Department of Creative Writing
Sayatani began her position at UNCW in 2018 as an Assistant Professor in the Dept. of Creative Writing. Her new book, a collection of short stories titled Women Who Misbehave, was released in March this year! She has recently enjoyed reading several amazing MFA theses and can't wait to see our students' manuscripts turned into books.
With respect to hobbies and interests, she replies, "Too many!" some of these interests include reading, writing, traveling, drawing, cooking, and tending to her balcony garden.
Last year, the chili plants in her tiny balcony garden produced about 800-odd chilies.
She is constantly amazed and humbled by what the natural world can and does for us.
April 20, 2021
Department of International Studies
Julia started at UNCW in 2019 as an Assistant Professor of International Studies. She is a Canadian-American-British hybrid. She was born in Vancouver but grew up in Texas where she lived until she was a teenager. Julia then experienced trans-Atlantic living between the US and the UK. The British accent is deceptive!
Julia teaches and conducts research on the political economy of migration. She is completing a book on Australia's outsourcing of asylum to small Pacific island nations, From Phosphate to Refugees: The Offshore Refugee Industry in the Republic of Nauru, due out in Fall 2022. She also has forthcoming projects in Guatemala on the US outsourcing of border enforcement and refugee resettlement.
Julia likes long runs and blustery walks and chasing after her five chickens, all named after female social justice leaders. She has a soft spot for RBG, although she tells us that Dolores Huerta is the best layer!
February 15, 2021
Department of Film Studies
Masha arrived to UNCW with the start of the Fall 2020 semester. She is a faculty member in the Department of Film Studies.
Masha states: "I feel like I won the lottery: I get to teach UNCW students about Russian and Soviet cinema, as well as about global documentary." She is currently finishing up work on an edited volume titled "Cinema and the Environment in Eastern Europe" (Berghahn Books, expected Fall 2021)
Masha is originally from Odessa, Ukraine and immigrated to the United States with her mother's family in 1996. She returns to Odessa every summer. Masha lived in France for 3.5 years between college and graduate school, and very much fell in love with it. She listens to French radio every morning to stay up-to-date on the culture and to keep up her vocab! Masha looks forward to connecting with other international faculty at UNCW.
November 15, 2020
Office of International Students and Scholars/Centro Hispano
Maria Elena has been at UNCW since 2016. Originally from Argentina, she is the program coordinator at OISS. She provides support services for international students and scholars, and coordinates cultural events such as the annual intercultural festival, to promote the internationalization on campus.
Maria Elena likes to spend time with her husband and daughters, and fostering children. She also likes studying languages, translation, soccer, travel, and music.
Maria Elena says that Argentina is known for its beef, tango, and...soccer! She is a hard-core soccer fan of Boca Juniors, and the national team. Argentina is a two-time World Cup Champion. She also tells us that Argentina became the first country to use fingerprinting as a method of identification and was the first country to have a radio broadcasting in the world. It is the true birthplace of film animation.
One of the things she treasures about her culture is the value of friends and family. For most Argentineans, friendship and family are more important than a career or money or any achievement one can have in life.
October 15, 2020