AMS Graduate Student Spotlight—Giulia Oprea!
Question (Q): What are your research interests, both academic and for fun, while in American Studies at UT!?
Answer (A): Broadly I’m interested in exploring the contradictions of technology. I’m not concerned with perpetuating the binary arguments of “technology is good” or “technology is bad” because that is reductive in many ways. So, I’m interested both in how it generates and reproduces social power structures while also existing as a tool of social control and oppression. But I am also interested in what the liberatory possibilities of and with technology might be—if there are any. I think there is a productive tension to be explored there. Specifically I’m interested in how these ideas are reflected in science fiction and speculative fiction. What do these stories tell us about our anxieties, contentions, and hopes about technology and our relationship to it? How might we learn from these stories and how might they help us reimagine alternative, radical, and liberatory futures?
Q: How did you make your way to American Studies as a discipline?
A: Believe it or not, in my more credulous days, I used to be a Political Science major. I found the discipline to lack to the critical edge that I craved, but I didn’t really have the language to express what I desired then. During my first year as an undergraduate student at California State University, Fullerton (CSFU), I took two AMS courses—Intro to Pop. Culture and American Character—which blew my mind at the time. Those two courses shifted everything for me academically. I liked it so much that I switched majors and after graduating I decided to pursue my MA in American Studies. And now here I am in the midst of my second year at UT!
Q: What is the nature of your work? What method(s) do you utilize the most?
A: This is a good question—and one I am still working on answering myself. My work is always aimed against dominant narratives, while seeking to (re)center the stories that we didn’t get to hear growing up—the ones that didn’t make it into the mainstream because they disrupt those neat little narratives that have been carefully crafted to uphold certain American ideals. My aim is to encourage people to think critically, to question everything, and to see a more nuanced picture of the way things are. More importantly my aim is to reimagine how things could be. As such, my approach aims to be anti-colonial, anti-capitalist, as well as inherently abolitionist. I’m inspired greatly by scholars like Sylvia Wynter, Frantz Fanon, Vine Deloria Jr., Achilles Mbembe, Alexander Weheliye, Eric Stanley, Nick Estes, Cedric Robinson, Edward Said, Hortense Spillers, Eve Tuck, Simone Browne, Saidiya Hartman, Ruha Benjamin, Catherine Steele Knight, and so many others.
Q: Are you currently working on any projects, and if so tell us about them!
A: I am currently reading for my oral exams! The experience is invaluable, and I feel like my brain is getting bigger every day. I’m lucky to be working with wonderful and brilliant group of professors: Dr. Lina Chhun, Dr. Iván Chaar López, and Dr. Erin McElroy. I also have two conferences coming up in the Spring—I’ll be presenting “JFK Reloaded: Another Shot at Reexamining the Conspiracy Through a First Person Shooter” at Southern Humanities in January as well as “Knight Rider: A Shadowy Flight into the World of Technology and A.I. in the 80s” at the Pop Culture Conference in April. Over the summer I’m hoping to curate a science fiction/speculative fiction journal and will soon be putting out a call for short stories and art!
Q: How does American Studies at UT make your work possible?
A: Because of AMS’s interdisciplinary nature, my academic horizons have always felt limitless. Being in the field for a while now, both here and at CSUF, American Studies has really allowed me to follow my heart in producing not only the type of work that I think is important but also the type of work that I genuinely enjoy and am passionate about. I never thought that I would be able to write about science fiction in such a meaningful and critical way and I feel quite lucky to have the space and support to do that.
Q: What is your favorite thing about AMS at UT.
A: I’ve met some wonderful professors, colleagues, and staff here that have, and continue to, provide me with inspiration, support, and opportunity.
Bonus Q: What is a fun fact about you that you would like your colleagues, peers, and/or students to know about you?
A: I’m currently learning to play the piano!
