Matthew Brown
Matthew Brown is Associate Professor in the Department of English, where he teaches literary and cultural history; he also holds a courtesy appointment in the UI Center for the Book. His particular research interest is in the history of readership, as reflected in his book The Pilgrim and the Bee: Reading Rituals and Book Culture in Early New England (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2007). It was awarded Honorable Mention by the MLA for Best First Book in 2007. His articles have appeared in American Literary History, American Quarterly, Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America, Early American Literature, and PMLA. Supported by an NEH, he is working on a second book, The Novel and the Blank, an investigation of how the constraints of the print shop affected the literary culture and reading habits of colonial and early national America.
Armando Duarte
UI Professor, Contemporary Choreographer and Researcher of the Brazilian Popular Culture Armando Duarte, a Brazilian/American citizen, holds a BS degree in Physical Education from the University of São Paulo and an MFA degree in Choreography and Performance from NYU (Tisch School of the Arts). Since coming to the UI in 1993, he has created 87 original choreographies plus re-staged works for companies and dance programs in the US, Brazil, and other countries, with more than half of his repertory being based or related to his native Brazilian culture. His academic research involves an in-depth investigation on the Brazilian popular culture of samba and carnival, for what he created theoretical and practice-based courses at the UI, such as Brazilian Culture and Carnival, and Brazilian Social Dance, the Samba. In the US, he has presented lectures and workshops on the subject at numerous universities and conferences.
At the UI he was a co-chair of the Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion Charter Committee; a co-chair of the CLAS Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion Strategic Planning Committee and is currently a member of the CLAS Executive Committee. This year, Armando Duarte received the International Teaching Engagement Awards from the College of Liberal Arts and International Program.
As and Obermann fellow he offers perspectives as an educator, dance maker/choreographer, dance instructor, and researcher of popular culture, understanding how these roles intersect inside and outside academia. He shares his opinion on what he has experienced this far in having conducted field research (bilingually/English and Portuguese), collected oral stories, and immersed himself in investigations on aspects related to the culture of Brazil and their correlation with US culture. He hopes to create dialogues about how one can make their own research and expand to possible cross-cultural perspectives as well as international experiences involving theoretical approaches and practices. He is interested in engaging and exchanging ideas with fellow colleagues about it and offer considerations based on translations of embodied movement-oriented experiences and theory. He hopes to benefit from the input, and shared feedback of fellow colleagues on his current writings and research. He expects to receive pertinent and inquisitive questions that will push his forward to finish a current manuscript -- O Samba no Corpo de um Brasileiro – Volume 1 - Mestres-Salas and Porta-Bandeiras (The Samba within the Brazilian body – Volume 1 – Master of Ceremonies and Flag Careers). The Obermann Center Summer Fellow support offers a unique opportunity for him to succeed in achieving his objectives. Further, he hopes that by exchanging research practices and different methodologies, we may find stimulating and creative ways to challenge and foster standard research practices.
Tong Li
Tong Li is Professor in the Department of Mathematics. Her research interests are nonlinear hyperbolic conservation laws, shock waves, combustion, traffic flow, and bio-mathematics. During her Obermann residency, she will study the mathematical theory of problems arising from engineering, physical, and biological sciences. She will solve fundamental problems in the nonlinear partial differential equations models of chemotaxis, traffic flow, blood flow, and more.