UHV Professor Elected to Leadership Role Within Literature Organization
Dr. Jeffrey R. Di Leo, interim dean of Arts and Sciences at the University of Houston-Victoria, was recently elected vice president of the Southern Comparative Literature Association during the organization’s annual fall meeting. SCLA vice presidents serve a two-year term, after which they are generally asked to assume the role of president.
Created to support and strengthen comparative literature studies, SCLA is an organization that brings together scholars from across the U.S. and the globe. Each year SCLA holds an annual meeting to allow members to present and discuss their academic research. Though the event was ultimately cancelled due to Hurricane Rita, last year’s meeting was sponsored in part by UHV and co-organized by Di Leo.
SCLA also publishes the journal The Comparatist, which has traditionally featured comparative work involving literary and cultural movements, literature and the arts, relations between European and non-European literatures, and inter-American literary exchanges. In 1996, The Comparatist was awarded the Phoenix Prize for Editorial Achievement.
In addition to his responsibilities as interim dean, Di Leo teaches literature and philosophy at UHV and was recently named faculty athletic representative. He came to UHV in 2002. Widely published and active within his field, Di Leo edits the award-winning journals Symploke and the American Book Review. He is also editor of the book series Class in America, published by the University of Nebraska Press.
“I am proud of Dr. Di Leo’s accomplishment within SCLA and of what he brings to UHV,” said UHV President Tim Hudson, noting that faculty participation in scholarly communities advances knowledge within the academy and, as such, is a vital part of the university’s mission.
As part of his responsibilities as SCLA vice president, Di Leo will head a committee that judges the annual Rutledge Prize competition. The prize is given to honor the best conference paper presented by a graduate student at the annual SCLA meeting.
For more information on SCLA, visit the organization’s Web site at http://www.utexas.edu/cola/progs/complit/scla/main.html.
The University of Houston-Victoria, located in the heart of the Coastal Bend region since 1973 in Victoria, Texas, offers courses leading to more than 80 academic programs in the schools of Arts & Sciences; Business Administration; and Education, Health Professions & Human Development. UHV provides face-to-face classes at its Victoria campus, as well as an instructional site in Katy, Texas, and online classes that students can take from anywhere. UHV supports the American Association of State Colleges and Universities Opportunities for All initiative to increase awareness about state colleges and universities and the important role they have in providing a high-quality and accessible education to an increasingly diverse student population, as well as contributing to regional and state economic development.
