USC.edu

Mia Du Plessis

Associate Professor (Teaching) of Comparative Literature
Pronouns She / Her / Hers Email duplessi@usc.edu Office THH 161 Office Phone (213) 740-0102

Education

  • MA Master of Professional Writing, USC, 12/2014
  • MA , University of the Witwatersrand, 12/1998
  • Ph.D. Comparative Literature, University of Southern California, 1/1993
  • MA , Univ. of Pretoria, 12/1988
  • BA , Univ. of Pretoria, 12/1983

  • Conference Presentations

    • “”‘Towards the 21st-Century Novel of Adultery: Notes on Marriage as Insistent Narrative Failure”” , “&Now: A Conference of Innovative Writing and the Literary Arts”Talk/Oral Presentation, State University of New York, Buffalo, Buffalo, Fall 2009
    • “”‘Electrical Scheherazade’: Occult Networking and the Fin-de-Siècle”” , “Modernism and Global Media,” Modernist Studies Association 10Talk/Oral Presentation, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Fall 2008
    • “”Cashing in on Death: Franchising ‘Snuff’ for Late Capitalism.”” , Presented as part of the panel, “Cinema/Life/Money: Reading Cinema in the Era of Biocapital” at the Talk/Oral Presentation, American Comparative Literature Association, Long Beach , Spring 2008
    • “”Propping Up Fiction,” presented as part of the panel, “Dysfunctional Fictions.”” , “&NOW 2008: A Festival of Innovative Literature and Art,” (17 April 2008)Talk/Oral Presentation, Chapman University, Chapman University , Spring 2008
    • “”Hand-Painted Mass Reproductions from the Dream of Modernist Capital: Winsor McCay in Slumberland”” , Presented as part of the panel, “Translating Visual Styles: The Transformation and Displacement of BTalk/Oral Presentation, Modernist Studies Association 9, California State , Long Beach, Fall 2007
    • “”Decadent Commodities and Narrative Objects in Gustav Meyrink’s _Sonderbare Geschichten_ (‘Strange Tales’)”” , “‘A Leap from the Temple of Culture into the Abyss’: Decadence in Central and Eastern Europe”Talk/Oral Presentation, The Harriman Institute, Columbia University, Columbia University, Spring 2007

  • Book Chapter

    • Du Plessis, M. (2007). “‘Goth Damage’ and Melancholia: Reflections on Posthuman Gothic Identities.” In _Goth: Undead Subculture_.. pp. 155-168. Durham, North Carolina: Duke University Press.

    Book Review

    • Du Plessis, M. (2010). Review of Marianna Torgovnick, _The War Complex: World War II in Our Time_.. pp. 249-255. Edinburgh: _Oxford Literary Review_ , Edinburgh University Press. Vol. 31.2,
    • Du Plessis, M. (2007). “Fantasies of the Institution: The Films of Georges Franju and Kate Ince’s _Georges Franju_.” Review of _Georges Franju_ by Kate Ince.. 3 pp. 94-102. John Moores University, Liverpool: _Film-Philosophy_.. Vol. 11 (3),

    Essay

    • Du Plessis, M. (2010). “The Terrors of Governmentality: _The Crazies_.”. Florence: _Jura Gentium Cinema: Cinema and Globalization_. University of Florence.
    • Poetry chapbook, A poetry chapbook, “Songs Dead Soldiers Sing,” with the poetry chapbook press, Transparent Tiger Press, in Chicago, Illinois, in April 2007., 2006-2007
    • Installation , Installation piece. _1,000 Points of Light._ For the exhibition, _WITNESS: Veteran Activists Remember ACT UP/LA_, at Highways Gallery, Santa Monica, 30 November 2007-31 January 2008.

      , 2008-2009

    • Chapter of a novel published in an anthology, “The Carpet out of Time.” In _The &Now Awards: The Best Innovative Writing_. Robert Archambeau, Davis Schneiderman, and Steve Tomasula, eds. Lake Forest, Illinois: Lake Forest College Press, 2009. 127-128. ,

  • Office Hours

      Tuesday and Thursday : 3, Additional appointments were scheduled to meet students’ needs.
      Monday, Wednesday, and Friday : 3, Additional appointments were scheduled to meet students’ needs.
      Monday and Wednesday : 3, Additional times were scheduled to meet students’ needs.
      Tuesdays and Thursdays : 3, Additional appointments were scheduled based on students’ needs.
      Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays : 3 hours, Additional times were scheduled to meet students’ needs.
      Mondays and Wednesdays : 3 hours, Office hours were also held by appointment to accomodate students.

    Other Advisement or Time Devoted to Students

      Served as director for Shaia Moore, honors thesis, “Gertrude Stein to Graphic Novels: The Image in Time,” Comparative Literature, Spring 2010.
      Served as director for Bryan Susman, “Fragmenting the Grand Narrative: _The Point_ of the Postmodern?,” Comparative Literature, Spring 2010.
      Served as reader to Sarah Vita, “The Mystery of the Mysterious: Detective Fiction and Film Noir,” English, Spring 2010.
      Served as reader for Kaelin Burns, honors thesis, “Retelling and Recreating Adam and Eve in Science Fiction,” English, Spring 2008.
      Served as reader for Matthew Cieplak, honors thesis, “None of the Above: Postmodernism and Historical Fiction,” Creative Writing and English, Spring 2008.

      Taught a two-day micro-seminar, “Reading Animals in Comic Books: Between Words and Images,” as part of the “Welcome Week” for new students, University of Southern California, 23 and 24 August 2007.

  • Other Service to the University

    • Organized an event for College Commons, “Too Human: Law, Humanity, Limits”,
    • Faculty Showcase presentation, Freshman Orientation: “Introduction to Visual Cultural Studies”,
    • Organized College Commons event, “Projecting Mapping”,
    • Faculty mentor, Learning Communities, USC College Advising,
    • Presented “Signs, Words, Images: Reading Visual Culture” as a “Faculty Showcase” presentation as part of the “Freshman Orientation Session,” 22 July 2008 ,
    • Presented “Signs, Words, Images: Reading Visual Culture” as a “Faculty Showcase” presentation as part of the “Freshman Orientation Session,” 22 July 2008 ,