Recent Comparative Studies Program Graduate, Charlie Gleek, Appointed as Assistant Professor at the University of Virginia

 Charlie Gleek, who recently graduated from the Comparative Studies Program (CLL track), has been appointed as an Assistant Professor at the University of Virginia. Dr. Gleek will join UVA's College of Arts and Sciences faculty as they launch their new  Catalyst  program.

Catalyst is a cohort-based and application-only program at the University of Virginia that offers second, third-, and fourth-year undergraduate students from any of the College's majors opportunities to hone and apply their Liberal Arts skill sets through a high-impact portfolio of courses, skills, and experiences designed to help them flourish in the world of work after graduation. Catalyst students take a core set of coursework: Arts and Sciences-From Theory to Practice; Leadership, Collaboration, and Communication, and a Capstone course. Catalyst students complete the program through electives in Global Studies and Skills Accelerator courses as a way of deepening their Liberal Arts education in preparation for the world of work.

Dr. Gleek will teach all the program's core courses, each collaboratively designed and facilitated with colleagues, and a rotating set of Skills Accelerator classes each year. Additionally, Charlie will be involved in designing the program's curriculum, developing goals, benchmarks, and tools assessing the program's success, as well as using data and feedback from student, faculty, administrative, and donor stakeholders to ensure Catalyst's long-term success at the University of Virginia. Dr. Gleek will have a role advising Catalyst's cohort of students throughout their time in the program while also continuing his research and writing projects, focusing on how books and other bibliographic documents' materiality mediates the ways in which interpretive communities understand writers' narratives.

Says Charlie: "I passionately believe that FAU's Comparative Studies Program's intentionally-interdisciplinary curriculum and wide range of opportunities for Ph.D. students to cultivate their teaching, service, administrative, and leadership skills was instrumental for my appointment to the University of Virginia. I encourage every Comparative Studies student to fully engage in what the program, supporting Departments, and the College offers - from conferencing and research to teaching and alternative academic work - as these are the types of experiences that will uniquely position them for success after graduation. I am eager to remain connected to the Comparative Studies Program and its students and look forward to their continued success in years to come."