a

Dissertation research and discussion of progress. Limited to students writing dissertations.

• Days/Times:
• Instructor: Marrati, Paola
• Room:  
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 10/10
• PosTag(s): n/a

Dissertation research and discussion of progress. Limited to students writing dissertations.

• Days/Times:
• Instructor: Bennett, Jane
• Room:  
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 10/10
• PosTag(s): n/a

Dissertation research and discussion of progress. Limited to students writing dissertations.

• Days/Times:
• Instructor: Lisi, Leonardo
• Room:  
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 10/10
• PosTag(s): n/a

Dissertation research and discussion of progress. Limited to students writing dissertations.

• Days/Times:
• Instructor: Ong, Yi-Ping
• Room:  
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 10/10
• PosTag(s): n/a

Dissertation research and discussion of progress. Limited to students writing dissertations.

• Days/Times:
• Instructor: Siraganian, Lisa
• Room:  
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 10/10
• PosTag(s): n/a

Dissertation research and discussion of progress. Limited to students writing dissertations.

• Days/Times:
• Instructor: Hashimoto, Satoru
• Room:  
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 10/10
• PosTag(s): n/a

Dissertation research and discussion of progress. Limited to students writing dissertations.

• Days/Times:
• Instructor: Egginton, William
• Room:  
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 10/10
• PosTag(s): n/a

Graduate Research

• Days/Times:
• Instructor: Bennett, Jane
• Room:  
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 15/15
• PosTag(s): n/a

Teaching assistants are required to register for this course. See handbook for details.

• Days/Times:
• Instructor: Bennett, Jane
• Room:  
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 6/6
• PosTag(s): n/a

An interdisciplinary seminar on Latin America’s role in wider cultural, economic, and political processes, from both historical and contemporary perspectives. In Fall 2025, we will turn our attention to the Caribbean, past and present, and across disciplines.

• Days/Times:
• Instructor: Edwards, Zophia; Johnson, Jessica Marie
• Room:  
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 12/12
• PosTag(s): n/a