Denise Cruz: American Studies Program: Indiana University Bloomington

Assistant Professor, American Studies
Assistant Professor, English

Office: Ballantine Hall 442
Phone: (812) 855-7967
E-mail: cruzd indiana.edu

Education

Ph.D., English, University of California, Los Angeles, 2007
M.A., English, University of California, Los Angeles, 2003
B.A., English, University of California, Los Angeles, 1997

Research Interests

Filipina/o literature
Asian/American literature
Ethnic American literature
Late 19^th to 20^th century American literature
U.S. imperialism
Gender and sexuality studies

Personal Statement

In my research, I am primarily interested in questioning categorical boundaries of gender, sexuality, geography, and chronology that have determined the ways in which we study imperial intersections within Asian/American, ethnic American, and, more broadly, other U.S. literatures. As a scholar trained in literary studies, I am also fascinated by narrative strategies—in works of literature and in the critical narratives that we use to discuss them. Fusing these interests, my current project, Transpacific Femininities: Literature and the Making of the Modern Filipina, theorizes productions of mixed-race or mixed-culture women as the center of Filipina/o nationalist literature. This archival study examines some of the first works produced by Filipina/os who traveled between the U.S. and Philippines, held graduate-level degrees from U.S. institutions, and published in both countries. Through comparative, transpacific reading practices, I destabilize categories formerly conceived by critics as mutually exclusive: pre-1965 Asian/American literature, transnational feminism, and literary cultural nationalism.

Courses Recently Taught

The Fictions of Empire (ENG-E304 English Literature, 1900-Present)
Borders, Communities, Crossings (AMST-A200 Comparative American Identities)
Radical Narratives: From Postmodernism to the Electronic Novel (ENG-L359)
From Jackie Chan to FuMan Chu: Love and Fear in American Culture (AMST-A350)
Literary Reformations (ENG-L202, Ethnic American Studies section)

Publication Highlights

Books:

Transpacific Femininities: Literature and the Making of the Modern Filipina (manuscript in progress).

The Crucible: An Autobiography of 'Colonel Yay.' Yay Panlilio. Scholarly edition of 1950 text with introduction and textual notes. Rutgers University Press (forthcoming November 2009).

Articles:

"Jose Garcia's Collection of Others: Irreconcilabilities of a Queer Transpacific Modernism." "Regional Modernisms," special issue of MFS: Modern Fiction Studies. 55.1 (Spring 2009): 11-41.

"Reconsidering McTeague’s 'Mark’ and 'Mac': The intersections of U.S. Naturalism, Imperial Masculinities, and Desire Between Men." American Literature 78.3(September 2006): 487-517.

Edited Works:

"A Sheaf of Early Filipino and Filipina Writers." The Heath Anthology of American Literature. 6th edition (forthcoming).

"Bienvenido N. Santos." The Heath Anthology of American Literature. 6th edition (forthcoming).

Selected Presentations:

"Queering Asian and American Transnationalisms: 'Gertrude Stein, love is not a bowl of quinces.' " Reforming Queer Asian / American Subjects: Transnational Negotiations, Literary Experiments. Annual Meeting of the Modern Language Association. San Francisco. December 2008.

"The Intimacies of Queer Transnationalism in Monique Truong's The Book of Salt." Bodies Without Borders: Intimate Knowledges, Public Embodiments, and the Transglobal American Crossroads. American Studies Association Annual Meeting. Albuquerque, New Mexico. October 2008.

"Jose Garcia Villa's Collection of 'Others': Imagined Forms of Transregional Modernism." Asian America's Narratives of Discontent. International Conference on Narrative. University of Texas at Austin. May 2008.

"What's Asian America Got to do With It: Teaching and Program Building in the Heartland." Panel Organizer and Chair. Annual Asian American Studies Association Meeting. Chicago. April 2008.

"Cultures of the Filipino Diaspora: Literary and Cultural Criticism." Panel and Roundtable Participant. Philippine Palimpsests: Filipino Studies in the 21st Century. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. March 2008.

"Revising the Nationalist Mother: Transpacific Femininity and Yay Marking, Filipina American Guerilla." Theorizing the Transpacific: The Cross-cultural roots of Chicana and Filipina Identities. Annual American Studies Association Meeting, Philadelphia. Oct. 2007.

"Revising the Bataan Brotherhood: Filipina World War II Fiction." Gestural Crossings: Filipina/o Historical and Cultural Critiques of Filipino-American Relations. Annual Association of Asian American Studies Meeting. Atlanta. Mar. 2006.

"Filipino Rebel[s]: Filipino Literature and Modes of Resistance." The Filipino Imaginary in the Wake of U.S. Imperialism. Annual American Studies Association Meeting. Atlanta. Nov. 2004.

Selcected Honors and Awards