Looi van Kessel is a University Lecturer and PhD student at the Leiden University Centre for the Arts in Society.

More information about Looi van Kessel

Fields of interest

My primary area of interest is in postwar American literature, and especially the treatment of deviant sexuality in this period. My modes of inquiry cross through several disciplines, such as queer studies, genre studies, discourse analysis and legal theory.

Research

Currently, my work is on the American author James Purdy and his treatment of homosexual identity in patriarchal environments. Through a critical analysis of his work, I explore questions concerning the representation of homosexuality, sexual violence and sovereignty over one's own body.

Teaching activities

At present I teach working groups in the BA International Studies program. Courses that I am teaching are, among others, Introduction Cultural Studies, Globalization & Cultural Studies, North American Culture and North American History.

Curriculum vitae

Education
Present: PhD-Candidate at LUCAS, Leiden University (supervisor Prof Dr. E.J. van Alphen)
2012: Research MA in Art and Literary Studies, Leiden University

Employment
Present: Lecturer at BA International Studies, Leiden University
President of Cultuur?Barbaar!: platform for art, music and cultural theory, Leiden

Grants
2007: Erasmus Grant

Publications