Dr. Rita Nezami

Job Title: Full-Time Lecturer
Phone: (469) 358-1716

Email: Rita.Nezami@stonybrook.edu
Office Location: H-2108

Professional Interests:
Rhetoric and composition, cultural studies, literary translation, literary criticism, creative nonfiction, North African francophone literature, post-colonial literature, global issues, global literature, visual rhetoric, foreign languages, linguistics

Education

Ph.D., Studies in Literature, The University of Texas at Dallas, 2007 Concentrations: Rhetoric and Translation, Francophone Post-Colonial Literature, Postcolonial Translation Theory, Maghrebi Studies, World Literature, Cultural Studies, Linguistics Dissertation: “Translating Tahar Ben Jelloun: A Rhetoric of Translation that Resists Cultural Domestication”

Diploma, Centre d’orientation, de formation et d’études techniques, Paris, 1990 Concentration: Français Commercial (Commercial French)

M.A., with Honors, Russian Language and Literature, Moscow State University, 1980 Concentration: Russian Language and Literature Thesis: “Tolstoy and Chekhov: A Comparative Study”

B.A., Philology, Moscow State University, 1977 Concentration: World Literature in Russian Translation, Linguistics

Teaching and Other Experience

Lecturer, 2008-2016 Program in Writing and Rhetoric, SUNY-Stony Brook
Courses: Writing and Rhetoric (WRT 101, 102, 302/ENG 388, WRT 302, WRT 303) Global Issues, Personal Essay, Visual Rhetoric, Textual Analysis

 Lecturer, 2013, 2015 Stony Brook Honors College Courses: Modes of Being: The State and the Individual Literary Voices from Morocco, Algeria and Djibouti

Lecturer, 2014 European Languages, Literatures and Cultures Department
Courses: Post-Colonial Francophone Literature: Literary Voices from Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Mauritius, Guadeloupe and Djibouti

Lecturer, 2013
Asian and Asian-American Studies Department, SUNY-Stony Brook
Courses: South Asian Literature in English:  Literary Voices from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh

Associate Professor, 2008 Collin County Community College, Plano, Texas
Courses: Rhetoric and Composition, ESL Writing

Teaching assistant, 2002-2006
The University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, Texas
Courses: Rhetoric and Composition

Associate Professor, 2002-2003
Collin County Community College, Plano, Texas
Courses: English as a Second Language

Instructor, 1996-2001American International School, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Courses: French and English as a Second Language

Instructor, 1994-1995Neuilly School of Languages, Neuilly sur Seine, France
Courses: Commercial English

Instructor, 1991-1992Berlitz School of Languages, Paris, France
Courses: English

Instructor, 1987-1991Tangier Overseas Association, Tangier, Morocco
Courses: Russian, English

Freelance translator (English, French, Russian), 1984-1985
UNESCO, Paris

Translation officer, 1980-1982
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Division of External Publicity and International Communications, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh

Professor, 1980-1981
Dhaka University, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Courses: Russian Language and Literature

 

Conferences and Seminars

Nezami, Rita S. (2004). “Amy Tan’s Language.” Conference on College Composition & Communications, National Council of Teachers of English, San Antonio, Texas

Nezami, Rita S. (2004). Reading from translation of L’Ecrivain public/The Public Scribe by Tahar Ben Jelloun, presented at the American Literary Translators Association (ALTA) 2004 conference, Las Vegas

Nezami, Rita S. (2005). Fellowship from ALTA to read from translation of L’Ecrivain Public/The Public Scribe by Tahar Ben Jelloun at the annual ALTA Conference, Montreal

Nezami, Rita S. (2006). “The Ethics of Translation – On Hospitality and Receiving the Stranger,” paper delivered at the annual ALTA Conference, Seattle

Nezami, Rita S. (2007). “Translating Tangier,” paper delivered at the Third International Conference on Performing/Picturing Tangier, Tangier

Nezami, Rita S. (2008). “The Construction of Masculinity in Tahar Ben Jelloun’s Fiction: Sexuality, Virility and Authority,” paper delivered at NeMLA Conference, Boston

Nezami, Rita S. (2009). Seminar Auditor. Kristeva, Julia. “The Experience of Speech (parole) in Literature and Psychoanalysis: Marcel Proust.” SUNY-Stony Brook

Nezami, Rita S. (2009). Conference Participant: “Bridging the Divide between United States and the Muslim World through Arts and Ideas.” New York University, Manhattan

Nezami, Rita S. (2010). Guest Lecturer. Graduate Translation Workshop. Department of European Languages, Literatures and Cultures. SUNY-Stony Brook

Nezami, Rita S. (2010). Conference Participant: “Postcolonial Francophone Literature.” Conference at Columbia University, Manhattan

Nezami, Rita S. (2012). “Translating the Arab Spring,” paper delivered at ALTA Conference, Rochester University, Rochester

Nezami, Rita S. (2012). “Arab Writers, Arab Spring: An Unprecedented Spectacle,” paper delivered at Eighth International Conference, Tangier, Morocco

Nezami, Rita S. (2013). “Translating Human Rights,” paper delivered at 36th ALTA Annual Conference, Indianapolis University Bloomington, Indiana

Nezami, Rita S. (2014). “Translating Literature from Politically Troubled Region,” paper delivered at 37th ALTA Annual Conference, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Nezami, Rita S. (2015). “Bringing Global Issues into the Writing Class,” workshop talk delivered at CCCC Annual Conference, Tampa, Florida

Publications 

Nezami, Rita S. (2016). Trans. By Fire: Writings on the Arab Spring by Tahar Ben Jelloun. Northwestern University Press

Nezami, Rita S. (2013). Trans. Par le feu/By Fire by Tahar Ben Jelloun. The New Yorker.  62-71

Nezami, Rita S. (2013). Trans. L’Ecrivain public/The Public Scribe by Tahar Ben Jelloun. Ch. 1. Issue 25/Volume Two. Stinging Fly: New Writers, New Writing. Dublin: Parkbench Publishing Services. 46-57

Nezami, Rita S. (2013). “Arab Writers: Arab Spring,” (Eds: George Roberson and Khalid Amine) (Tangier: International Center for Performance Studies)

Nezami, Rita S. (2011). Trans. “First Love Is Always the Last” by Tahar Ben Jelloun. The Dirty Goat. Vol. 24. Austin: Host Publications (2011): 12-23

Nezami, Rita S. (2008). “The Construction of Masculinity in Tahar Ben Jelloun’s Fiction: Sexuality, Virility and Authority.” Performing/Picturing Tangier (eds: Khalid Amine, Andrew Hussey, Barry Tharaud, and José Manuel Goni Pérez). (Tangier: International Centre for Performance Studies)

Nezami, Rita S. (2007). “Translating Tangier.” Performing/Picturing Tangier (eds: Khalid Amine, Andrew Hussey, Barry Tharaud, and José Manuel Goni Pérez). (Tangier: International Centre for Performance Studies) 161-166

Nezami, Rita S. (2004). “Amy Tan’s Language,” in Proceedings of the Conference on College Composition & Communication, National Council of Teachers of English 55th Annual Convention

Nezami, Rita S. (2003). Translations from Russian of poems by Marina Tsvetaeva and Ana Akhmatova. Sojourn 16 (University of Texas at Dallas) pp. 38, 39

 

Fellowships, Grants, and Awards:

  • Armstrong Scholarship, The School of Arts & Humanities, The University of Texas at Dallas, 2002-2007 (fully underwrote doctoral-study tuition)
  • Travel Scholarship, The Center for Translation Studies, The University of Texas at Dallas, 2004
  • American Literary Translators Association Fellowship Award, 2005 (translation read in Montreal)
  • International Education Fund Scholarship, The University of Texas at Dallas, 2006
  • Research Scholarship, The Center for Translation Studies, The University of Texas at Dallas, 2006
  • Professional Development Fund for travel to conference in Morocco, SUNY-Stony Brook, 2012

Other:

  • Translation reviewer. Belletto, René. Coda: A Novel. Trans. Alyson Waters. Lincoln: University of Nebraska, 2011. French-to-English translation assessment, National Endowment for the Arts, NEA Literature Program
  • Translation reviewer. Jelloun, Tahar Ben. The Rising of the Ashes. Trans. Cullen Goldblatt. San Francisco: City Lights, 2010
  • Translation reviewer. Cossery, Albert. The Jokers. Trans. Anna Moschovakis. New York: New York Review of Books Classics, 2010
  • Senior translator. No Woman, No Cry. (Documentary on pregnancy mortality in Tanzania, Bangladesh, and Guatemala). Tribeca Film Festival, 2010
  • Translation reviewer. Bengali-to-English translation assessment, National Endowment for the Arts, NEA Literature Program, 2007
  • Translation editor. Sojourn, The School of Arts & Humanities, The University of Texas at Dallas, 2006
  • Co-chair. Graduate Translators Association, The University of Texas at Dallas, 2005
  • Textbook Selection Committee, Rhetoric Program, The School of Arts & Humanities, The University of Texas at Dallas, 2005
  • Reader, French-to-English translation, American Literary Translators Association, ALTA Fellowship Awards, 2004
  • Study Facilitator “An Inquiry into the Potential Effects of Self-Reflection Techniques on the Habits of Mind of First-Year Writing Students.” Funded by a SBU Faculty of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences research grant, 2013-2015
  • Learning Outcome Assessment Committee Member in Program in Writing and Rhetoric, 2013-2015

Languages:

  • Fluent: English, French, Russian, Bengali
  • Functional: Hindi, Urdu, Spanish
  • Translate from French, Russian, Bengali