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About Cara
Cara Cilano served as Professor of English at the University of North Carolina Wilmington from 2011 to 2016, following promotions from Assistant Professor (2001-2007) to Associate Professor (2007-2011). Her academic background includes a Ph.D. in English from Duquesne University (2000), with a dissertation titled 'Place-ing Postcolonial Identity in Contemporary Literature by Women,' an M.A. in English from St. Bonaventure University (1994), and a B.A. in English from the same institution (1993). At UNCW, she held significant administrative roles, including Founding Director of University Studies (2015-2016), University Studies Special Assignment in the Office of Associate Vice Chancellor and Dean of Undergraduate Studies (2013-2015), Chair of the University Studies Advisory Committee (2011-2013), and Coordinator of the Postcolonial Studies Minor (2005-2016). She also directed major initiatives such as UNCW’s Team for Interdisciplinary Global Research (2013-2016) and served as Faculty Resident Director for the Swansea Program (2012).
Cilano's research specializations encompass contemporary Pakistani fiction in English, post-9/11 espionage fiction, national identities in Pakistan, and postcolonial ecocriticism. Key publications include her authored books Post-9/11 Espionage Fiction in the US and Pakistan (Routledge, 2014) and Contemporary Pakistani Fiction in English: Idea, Nation, State (Routledge, 2013), as well as edited volumes National Identities in Pakistan: The 1971 War in Contemporary Pakistani Fiction (Routledge, 2011) and From Solidarity to Schisms: 9/11 and After in Fiction and Film from Outside the US (Rodopi, 2009). Notable articles feature 'Spatial Visions: Mobility and the Social Order in Pakistani Women’s English-Language Partition Fiction' (Asiatic, 2016) and co-authored 'Against Authenticity: Global Knowledges and Postcolonial Ecocriticism' (ISLE). She served as Project Director and lead Principal Investigator for a $1 million U.S. Department of State University Partnerships Grant (2014-2016), partnering UNCW with the International Islamic University in Islamabad, Pakistan. Fulbright awards included a Lecturing Award at Yanka Kupala University, Grodno, Belarus (2007) and Visiting Professor of Cultural Studies at Karl Franzens University, Graz, Austria (2014). Major honors at UNCW comprise the UNC Board of Governors Excellence in Teaching Award (2015), Distinguished Faculty Research Award (2015-2016), College of Arts and Sciences Research Award (2014-2015), Chancellor’s Excellence in Teaching Award (2013), and Distinguished Teaching Professorship (2014). Her work has influenced postcolonial literary studies through keynotes in Austria and Pakistan, editorial contributions, and Fulbright peer reviewing.
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