Leila Michelle Vaziri
Assistant Professor of English Literature (Akademische Mitarbeiterin Englische Literaturwissenschaft)

E-mail: leila.vaziri@uni-konstanz.de
Phone: +49 7531 88 2711
Office: H 107
Office hour:
Please register for a slot in my office hour using this online timetable at least 24 hours in advance. Please also indicate if you prefer an online meeting via Zoom.
Postal Address:
Leila Vaziri
Universität Konstanz
Fachbereich Literatur-, Kunst-, und Medienwissenschaften
Fach 161
78457 Konstanz
Curriculum Vitae
- Since 2023 | Assistant Professor/Lecturer at the Department of Literature, Art and Media Studies, University of Konstanz
- 2020-2023 | Research Assistant at the Chair of English Literature, University of Augsburg
- 2022 | Research stay, Royal Holloway, University of London; funded by the Büro für Chancengleichheit (University of Augsburg)
- 2021 | Research stay, University College Dublin
- 2019-2023 | Doctoral Studies at the University of Augsburg
- 2017-2018 | Postgraduate Studies (Master) at the University of Aberdeen: Psychological Studies; with distinction
- 2016-2017 | Postgraduate Studies (Master) at University College Dublin: Philosophy and Literature; first class honours
- 2012-2016 | Undergraduate studies (Bachelor) at the University of Augsburg and the Aberystwyth University, UK: English (literature and linguistics) and Philosophy
Scholarships
- 2019-2023 | Full Scholarship: German Academic Scholarship Foundation (Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes)
- 2020-2023 | Full Scholarship: Marianne-Plehn-Programme
Current Projects
Post-doc project: Between (M)others: A Diachronic View of Pregnancy in British Literature and Culture
Monograph: The Theatre of Anxiety: Border Crossings in 21st-Century British Theatre
Research Interests
- Contemporary British Drama and Eco-Drama
- Anxiety and Negative Affects in 21st-Century British Theatre
- Feminism, Gender and Sexuality Studies
- Pregnancy and Motherhood in Literature and Culture from the 18th Century to the Present
- The English Novel
- Literary Ethics
- Literature and Psychology
- Literature and Phenomenology
Publications
- “Alienation, Abjection and Disgust: Encountering the Capitalocene in Contemporary Eco-Drama.” Journal for Contemporary Drama in English, vol. 10, no. 1, 2022, pp. 231-246. Link
- “‘I am the abyss into which people dread to fall’ – Encountering Anxiety in Dystopian Drama.” Twenty-First Century Anxieties: Dys/Utopian Spaces and Contexts in Contemporary British Theatre, edited by Merle Tönnies and Eckart Voigts, De Gruyter, 2022, pp. 185-200. Link
- “Pregnant Pain and Power: Border Crossings in Mike Bartlett’s Earthquakes in London.” Anglistik, vol 33, no. 3, 2022, pp. 123-138. Link
- with Martin Riedelsheimer: “Ecology in a Loop: Cyclical History and Alternative Epistemologies in Ella Hickson’s Oil.” Anticipatory Environmental Histories, edited by Christopher Schliephake and Evi Zemanek, Lexington Books, 2023, pp. 295-309. Link
- “‘I do I did I think I thought’: Temporal Contiguities of Pregnancy and the Ecological Crisis.” Temporalities of / in Crises in Anglophone Literatures, edited by Sibylle Baumbach and Birgit Neumann, Routledge, 2023, pp. 114-129. Link
- “‘Half Way Between Pain and Pleasure’ – Pregnancy in Penelope Skinner’s The Village Bike.” Journal for the Study of British Cultures, vol 29, No 2, 2022, pp. 193-208. Link
Book Reviews
- Rev. of Crisis, Representation and Resilience: Perspectives on Contemporary British Theatre, edited by Clare Wallace, Clara Escoda, Enric Monforte and José Ramón Prado-Pérez. Journal of Contemporary Drama in English, vol. 11 no. 2, 2023, pp. 396–401. Link
- Rev. of Analysing Gender in Performance, edited by J. Paul Halferty and Cathy Leeney. Journal of Contemporary Drama in English, forthcoming.
Talks and Organised Conferences
- “‘I am the abyss into which people dread to fall:’ Encountering Anxiety in Zinnie Harris’s How to Hold Your Breath and Alistair McDowall’s X.” Dystopian/Utopian Theatre in Britain after 2000 and its Political Spaces. Bielefeld (online), 13 March 2021.
- “‘They’ve built a wall. A plastic wall as high as the canopy:’ Fear and the Crossing of Borders in Thomas Eccleshare’s Pastoral.” Intersections: Border Crossings. London (online), 14 May 2021.
- “Alienation and Disgust: The Capitalocene in Contemporary Eco-Drama.” CDE Conference: Critical Theatre Ecologies. Augsburg (online), 5 June 2021.
- “‘Without man, the fox will rule:’ Disgust, Nature and Power in Caryl Churchill’s Far Away and Dawn King’s Foxfinder.” IFTR 2021: Theatre Ecologies: Environment, Sustainability and Politics. Galway (online), 13 July 2021.
- [Workshop Co-Organisation and Talk:] “The theatre of anxiety: phenomenology in contemporary British drama.” Philosophy and Literature Symposium and Keynote Event “Notes from a Biscuit Tin.” Dublin/Augsburg (online), 8 October 2021.
- “Crossing Temporal Borders in Contemporary Eco-Drama: Temporalities of Fear in Times of Crises.” Temporalities in/of Crises in Contemporary Anglophone Literatures. Online, 10 December 2021.
- [with Martin Riedelsheimer:] “Ecology in a Loop: Cyclical History and Alternative Epistemologies in Ella Hickson’s Oil.” Anticipatory Environmental Histories. Online, 24-25 February 2022.
- [Gastvortrag:] “‘Extermination? Poison? What do people normally do?’ The Intersection of Fear and Disgust in Contemporary British Drama.” Universität Stuttgart, 13 December 2022.
- “‘As they sit there, the plants turn brown’ - Death, Grief and the Ethics of Care in Contemporary Eco-Drama” Gender, Affect and Care in Twenty-First Century British Theatre. Barcelona, 17 November 2023.
Courses
Current Courses:
Introduction to Literary and Cultural Analysis
Feminist Perspectives in/on Contemporary Drama
Summersemester 2023:
Memberships
- Deutscher Anglistikverband
- CDE - The German Society for Contemporary Theatre and Drama in English
- Britcult - German Association for the Study of British Cultures
- Women's Studies Group 1558 – 1837
- International Association for the Study of Scottish Literatures
- Deutsche Gesellschaft für phänomenologische Forschung