Philosophical Texts & Intellectual History

S. Pearl Brilmyer

Assistant Professor of English brilmyer@upenn.eduWebsite

Fields of Study: Novel, Philosophical Texts & Intellectual History, Scientific Texts and Ideas, Africa & the Caribbean, Britain, Western Europe, C19, C20, including Modernism, Deconstruction, Ecocriticism/ Ecology, Formalism/ Structuralism, Gender Studies, Women’s Studies, Queer Theory, Trans Theory, Psychoanalysis, Race and Empire, Rhetoric, Hermeneutics

Max Cavitch

Associate Professor of English cavitch@english.upenn.eduWebsite

Fields of Study: Film, Historiography and Historical Writing, Life Writing, Auto/biography, Philosophical Texts & Intellectual History, Poetry/ Poetics, Britain, Global Anglophone, US, Western Europe, World Literature, Deconstruction, Gender Studies, Women’s Studies, Queer Theory, Trans Theory, Narratology, Psychoanalysis, Sociology of Literature, Translation, Trauma

Scott Francis

Associate Professor of French and Francophone Studies Undergraduate Chair, FIGSfranciss@sas.upenn.eduWebsite

Fields of Study: Drama, Philosophical Texts & Intellectual History, Poetry/ Poetics, Pre-Modern Genres and Literary Forms, Religious Texts & Hagiography, Short Story, Western Europe, Early Modern (C14-C17), Medieval (C6-C14 C.E), Digital Humanities, Gender Studies, Women’s Studies, Queer Theory, Trans Theory, Material Texts, Manuscript Studies and Archival Studies, Religion, Rhetoric, Hermeneutics

Ayako Kano

Professor of Japanese Literature, Performance, and Gender Studies akano@sas.upenn.eduWebsite

Fields of Study: Art/ Media, Drama, Film, Novel, Philosophical Texts & Intellectual History, Short Story, East Asia, Western Europe, World Literature, C19, C20, including Modernism, C21/ Contemporary, Film theory, Gender Studies, Women’s Studies, Queer Theory, Trans Theory, Post-colonial, Race and Empire, Translation

David Kazanjian

Professor of English and Comparative Literature Graduate Chair, Program in Comparative Literature and Literary Theory; Research Resident, Vartan Gregorian Center for Research in the Humanities, New York Public Library, 2025; Visiting Scholar, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, 2026kazanjia@english.upenn.eduWebsite

Fields of Study: Historiography and Historical Writing, Philosophical Texts & Intellectual History, Africa & the Caribbean, Diaspora, Latin America, Middle East/North Africa, US, C19, Long Eighteenth Century, Deconstruction, Formalism/ Structuralism, Gender Studies, Women’s Studies, Queer Theory, Trans Theory, Marxism, Post-colonial, Psychoanalysis, Race and Empire, Rhetoric, Hermeneutics, Trauma

Sara Kazmi

Assistant Professor of English kazmi@sas.upenn.eduWebsite

Fields of Study: Folk Tale & Oral Literature, Historiography and Historical Writing, Philosophical Texts & Intellectual History, Poetry/ Poetics, Pre-Modern Genres and Literary Forms, Diaspora, Global Anglophone, South Asia, World Literature, Gender Studies, Women’s Studies, Queer Theory, Trans Theory, Linguistic Theories and Culture, Material Texts, Manuscript Studies and Archival Studies, Post-colonial, Race and Empire

D. Kim

Assistant Professor of Russian and East European Studies dbkim@sas.upenn.eduWebsite

Fields of Study: Drama, Novel, Philosophical Texts & Intellectual History, Poetry/ Poetics, Scientific Texts and Ideas, Short Story, East Asia, Eastern Europe / Russia, Western Europe, World Literature, C19, C20, including Modernism, Long Eighteenth Century, Digital Humanities, Linguistic Theories and Culture, Sociology of Literature, Translation

Benjamin Nathans

Associate Professor of History bnathans@history.upenn.eduWebsite

Fields of Study: Historiography and Historical Writing, Life Writing, Auto/biography, Philosophical Texts & Intellectual History, Eastern Europe / Russia, Jewish Studies, C19, C20, including Modernism, Formalism/ Structuralism, Marxism, Museum/Object Studies

Kevin Platt

Professor of Russian and East European Studies kmfplatt@sas.upenn.eduWebsite

Fields of Study: Film, Historiography and Historical Writing, Philosophical Texts & Intellectual History, Poetry/ Poetics, Central Europe, Diaspora, Eastern Europe / Russia, World Literature, C19, C20, including Modernism, C21/ Contemporary, Digital Humanities, Film theory, Formalism/ Structuralism, Marxism, Post-colonial, Psychoanalysis, Sociology of Literature, Spatial Theory, Translation, Trauma

Megan Robb

Julie and Martin Franklin Assistant Professor of South Asian Religions robbme@sas.upenn.eduWebsite

Fields of Study: Historiography and Historical Writing, Life Writing, Auto/biography, Philosophical Texts & Intellectual History, South Asia, Gender Studies, Women’s Studies, Queer Theory, Trans Theory, Material Texts, Manuscript Studies and Archival Studies, Post-colonial

Donovan Schaefer

Assistant Professor of Religious Studies doschaef@upenn.eduWebsite

Fields of Study: Film, Historiography and Historical Writing, Philosophical Texts & Intellectual History, Religious Texts & Hagiography, Scientific Texts and Ideas, Britain, US, Western Europe, C19, C20, including Modernism, C21/ Contemporary, Deconstruction, Film theory, Gender Studies, Women’s Studies, Queer Theory, Trans Theory, Media Studies, Race and Empire

Julia Verkholantsev

Associate Professor and Undergraduate Chair, Russian and East European Studies Director, Global Medieval and Renaissance Studies: Director, Undergraduate Humanities Forum, Wolf Humanities Centerjuliaver@sas.upenn.eduWebsite

Fields of Study: Historiography and Historical Writing, Philosophical Texts & Intellectual History, Pre-Modern Genres and Literary Forms, Religious Texts & Hagiography, Central Europe, Eastern Europe / Russia, Early Modern (C14-C17), Medieval (C6-C14 C.E), Linguistic Theories and Culture, Material Texts, Manuscript Studies and Archival Studies, Narratology

Adelheid Voskuhl

Associate Professor avoskuhl@sas.upenn.eduWebsite

Fields of Study: Historiography and Historical Writing, Philosophical Texts & Intellectual History, Scientific Texts and Ideas, Central Europe, US, Western Europe, C19, C20, including Modernism, Long Eighteenth Century, Gender Studies, Women’s Studies, Queer Theory, Trans Theory, Psychoanalysis, Sociology of Literature