Yasmine Hachimi

Biography:

I recently joined the Newberry Library as a Public Humanities Postdoctoral Fellow. While I am happy to consider invitations to deliver talks, contribute to publications, or participate in events centered on scholars of color, I will be slow to read and reply to emails. You can contact me at hachimiy [at] newberry [dot] org or find me on Twitter [at] YasmineHachimi.

PROFESSIONAL APPOINTMENTS

The Newberry Library, Center for Renaissance Studies
- Public Humanities Postdoctoral Fellow, 2022-24.

EDUCATION

PhD Candidate, Department of English, University of California at Davis, September 2022.
- Dissertation:
  - The Eroticization of Tudor Queens in Sixteenth-Century England and Beyond.
- Committee:
  - Frances Dolan (chair), Gina Bloom, Colin Milburn.
BA, English with a minor in Medieval and Renaissance Studies, cum laude, University of San Diego, 2015.
Study Abroad, Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, Associated with Keble College, Oxford, England, 2014.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

My book project, Tudorotica, traces the eroticization of England's Tudor queens, which began in the sixteenth century, and persists in scholarly and popular representations to this day. First, I locate the process of eroticization in sixteenth-century epistles, which were central to managing courtships and spreading rumors. I then trace it across centuries in a range of popular genres from plays and novels, to tv shows and fanfiction. I argue that calls for historical accuracy in contemporary television drama like The Tudors miss the point, which is the focus on the sexualized body of Tudor queens. The eroticization of Tudors queens in popular media is precisely "historical" because it uses many of the same methods Tudor courtiers used to manipulate our perception of these women, including surveillance, sexual coercion, and colorism. We aren't failing to depict the past accurately enough; we're reproducing its sexist and racist logics, even when we also claim to provide more feminist versions of these old stories. This project raises questions about history, representation, and relevance for academic and non-academic audiences.

PUBLICATIONS

"'I have perused her well': Popular Culture's Appropriation and Hypersexualization of Anne Boleyn." Ethical Appropriation in Shakespearean Performance, Edited by Louise Geddes, Kathryn Santos, and Geoffrey Way. Edinburgh University Press, 2024.
"'A beauty not so whitely': Anne Boleyn and the Optics of Race." Race-ing Queens special issue of The Scholar and the Feminist Online, Guest Edited by Sonja Drimmer, Mira Assaf Kafantaris, and Treva B. Lindsey. December 2022.
"California Love: Race and Romance." The Sundial, ACMRS Press. 5 April 2022.
"A Seat at the Table." The Sundial, ACMRS Press. 15 October 2019.
Review of Richard Carew, The Examination of Men's Wits, Edited by Rocio G. Sumillera. The Sixteenth Century Journal, 48.1, 241-42. Spring 2017.
Edited Chapter, "Playing as Literate Practice: Humanism and the Exclusion of Women Performers by the London Professional Stages," written by Maura Giles-Watson. New Directions in Medieval Manuscript Studies and Reading Practices, Essays in Honor of Derek Pearsall, edited by Kathryn Kerby Fulton, John J. Thompson, and Sarah Beachle. 2014.

MEDIA APPEARANCES

"Henry VIII 201." The Hurly Burly Shakespeare Show. Podcast, January 16, 2023.
"Fast Times at Shakespeare High." Virtual event for Woolly Mammoth Theatre. Instagram Live, September 28, 2021.
"The Old Wife's Tale 101." The Hurly Burly Shakespeare Show. Podcast, September 27, 2021.

INVITED LECTURES, PRESENTATIONS, CONFERENCES & WORKSHOPS

Keynote, "Emerging Practices in Premodern Studies." Multidisciplinary Graduate Student Conference. Newberry Library, January 2023.
"Race & Representation in Romance." Race in Dialogue series. Newberry Library. November 2022.
Moderator, Public Humanities and Pedagogies Plenary. Attending to Women. Newberry Library, October 2022.
Invited talk, "(Re)Imagining the Past: Race and the Representation of Anne Boleyn in Tudor England and Beyond." Institute for the Public Understanding of the Past, University of York. May 2022.
Panelist, "'A beauty not so whitely': Anne Boleyn and the Optics of Race." "Gendering Whiteness in Early Modern England" Panel. Sponsored by the Newberry Library. Renaissance Society of America, Dublin, Ireland, April 2022.
Invited talk, "Anne Boleyn and the Politics of Race in Tudor England and Beyond." Women, Gender, and Culture in the Early Modern World Seminar, Mahindra Center for the Humanities. Harvard University, February 2022.
Invited talk, "'A beauty not so whitely': Anne Boleyn and the Optics of Race." Race and Queenship Lecture Series. Butler University, February 2022.
Panelist, "Faculty-Student Networking." Undergraduate Research, Scholarship & Creative Activities Conference. Undergraduate Research Center, UC Davis, April 2021.
Invited Participant, "Race-ing & Queering Queens." Shakespeare Association of America. Webinar, April 2021.
Invited Participant, "Public Shakespeares and New Media Seminar." Shakespeare Association of America. Conference canceled due to COVID-19, seminar conducted virtually via Zoom, April 2020.
Invited Presenter, "Fan Communities & Research Practices." UWP1 Faculty Development, UC Davis, June 2019.
Moderator, "Computational Speculations" panel. Futurity Factory: Speculative Media, Science, Technology Symposium, UC Davis, February 2019.
Panelist, "Social Media, Networking & You." Scholar Symposium, UC Davis, November 2018.
Session Co-Chair, "Reproducible Bodies: Literary Queenship, Agency, and Cultural Memory." Attending to Early Modern Women: Action and Agency, Milwaukee, WI, June 2018.
Guest Lecturer, "Early Modern Epistolography: The Material Letter." UC Davis, October 2016.
Presenter, “Henrician Epistolography and the Rise and Fall of Anne Boleyn.” Creative Collaborations Research Presentation, University of San Diego. April 2015.
Presenter, “’Written by the hand of your servant’: Bodily Inscription in the Love Letters of Henry VIII to Anne Boleyn.” Annual Undergraduate Summer Research Conference, University of California at San Diego. August 2014.
Presenter, “Gift Giving and Hunting in Henrician Epistolography.” McNair Symposium, University of San Diego. August 2014.
Attendee, THATCamp, Digital Humanities Conference. San Diego State University, October 2014.
Presenter, “Like a Virgin: Representations of Female Chastity in Elizabethan England.” Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Studies Symposium, Oxford, England. April 2014.
Presenter, “Virtue and Pleasure: Women in 18^th Century Domestic Fiction.” Annual Undergraduate Summer Research Conference, University of California at San Diego. August 2013.
Attendee, Medieval Association of the Pacific. University of San Diego, March 2013.

SELECT AWARDS AND HONORS

Mellon Foundation funded RaceB4Race Social Media Fellowship. 2022.
Russell J. and Dorothy S. Bilinski Educational Foundation Dissertation Writing Fellowship. 2021-2022.
James and Roberta Woodress Endowed Fund Grant for International Research. UC Davis Department of English. 2021, 2022.
Language Study Funding. UC Davis English Department. 2021.
Summer Dissertation Fellowship. UC Davis English Department. 2019, 2020, 2021.
Healthy Davis Together Spring Break Grant. UC Davis. 2021.
UC Davis Instant Award. Undergraduate Education. 2020.
Folger Institute Funding. 2019.
Newberry Library Consortium Grant. 2018, 2019.
Miller Research & Archival Travel Award. UC Davis English Department. 2019.
Summer Funding. UC Davis English Department. 2017, 2018.
Englund Fellowship. 2015-2016.
McNair Fellowship. 2015-2016.

RESEARCH & TEACHING INTERESTS

Early Modern Literature and Culture, Epistolography, Queenship, The Tudors in Popular Culture, Media & Fan Studies, Gender & Sexuality, Digital Humanities, YA Literature, Romance Novels.

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

Teaching
- ENL3, Introduction to Literature (Online Course)
  - Emphasis on Relationships and Relationality (including romance, race, culture, environment, language, etc.)
- UWP1Y, Introduction to Academic Literacies (Online Course)
  - Emphasis on Fan Communities & Research Practices.
- UWP1Y, Introduction to Academic Literacies (Hybrid Course)
  - Emphasis on Language Diversity, Fan Communities & Research Practices.
- IEPP, Communication & Culture Program, U.S. Society & Culture
  - Emphasis on Contemporary Media & American Popular Culture
- UWP1, Introduction to Academic Literacies
  - Emphasis on Language Diversity, Cultural Literacies, Fan Communities, Research Practices.
Teaching Assistant
- ENL 154: The Graphic Novel, with Professor Colin Milburn.
- ENL 117: Late Shakespeare in Renaissance England, with Associate Professor Tiffany Werth.
- ENL 117: Early Shakespeare and the Theater, with Professor Gina Bloom.

PROFESSIONAL SERVICE & PROGRAM BUILDING

Invited Participant, "Design Workshop for New Academy." ACLS (American Council of Learned Societies), 2021.
Social Media and Public Outreach Manager for Early Modern Studies in the English Department, UC Davis, 2020-2021.
Program Coordinator, Mentor-Mentee Program in Humanities, Arts, Cultural Studies and Social Sciences, Undergraduate Research Center, 2019-2021.
Academic Advisor, Undergraduate Research Center, 2019-2021.
Participant, "Confronting Diversity With/As Scholars of Color." Shakespeare Association of America. Online Workshop, April 2021.
Attendee, "Knocking on the Door: Complaints and Other Stories About Institutions." The Humanities Institute, Stony Brook University. Online Lecture, March 2021.
Attendee, "So You Want to do ABAR Work?" Liberate and Chill Collective. Webinar, July 2020.
UndocuAlly Training, UC Davis, June 2020.
Event Organizer & Facilitator, "After #RaceB4Race." UC Davis, February 2019.
Mentor, Mentor-Mentee Program in Humanities, Arts, Cultural Studies and Social Sciences, Undergraduate Research Center, 2018-2019.
Graduate Committee, English Department, 2018-2019.
Co-Chair, English Graduate Student Association, 2018-2019.
Mentor, English Graduate Student Association, 2017-2019.
Co-Chair, Women's Caucus, English Graduate Student Association, 2017-2018.
Recruiter, California Forum for Diversity in Graduate Education, English Department, 2017.
Graduate Student Representative, English Graduate Student Association, 2016-2017.
Program Assistant, UC-HBCU SPLASH Program, with Professor Mark Jerng. UC Davis, 2016-2017.
Research Assistant, Play the Knave, with Professor Gina Bloom. UC Davis, 2016.