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

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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
    Postdoc Project on “Between (M)others: A Diachronic View of Pregnancy in British Literature and Culture.” 
  • Since 2024 | Member of the Committee for International Scholarships (Mitglied im Ausschuss für Auslandsstipendien)
  • 2024 | Visiting Scholar: University of Cambridge, funded by the Young Scholar Fund (University of Konstanz)
  • 2019-2023 | PhD in English Literature (summa cum laude) at the University of Augsburg
    Dissertation on “The Theatre of Anxiety: Border Crossings in 21st-Century British Theatre.” Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Martin Middeke
  • 2020-2023 | Research Assistant at the Chair of English Literature, University of Augsburg
  • 2022 | Visiting Scholar: Royal Holloway, University of London; funded by the Büro für Chancengleichheit (University of Augsburg)
  • 2021 | Visiting Scholar: University College Dublin
  • 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

  • Ecology and the Ethics of Care in Mike Bartlett’s Albion and Joe White’s Mayfly.” Gender, Affect and Care in Twenty-First Century British Theatre, edited by Clara Escoda, Verónica Rodríguez and José Ramón Prado-Pérez, forthcoming.
  • “‘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
  • 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
  • “‘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
  • “‘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
  • “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 
  • “Pregnant Pain and Power: Border Crossings in Mike Bartlett’s Earthquakes in London.” Anglistik, vol. 33, no. 3, 2022, pp. 123-138. Link 

Book Reviews

  • Rev. of Stuart-Bennett, Joshua G. Motherhood, Respectability and Baby-farming in Victorian and Edwardian London, Journal for the Study of British Cultures, forthcoming.
  • Rev. of Analysing Gender in Performance, edited by J. Paul Halferty and Cathy Leeney. Journal of Contemporary Drama in English, forthcoming.
  • 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

Talks and Organised Conferences

  • “The Theatre of Anxiety: Aesthetics and Emotions in Contemporary British Eco-Drama.” Environment in Crisis: Crisis in Aesthetics. Asian, North American and European Approaches. Schloss Banz, 28-31 May 2024.
  • “‘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.
  • [Gastvortrag:] “‘Extermination? Poison? What do people normally do?’ The Intersection of Fear and Disgust in Contemporary British Drama.” Universität Stuttgart, 13 December 2022.
  • [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.
  • “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.
  • [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.
  • “‘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.
  • “Alienation and Disgust: The Capitalocene in Contemporary Eco-Drama.” CDE Conference: Critical Theatre Ecologies. Augsburg (online), 5 June 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.
  • “‘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.

Courses

Summer Semester 2024:

Winter Semester 2023/2024:

Summer Semester 2023:

Memberships