Transitions: Transience, Subversion, and (Im)permanence in Contemporary American Culture
An American Studies Online Student Conference
Friday, May 20, 2022
9:00-9:30 Opening (Chair: Assoc. Prof. Mihaela Precup, Conference Organizer, University of Bucharest)
Dragoș Manea (Assist. Prof., Director of the American Studies Center, University of Bucharest)
Mihai Moroiu (Program Director, Romanian-U.S. Fulbright Commission)
William O’Connor (Cultural Affairs Officer, United States Embassy, Bucharest)
9:30-10:15 Opening Talk by William O’Connor (Cultural Affairs Officer, United States Embassy, Bucharest) on Transitions: Transience, Subversion, and (Im)permanence in Contemporary American Culture (Chair: Assoc. Prof. Mihaela Precup)
10:15-10:30 Coffee Break
10:30-12:00 Panel 1. Chair: Prof. Roxana Oltean (American Studies Program, University of Bucharest)
Mihaela Tone (American Studies MA Program, University of Bucharest). “Female Perpetration and Gender Treachery in Bruce Miller’s The Handmaid’s Tale”
Ștefan Ionescu Ambrosie (Rijksuniversiteit Groningen). “Billingsgate, Bodily Fluids, and Millennial Socialism: The Dialogic Impasse of the Dirtbag Left”
Cristina Botîlcă (PhD student, The Doctoral School for Literary and Cultural Studies, University of Bucharest). “Transitioning from Tradition. Human Composting and Water Cremation in Contemporary America”
Andreea Moise (British Studies MA Program, University of Bucharest). “Death in the Making: Gendered Mourning in Sigrid Nunez’s What Are You Going Through”
12:00-12:45 Lunch Break
12:45-14.15 Panel 2. Chair: Assoc. Prof. Mihaela Precup (American Studies Program, University of Bucharest)
Ionuț-Laurențiu Cazan (American Studies MA Program, University of Bucharest). “Theorizing Animal Exploitation in The Flintstones as a Question of Reform”
Cristina-Maria Mihai (American Studies MA Program, University of Bucharest). “Transition and Adaptation in Gene Luen Yang’s Graphic Novel American Born Chinese (2006)”
Raul Săran (PhD Student, Doctoral School of Humanities, West University of Timișoara). ”From Meaninglessness to Irrelevancy – Chris Fogle and the “New” Heroism in David Foster Wallace’s The Pale King”
Andreea-Alexandra Călin (University of Bucharest (CESI), University of Leuven (Faculty of Arts). “Fragmentation and (Post)modern Society in Speedboat”
14:15-14.30 Coffee Break
14.30-16.10 Panel 3. Chair: Assist. Prof. Diana Benea (American Studies Program, University of Bucharest)
Andrada Stănei (American Studies BA Program, “Ovidius” University, Constanța). “Subverting Dracula: The Transition from a European Myth to an American Pop Culture Icon”
Viorel Samuel Tajkuna Teleagă (Modern Languages and Literatures, Faculty of Letters, History and Theology, University of the West, Timișoara). ”From Angel to Androgynous Vamp: Greta Garbo’s Challenging and Subversion of Stereotypes about Femininity in Early American Film”
Oana Condurache (American Studies MA Program, University of the West, Timișoara). ”Chicano Literature—A Subversive Approach to the American Studies Curriculum”
Sefora Geantă (American Studies MA Program, University of Bucharest). “Romanian Migration to the United States: Analyzing Spaces of Transition”
Denisa Aron (American Studies MA Program, University of Bucharest). “The Movie Trial of the Chicago 7 as a Subversive Mirror of the Past”
16.10-16.40 Coffee break / Jury Deliberation
16.40-17.00 “Dan Grigorescu” prize award ceremony. Closing remarks.
Jury:
Dr. Bri Ard, Director, International Education & Study Abroad, University of South Alabama, Fulbright fellow, American Studies Program, University of Bucharest
Dr. Ruxandra Rădulescu, Educational adviser, The Romanian-U.S. Fulbright Commission
Organizers:
The American Studies Program at the University of Bucharest
The Romanian-U.S. Fulbright Commission
The organizers would like to thank the U.S.
Embassy for their support.
Conference poster:
Andreea Moise
