At the start of the 2007-2008 academic year, the University will not only welcome Michael Roth as its 16th president, but also his wife, Kari Weil, as a College of Letters (COL) professor.
Weil has been chair of Critical Studies at the California College of the Arts since 2003. Critical Studies is a non-major program involving a variety of subject-specific and interdisciplinary courses. A professor since 1985, her teaching experience in a variety of fields has prepared her for the unique COL program.
“I’m very excited by COL,” Weil said. “Much of my work has been interdisciplinary and coming now from an interdisciplinary program, I know both the rewards and some of the difficulties in working in those areas.”
Weil received her BA in French from Cornell University and her MA and PhD in comparative literature from Princeton University. Feminism and sexuality in French literature initiated her interest in women’s studies, a field in which she has published several articles and written one book, “Androgyny and the Denial of Difference.”
Weil’s more recent passion in animal studies stems from time she spent in France, where she became fascinated with horses, particularly their relationship to humans and the evolution of their role in society. She is currently working on a manuscript titled “La Plus Belle Conquête de l’Homme: Horses, Gender and the Conquest of Animal Nature in Nineteenth-Century France.”
“I took a leap of faith by pursuing something I’m interested in,” she said.
Weil’s success in independent research has left her optimistic that her unique fields of interest will help Wesleyan students become more familiar with areas of study that they may not immediately believe affect them.
“Once people make those connections, they are difficult to ignore later on,” Weil said regarding incorporating women’s and animal studies. “It changes their outlook and their relation with the environment. I have become a bit of a science junkie in that I am constantly looking for what I can integrate.”
Cohesively incorporating her several areas of study into the COL curriculum will give Weil the opportunity to make further connections within her own research.
“I also like how COL allows you to teach in areas that are not your expertise,” she said. “I find that both interesting and mind expanding, and [it] keeps you awake and keeps you learning.”
Weil said that she believes her research will prove particularly beneficial for the Wesleyan student body.
“Wesleyan students are known for being engaged politically and intellectually, and both women’s studies and animal studies are areas that zero in on both of those engagements,” she said.
Weil’s love of French has passed onto her and Roth’s daughter, Sophie Weil-Roth, 9. Weil-Roth attended a trilingual preschool and is currently a student in a California French school.
“[Sophie] loves to have another language in which to communicate,” Weil said.
Ultimately, as original as Weil’s area of study may be, she is eager to arrive on a campus where even more opportunities for interdisciplinary research are possible.
“It’s good to be in an arts school,” she concluded. “But I’m looking forward to being around students with other interests.”
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