Corina Kesler - Resume

RESUME

EDUCATION:

University of Michigan - Ann Arbor, Michigan
Ph.D. Program in Comparative Literature- in progress
University of Michigan - Ann Arbor, Michigan
Graduate Student Teaching Certificate, 2008
Center for Research on Learning and Teaching (CRLT)
California State University - Fullerton, California
B.A. (Cum Laude) in Comparative Literature/English, 2003
Fullerton College - Fullerton, California
A.A (with Honors) in Fashion Merchandising, 1999
Fashion Design/Merchandising/Image Consultant Certificates
University “Avram Iancu” - Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Foreign Languages: English/French (B.A. Program)
School of Arts - Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Fashion Design and Drawing (A.A. Program)

TEACHING EXPERIENCE:

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Comparative Literature, English Literature, Classics Departments
GSM (Graduate Student Mentor)
Great Books Honors 191 (Fall 2008)
GSI (Graduate Student Instructor)
Great Books Honors 191 (Fall 2006, 2007, 2008)
Comparative Literature 241: “Build Your Own Utopia” (Winter 2007, 2008)
Comparative Literature 122: “Cultural Translation” (2005-2006)
English 125 College Writing (2004-2005)
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Center for Research on Learning and Teaching
CRLT Graduate Student Consultant
Graduate Student Instructor Teaching Orientation (2005- 2009)
"Leading Discussions in the Humanities"- Co-facilitator (2007- 2008)
California State University, Fullerton - Fullerton, California
ESL/College Writing Student Assistant
Writing Center Tutor (2001-2003)
Fullerton High School - Fullerton, California
Advanced Placement /International Baccalaureate
English Tutor (2002-2003)
University “Avram Iancu” – Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Graduate Student Assistant
Romanian Literature and Composition, Beginning French Grammar and Composition,
Advanced English Grammar and Composition (1992-1994)

FIELDS OF INTEREST:

Science Fiction and Utopian Studies
Comparative utopian studies, the utopian individual, gender in science fiction and mystical utopias,
Jewish Mysticism
Kabbalah (The Male-Female Attributes of the Divine), Sabbath (The Gendering of the Mystical Discourse in The Zohar:The Book of Splendor), Apotropaic Expressions/Language as utopian/uchronian modalities
Romanian Mythology and Folklore, 20th Century Post Communist Romanian Literature
Alternative utopian narratives, Nationalist expressions in Eastern Europe, Comparative communism
Creative Writing
Novel utopian practices in New English Literatures, Post-Communist Eastern European Countries

HONORS, AWARDS, AND GRANTS:

Institute for Humane Studies - Hayek Travel Fund for Scholars - grant pending
UM Horace Rackham One Term Dissertation Fellowship - Fall 2009
UM Center for Russian and Eastern European Studies Travel Grant, 2009
(Utopian society conference - Porto, Portugal)
UM Horace Rackham Travel Grant, 2009
(Utopian society conference - Porto, Portugal)
Brown University/George Mason University/ Institute for Humane Studies - Social Change Workshop:
Institutions, Behavior, and Development - Summer 2009
(Brown University - Providence, Rhode Island)
UM Center for Russian and Eastern European - European Studies Graduate Student Workshop - Winter 2009
UM Horace Rackham Humanities Research Fellowship - Winter, Spring/Summer, 2009
UM Center for Russian and Eastern European Studies Travel Grant, 2008
(Utopian society conference - Portland, Maine)
UM Department of Comparative Literature Travel Grant, 2008
(Utopian society conference - Portland, Maine)
UM Department of Comparative Literature Travel Grant, 2008
(International Utopian Conference - Limerick, Ireland)
UM Horace Rackham Research Grant, 2008
(Romanian National Archives, Bucharest, Romania)
UM Department of Comparative Literature Archival Research Grant, 2008
(Romanian National Archives, Bucharest, Romania)
UM Honors Program Graduate Student Fellowship, 2007-2008, 2009-2010
UM Department of Comparative Literature Travel Grant, 2007
(Utopian conference - Toronto, Canada)
European Utopian Society Travel Grant, 2007
(International Utopian Conference - Plymouth, England)
UM Center for Russian and Eastern European Studies Travel Grant, 2007
(International Utopian Conference - Plymouth, England)
UM Horace Rackham Research Grant, 2007
(Fieldwork: EdenProject, England)
UM Institute for Research on Gender and Women “Community of Scholars” - Summer Fellowship, 2007
American Comparative Literature Association Travel Grant, 2007
(ACLA Conference - Puebla, Mexico)
UM Center for Russian and Eastern European Studies Travel Grant, 2006
(Utopian conference - Colorado Springs)
UM Department of Comparative Literature Travel Grant, 2006
(International Utopian Conference - Tarragona, Spain)
UM Horace Rackham Research Grant, Israel, Spain and Romania, 2006
UM Department of Comparative Literature Summer Fellowship, 2006
(Biblical Hebrew Ulpan, Israel)
UM Department of Comparative Literature Summer Fellowship, 2005
(Fieldwork: Shipshewana, Indiana, Ecotopia, Romania, EdenProject, England)
UM Horace Rackham Research Grant, England and Romania, 2005
UM Department of Comparative Literature Summer Fellowship, 2004
(Language study: French, Paris)
UM Department of Comparative Literature Travel Grant, 2004
(RAAS conference - Bucharest, Romania)
UM Department of Comparative Literature Travel Grant, 2005
(SAMLA conference - Memphis, Tennessee)
UM Horace Rackham Travel Grant, France and Romania, 2004
UM Department of Comparative Literature Fellowship, 2003-2004
CSUF (California State University, Fullerton) Award for Excellence in Comparative Literature Studies, 2003
UCI (University of California, Irvine) Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship, 2002
Fullerton College, California - Fashion Designer of the Year, 2000
Fullerton College, California - Fashion Designer of the Year, 1999
The Institute for Fashion Research, Atlanta, Georgia – International Fashion Contest, (Honorable Mention, 1999)
Cal. Poly Pomona, California-Fashion Designer of the Year, 1998

LANGUAGE SKILLS:

Romanian, French, English (native fluency)
Italian, Spanish, Latin, Aromanian (reading)
Japanese (Reading skills, Cluj-Napoca, Bucharest, Romania, 1990-1991)
Biblical Hebrew Ulpan (Reading skills, Jerusalem, Israel-2006)

PUBLICATIONS:

“From Dacia Felix to the Socialist Republic of Romania: Nation(al) Building(s) and Utopian Writing(s)
During Ceausescu Era” European Society for Utopian Studies 10th Conference Proceedings, Porto, Portugal, 2009
“Artistul in Iedera” (trans. of Elizabeth Kostova’s “The Vine Artist”)
RAO Publishing House, Bucharest, Romania, 2007
“The Uchronic Innovations of the Sabbath in the Classical Kabbalah”
European Society for Utopian Studies 7th Conference Proceedings, Tarragona, Spain, 2006
“ETL to ELS- Teaching English to ESL Students, Grammatical Challenges” (Pedagogical Essay)
Intersections, California State University, Fullerton, 2001
“Belay My Last” (Poetry)
Portico, Fullerton College’s Humanities Department Magazine, California, 2000
“Ina” (Poetry)
Windows of Perception, US National Anthology of Promising Young Poets, 2000
“Pedeapsa/Le Chatiment/The Punishment” (Science fiction story)
Jurnalul de Literatura Stiintifico-Fantastica, Special Trilingual Edition, Bucharest, Romania, 1994

TRANSLATIONS:

Elizabeth Kostova: “The Vine Artist” (“Artistul in Iedera”) RAO Publishing House,
Bucharest, Romania, 2007
Chen Lee: The Secrets of Longevity (completed in 1994, publication offer pending,
Bucharest, Romania)
Nicolae Ceausescu: “The July Theses, Protocol nr.17 of the Executive Committee of the Central
Committee of the Romanian Communist Party from June 23rd, 1971” (“Tezele din iulie, dupa protocolul sedintei Comitetului Executiv al Comitetului Central al Partidului Comunist Roman, din ziua de 23 iunie 1971”)- (work in progress)
Sergiu Farcasan: The Year 41042 (O iubire din anul 41042) - (work in progress)

CREATIVE WRITING:

Philos Aphilos: Generations-spanning account of daily life in 20th century Romania (novel in progress)

CONFERENCES ATTENDED/PAPERS INVITED/ PRESENTED:

2009: “Nation Building Discourse and Discontent in Ceausescu’s Socialist Romania”
Utopian Conference: Wrightsville, North Carolina, October
“From Dacia Felix to The Socialist Republic Of Romania: Nation(al) Building(s) and Utopian Writing(s) in Ceausescu Era”
International Utopian conference: Porto, Portugal, July
2008: “National and Utopian Mythogenesis in Communist Romania”
Utopian Conference: Portland, Maine, October
“Signing a Pact with the Devil: Publishing in Romania during the communist system”
International Utopian conference: Limerick, Ireland, July
2007: “Ways of bypassing censorship in Communist Romania: Uberutopianism”
Utopian conference, Toronto, Canada, October
“Literary Censorship in Communist Romania”
International Utopian Conference, Plymouth, England, July
“Magical Realism: Alternative Utopian Modality in Interbellic and Communist Romania”
ACLA, Puebla, Mexico, April
2006: “The uchronic innovations of the Sabbath in the Classical Kabbalah”
International Utopian Conference, Tarragona, Spain, July
“Alternative Utopian Modalities in Communist Romania: the Paltinis Paidetic Model and the
Tirgoviste School of Magical Realism”
The Society for the Utopian Studies Conference- Colorado Springs, October
2005: “Religion and Secularism in Post-Communist Eastern Europe”
Calvin College, Grand Rapids, Michigan, June
“Spatial and Temporal Practices: From Narrative Utopia to Sabbath Uchronia”
The Society for Utopian Studies- Memphis, Tennessee- October
2004: “Optic White and Pitch Black: Racial Antinomies in Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man and
Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin”
Romanian Association for American Studies- Bucharest, Romania, February
“Wo/man Traveling Home- The Search for Ecotopia”
SAMLA, Roanoke, Virginia, November

PROFESSIONAL AND ACADEMIC AFFILIATIONS:

Society for Utopian Studies- since 2005
European Society for Utopian studies- since 2006
ACLA (American Comparative Literature Association)- since September 2006
GEP (Science Fiction Genre Evolution Project) – UM researcher since September 2005
UM Comparative Literature CLIFF and Program Brown Bag organizer- since December 2005
RAAS (Romanian Association for American Studies) - since 2004
SAMLA (South Atlantic Modern Language Association)- since 2004
Golden Key International Honor Society- since 1997

UNIVERSITY SERVICE/VOLUNTEER WORK:

2009: UM, CommonGround Intergroup Relations/Social Justice Programs/Facilitator
2008: UM, Graduate Student Forum- Comparative Literature Department Representative
2008: UM/UROP Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program Consultant
2008: UM, Museum of Art (UMMA) Focus Group
2008: Therapaws Of Michigan, Humane Society of Huron Valley, Canine Volunteer Team
2006: Yad-Hashmona, Israel- Co-wrote and directed “Sefer-ha-Jonah” (“The Book of Jonah”) for the
Biblical Hebrew Ulpan,Graduation Play
2006: Yad Hashmona, Israel- worked and lived on the moshav, studied Orthodox, Hassidic and Kabbalistic
wedding and Sabbath practices in the Jerusalem area
2005: EdenProject, Cornwall, England, volunteered in the Educational Programs and Guest Relations
divisions, studied the history of the project and interviewed several of the project’s founders
2005: Ecotopia, Stanciova, Romania: Helped organize ecological camps for European Union undergraduate
students and established local recycling programs
2000-2001: Starbucks, California: Organized the Orangewood Children’s Orphanage summer camp,
spearheaded fundraisers, and established the Sunday series program
1998-2000: Fullerton College, California: Organized Kindercaminata programs, the College Bound
program for high school students, ESL, and tutoring classes for the American citizenship test

SPECIAL SKILLS/HOBBIES:

Accurate technical and anatomical drawing skills, residential and industrial mural art planning and execution - projects in Cluj-Napoca, Ann Arbor
Design application software (Tukatech) certified - California 1999
Yoga Instructor (certification in progress)
Hiking, traveling, Argentinian Tango, kickboxing, learning foreign languages