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    Monica Popescu Wins 2012 Arlt Award in the Humanities
    December 13, 2012

    Contact:
    Julia Kent
    jkent@cgs.nche.edu
    (202) 223-3791

     

    Washington, DC – The Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) has awarded the 2012 Gustave O. Arlt Award in the Humanities to Dr. Monica Popescu, Associate Professor of English at McGill University. The awards ceremony was held on December 6, during the CGS 52nd Annual Meeting.

     

    The Arlt Award is given annually to a young scholar-teacher who has written a book deemed to have made an outstanding contribution to scholarship in the humanities. Dr. Popescu becomes the award’s 41st recipient for her dissertation and book, South African Literature beyond the Cold War (Palgrave, 2010). She received her Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from the University of Pennsylvania.

     

    Dr. Popescu’s book studies the ways in which contemporary South African literature imagines Eastern Europe during and following apartheid. Examining South African writers’ interest in Russian and Eastern European stories of revolution against state oppression, South African Literature beyond the Cold War offers a new account of the evolution and aims of postcolonial studies in relation to the Cold War and South African history. ” The chair of the selection committee for the award, Dr. Carolyn R. Hodges, Vice Provost & Dean of the Graduate School at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, noted, “Dr. Popescu’s dissertation and book make an outstanding contribution to research in her field in addition to demonstrating impressive interdisciplinary breadth.”
     


    [Photo caption: The 2012 Gustave O. Arlt Award. From left to right; Noreen Golfman, Sally Pratt, Carolyn Hodges, Monica Popescu, John Stevenson, Philip Cohen.]

     

    Created in 1971, the Arlt Award honors the first president of CGS. The winner must have earned a doctorate within the past seven years from, and currently be teaching at, a North American university. Nominations are made by CGS member institutions and are reviewed by a panel of scholars in the field of competition, which rotates annually among seven disciplines within the humanities. This year’s field was World Language and Literature, Comparative Literature, Drama/Theater Arts. The winner receives a $1,000 honorarium, a certificate, and travel to the awards ceremony.

     

    The Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) is an organization of over 500 institutions of higher education in the United States and Canada engaged in graduate education, research, and the preparation of candidates for advanced degrees. Among U.S. institutions, CGS members award 92% of the doctoral degrees and 81% of the master’s degrees.* The organization’s mission is to improve and advance graduate education, which it accomplishes through advocacy in the federal policy arena, research, and the development and dissemination of best practices.

    * Based on data from the 2011 CGS/GRE Survey of Graduate Enrollment and Degrees

     

    CGS is the leading source of information, data analysis, and trends in graduate education. Our benchmarking data help member institutions to assess performance in key areas, make informed decisions, and develop plans that are suited to their goals.
    CGS Best Practice initiatives address common challenges in graduate education by supporting institutional innovations and sharing effective practices with the graduate community. Our programs have provided millions of dollars of support for improvement and innovation projects at member institutions.
    As the national voice for graduate education, CGS serves as a resource on issues regarding graduate education, research, and scholarship. CGS collaborates with other national stakeholders to advance the graduate education community in the policy and advocacy arenas.  
    CGS is an authority on global trends in graduate education and a leader in the international graduate community. Our resources and meetings on global issues help members internationalize their campuses, develop sustainable collaborations, and prepare their students for a global future.