This talk will be based on Professor Calderwood's current book project, which examines representations of al-Andalus (medieval Muslim Iberia) in contemporary literature, film, television, music, and tourism.
Eric Calderwood is an Associate Professor in the Program in Comparative and World Literature at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His research explores the political uses of the past in modern Mediterranean culture. His first book, Colonial al-Andalus: Spain and the Making of Modern Moroccan Culture (Harvard University Press, 2018), won the 2019 L. Carl Brown AIMS Book Prize in North African Studies and received Honorable Mention for the Nikki Keddie Book Award from the Middle East Studies Association. His articles have appeared in PMLA, The Journal of North African Studies, International Journal of Middle East Studies, and Journal of Spanish Cultural Studies. In addition to his academic publications, he has contributed essays and commentary to such venues as NPR, the BBC, Foreign Policy, and McSweeney’s Quarterly.
Sponsor(s): Center for Near Eastern Studies, Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies