February 24, 2012
Students invited to join Professor McClennen in study of 'geographies of power'
Dr. Sophia McClennen, director of The Center for Global Studies and affiliate faculty of the School of International Affairs at Penn State, will lead a joint research project titled “Geographies of Power: Justice, Revolution, and the Cultural Imagination,” focused on social transformation and cultural conflict with the Worldwide University Network (WUN). The WUN, a consortium of 18 research universities from five continents, has funded the project.
Using historical analysis and cross-cultural awareness, the project will emphasize shifting geographies of power in the period between the terrorist attacks of 9/11/2001 and the 2011 Arab Spring. The project is based on the idea that “the frontiers of cultural understanding” are undergoing a transformation that can only be appreciated through a cross-cultural perspective and a multi-disciplinary methodology that is alert to the historical precedents behind current geopolitical and cultural conflicts.
In addition to Dr. McClennen, the collaboration also includes Penn State faculty members Dr. Eric Hayot, director of the Asian Studies Program; Dr. Shuang Shen, assistant professor of Comparative Literature and Chinese; Dr. Jonathan Abel, assistant professor of Comparative Literature and Japanese; and Gabeba Baderoon, assistant professor of Women's Studies and African and African American Studies. International partners include Shamil Jeppie from the University of Cape Town, Ziad Elmarsafy and Anna Bernard from York University, George Pavlich from the University of Alberta, and Ang Zhihui from Nanjing University.
Penn State faculty or students interested in joining the initiative should contact Dr. McClennen at sam50@psu.edu. The team plans to publish proceedings and engage in future projects with policy makers.