EIU Humanities Center

MEET OUR STAFF

Dr. C.C. Wharram, Director

Welcome to the Center for the Humanities! While I was appointed Director in January of 2014, I couldn't begin to offer the opportunities, events, and outreach for which our Center has become known without the help of our fantastic office personnel (below), the chairs and members of our many committees, and our affiliate faculty! 

My own research in the Humanities focuses on translation studies, Romantic and Gothic literature, and the intersections between literature, philosophy, and science in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Of late, I've become intrigued by scholarship that puts the humanities, translation, and the sciences into conversation, to which my recent essays “Nothing Human” in Educational Theory (October 2014) and “‘A Proper Contagion’: The Inoculation Narrative and the Immunological Turn” in the collection Transforming Contagion: Risky Contacts among Bodies, Disciplines, and Nations (2018) testify. I also edited a special volume on “Teaching Romantic Translation(s)” for Romantic Circle Pedagogies (July 2014). I am completing a translation of Goethe's The Passion of Young Werther under contract with Broadview Press.

Former Interns

Carlos Collins, Office Manager

I am a senior at EIU, majoring in sociology with minors in criminology and psychology. I am currently in the process of completing two independent projects, the first of which is focused on gauging the attitudes and motivations of urban youth when pursuing higher education. Outside of the office, you can find me at Alpha Kappa Delta and NSCS meetings and events, as I am on the executive board for both organizations. I am looking forward to working at the Center for Humanities and learning and being useful in any way possible.

Carlos graduated from EIU in 2019, and went on to   pursue a Masters in Sociology at the University of Chicago.

Bailey Martin-Giacalone, Assistant

Hi! My name is Bailey Martin-Giacalone, and I am a sophomore at EIU. I am majoring in biology (pre-med) and minoring in music and chemistry. I am a part of the EIU Symphony Orchestra, Wind Symphony, and Oboe Studio. I am also an undergraduate research assistant and an RA on campus. I am extremely excited to be working with the Center for the Humanities. I love the interdisciplinary aspect of the medial humanities research that Dr. Wharram has been cultivating, and I hope to be able to contribute to the success of the Center.

Bailey graduated from EIU in 2018, and went on to pursue a Ph.D in Translational Biomedicine at Baylor University in Houston, TX.

Caitlin Danforth, Social Media Manager

I am a senior at EIU, studying English with a minor in Creative Writing. I'm currently completing undergraduate thesis work focusing on children's and young adult literature, specifically examining the effects of death and grief on young people. Outside of the office you can find me at Padovan Pool as a captain of the EIU Women's Swim Team. I run the Twitter and Facebook pages for the Center for the Humanities; check out our pages for info on internships, career opportunities, and events on campus.