Melissa Tanti Awarded SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellowship

Congratulations to Dr. Melissa Tanti, CESI Community Engaged Learning (CETL) Coordinator, who has been awarded a SSHRC postdoctoral fellowship to write a new book, Transnational Experiments.

This book will deconstruct whiteness in modern and contemporary literary categories by looking at the ways whiteness is encoded in popular literary categories to reproduce historical exclusions even in forms of literature that are premised as radical and countercultural. It will also explore how the category can be made more dynamic by paying attention to literary experiments happening beyond yet in contact with the realm of Anglo-American literature. The fellowship is sponsored by The Centre for New Writing in the Department of English, American Studies and Creative Writing at the University Manchester, UK. 

Melissa is thrilled to be welcomed into this international research community, and looks forward to expanding her network of colleagues and collaborators overseas, while also continuing in her role as CETL Coordinator at CESI. This research is an extension of her work at CESI to value diverse knowledges and to look for ways to decolonize education, research, and pedagogy. As CETL Coordinator, Melissa builds capacity for community engaged learning with students and communities, provides consultation and course support to instructors, and develops resources. Dr. Elizabeth Jackson, CESI Director, adds "she is an integral, enthusiastic and passionate member of the CESI team; we are so proud of this huge accomplishment, and excited to see this work come together."