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College of Liberal Arts & Sciences Department of Comparative & World Literature

Modje Taavon

PhD Candidate
DGF-HA Fellow
Editorial Assistant

Research Interests

medieval + early modern Persian, Arabic, and English literature + intellectual history; mirrors for princes/andarz literature; translation studies; manuscript studies; book history + print culture; museum studies; ethics of culture + heritage

Education

MA in English - California State University, Northridge

BA in Anthropology - University of California, Los Angeles

Grants

Research Fund Award for Excellence in Medieval Programming – Summer 2023

Research Grant from the Program of Medieval Studies – Spring 2023

Medieval Studies Research Fellowship Award – Fall 2020

Awards and Honors

List of Teachers Ranked as Excellent (Ranked Top Percentile/Outstanding): Fall 2021; Spring 2022; Spring 2024

UIUC Distinguished Graduate Student in the Humanities + Arts Fellow, 2020–2025

CSUN Distinguished Thesis/Graduate Project Award - 1st Place, 2019

Sally Casanova Pre Doctoral Scholar, 2018-19

Courses Taught

UIUC

CLCV 115 - Greek and Roman Mythology - Teaching Assistant (Fall 2023, Spring 2024)

CWL 241 - Early Masterpieces of Western Culture - Teaching Assistant (Fall 2021)

CWL 242 - Modern Masterpieces of Western Culture - Teaching Assistant (Spring 2022)

Guest Lectures

ENGL 202/MDVL 201/CWL 253: Medieval Literature and Culture (Spring 2024)
The Shāhnāmeh: Rostam, Part 3 – Questions of Religion + Justice in the Death of Esfandiyār” (7 March 2024)

Additional Campus Affiliations

Program in Medieval Studies

Editorial Assistant, The Medieval Globe

Graduate Assistant, African Studies Library

"Medieval Movie Knights" Undergraduate Outreach Program Co-President with Wally M. Cornell + Jamie Keener

Recent Publications

Public Humanities:

“Exploring Manuscript Textual Variability With Digital Tools: The Many Afterlives of Niẓāmī Ganjavī’s Laylī-u Majnūn,” Open Islamicate Texts Initiative, September 15, 2023, http://openiti.org/2023/09/15/Exploring-Manuscript-Textual-Variability.html.

College of Liberal Arts & Sciences Department of Comparative & World Literature

2090 Literatures, Cultures & Linguistics Building

707 S. Mathews Ave. | MC-160

Urbana, IL 61801

Phone: (217) 333-4987 | Fax: (217) 244-4019

Email: complit@illinois.edu

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