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College of Liberal Arts & Sciences Program in Medieval Studies

Modje Taavon

PhD Candidate in Comparative + World Literature
DGF-HA Fellow
Editorial Assistant

Research Interests

medieval + early modern Persian, Arabic, and English literature + intellectual history; mirrors for princes/andarz literature; translation studies; manuscript studies; book history + print culture; museum studies; ethics of culture + heritage

Education

MA in English - California State University, Northridge

BA in Anthropology - University of California, Los Angeles

Grants

Research Fund Award for Excellence in Medieval Programming – Summer 2023

Research Grant from the Program of Medieval Studies – Spring 2023

Medieval Studies Research Fellowship Award – Fall 2020

Awards and Honors

List of Teachers Ranked as Excellent (Ranked Top Percentile/Outstanding): Fall 2021; Spring 2022; Spring 2024

UIUC Distinguished Graduate Student in the Humanities + Arts Fellow, 2020–2025

CSUN Distinguished Thesis/Graduate Project Award - 1st Place, 2019

Sally Casanova Pre Doctoral Scholar, 2018–19

Courses Taught

UIUC

CLCV 115 - Greek and Roman Mythology - Teaching Assistant (Fall 2023, Spring 2024)

CWL 241 - Early Masterpieces of Western Culture - Teaching Assistant (Fall 2021)

CWL 242 - Modern Masterpieces of Western Culture - Teaching Assistant (Spring 2022)

Guest Lectures

ENGL 202/MDVL 201/CWL 253: Medieval Literature and Culture (Spring 2024)
The Shāhnāmeh: Rostam, Part 3 – Questions of Religion + Justice in the Death of Esfandiyār” (7 March 2024)

Additional Campus Affiliations

Department of Comparative + World Literature

Editorial Assistant, The Medieval Globe

Graduate Assistant, African Studies Library

"Medieval Movie Knights" Undergraduate Outreach Program Co-President with Wally M. Cornell + Jamie Keener

Recent Publications

Public Humanities:

“Exploring Manuscript Textual Variability With Digital Tools: The Many Afterlives of Niẓāmī Ganjavī’s Laylī-u Majnūn,” Open Islamicate Texts Initiative, September 15, 2023, https://openiti.org/2023/09/15/Exploring-Manuscript-Textual-Variability.html.

College of Liberal Arts & Sciences Program in Medieval Studies

107D English Building

608 South Wright Street

Urbana, IL 61801

Email: medievalglobe@illinois.edu

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