Smaran Dayal
Assistant Professor
School of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences
Education
- PhD (2022) New York University (Comparative Literature)
- MA (2016) Humboldt Universität zu Berlin (American Studies)
- BA (2012) Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg (English and American Studies)
Honors and Awards
Faculty Research Fellowship, School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences, Stevens Institute of Technology, 2023
Curriculum Diversity Grant, School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences, Stevens Institute of Technology, 2023
Faculty of Color Working Group Fellowship, New England Humanities Commission, 2023
Public Humanities Doctoral Fellowship (Mellon-Funded), Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, New York University, 2021
Curriculum Diversity Grant, School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences, Stevens Institute of Technology, 2023
Faculty of Color Working Group Fellowship, New England Humanities Commission, 2023
Public Humanities Doctoral Fellowship (Mellon-Funded), Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, New York University, 2021
Professional Societies
- MELUS – Society for the Study of the Multi-Ethnic Literature of the United States Member
- MLA – Modern Language Association Member
- ASA – American Studies Association Member
- ACLA – American Comparative Literature Association Member
Selected Publications
Books
2024. Spider-Mother: The Politics and Fiction of Rokeya Sakhawat Hossein. New York: Warbler Press. (with Ben Baer)
2020. Fictions of America: The Book of Firsts. New York: Warbler Press. (with Ulrich Baer)
Articles in Peer-Reviewed Journals
2022. “Afterword: Anthropology and Science Fiction.” The Ordinariness of Cross-Time Relations. Special issue of Anthropology and Humanism.
2021. “Octavia Butler and the Settler Colonial Speculative: Xenogenesis and Planetary Loss.” Our Shared Planet. Special issue of American Studies.
2017. “Meine Freiheit, die es so noch nicht gibt: Alexander Weheliye’s Habeas Viscus.” Interventions: International Journal of Postcolonial Studies.
2016. “Cityzenship: Rightful Presence and the Urban Commons.” Affective Citizenship. Special issue of Citizenship Studies. (with Wanda Vrasti)
Translations
2022 [2020]. Che Gossett. “Abolitionistische Alternativen: Schwarzer Radikalismus und die Verweigerung von Reform.” In Abolitionismus: Ein Reader. Eds. Daniel Loick and Vanessa E. Thompson. Berlin: Suhrkamp.
2021 [1930]. M.P.T. Acharya. “Militarism in Asia: The Obligations of European Workers.” In Barricade: A Journal of Translation and Anti-Fascism.
2018 [2013]. Zülfukar Çetin. “The Dynamics of Queer Politics and Gentrification in Berlin.” In The Queer Intersectional in Contemporary Germany: Essays on Racism, Capitalism and Sexual Politics. Ed. Christopher Sweetapple.
2024. Spider-Mother: The Politics and Fiction of Rokeya Sakhawat Hossein. New York: Warbler Press. (with Ben Baer)
2020. Fictions of America: The Book of Firsts. New York: Warbler Press. (with Ulrich Baer)
Articles in Peer-Reviewed Journals
2022. “Afterword: Anthropology and Science Fiction.” The Ordinariness of Cross-Time Relations. Special issue of Anthropology and Humanism.
2021. “Octavia Butler and the Settler Colonial Speculative: Xenogenesis and Planetary Loss.” Our Shared Planet. Special issue of American Studies.
2017. “Meine Freiheit, die es so noch nicht gibt: Alexander Weheliye’s Habeas Viscus.” Interventions: International Journal of Postcolonial Studies.
2016. “Cityzenship: Rightful Presence and the Urban Commons.” Affective Citizenship. Special issue of Citizenship Studies. (with Wanda Vrasti)
Translations
2022 [2020]. Che Gossett. “Abolitionistische Alternativen: Schwarzer Radikalismus und die Verweigerung von Reform.” In Abolitionismus: Ein Reader. Eds. Daniel Loick and Vanessa E. Thompson. Berlin: Suhrkamp.
2021 [1930]. M.P.T. Acharya. “Militarism in Asia: The Obligations of European Workers.” In Barricade: A Journal of Translation and Anti-Fascism.
2018 [2013]. Zülfukar Çetin. “The Dynamics of Queer Politics and Gentrification in Berlin.” In The Queer Intersectional in Contemporary Germany: Essays on Racism, Capitalism and Sexual Politics. Ed. Christopher Sweetapple.
Courses
HLI 391 Queer Fiction
HLI 316 Science Fiction
HLI 347 Major Authors: Octavia Butler
HLI 220 Images of Science in Literature
HLI 307/HAR 307 Afrofuturism
HLI 114 Western Literature: Middle Ages to the Present
HLI 000 Theories of Liberation
HLI 316 Science Fiction
HLI 347 Major Authors: Octavia Butler
HLI 220 Images of Science in Literature
HLI 307/HAR 307 Afrofuturism
HLI 114 Western Literature: Middle Ages to the Present
HLI 000 Theories of Liberation