Dr. Rita Barnard

Biography

Rita Barnard received her Ph.D. from Duke University and is currently a Professor in the Department of English at the University of Pennsylvania. She holds a secondary position as Extraordinary Professor at the University of the Western Cape. Barnard has been a Visiting Professor at Brown University and served as a Mellon Distinguished Lecturer at the University of the Witwatersrand. Over the years, she has directed the University of Pennsylvania’s Women’s Studies Program, known as the Alice Paul Center for Research on Women, Gender, and Sexuality. Her scholarly interests encompass modernism and global modernities, South African literature, cultural studies, modern American literature—particularly the cultural politics of the 1930s—contemporary cinema, and the novel genre. Barnard has received significant recognition for her teaching, including the Lindback Award for Distinguished Teaching in 2005, which is the highest teaching honor at her university. She is the author of 'Great Depression Culture: Abundance' and 'Apartheid South African Writers: Politics Place.' Barnard has also edited volumes on Nelson Mandela and South African writing. Her publications include essays across a broad range of subjects in twentieth-century literature and culture, and she has served on editorial boards for various literary journals. Currently, she is engaged in several book projects related to South African modernisms and cinema.

Research Interests

Courses