Gehlawat Awarded USM’s Prestigious Moorman Professorship in the Humanities

Wed, 08/09/2023 - 09:16am | By: David Tisdale

Dr. Monika Gehlawat, a professor of English and associate director of the School of Humanities at The University Southern Mississippi (USM) School of Humanities, is the recipient of its coveted Charles W. Moorman Distinguished Alumni Professor of the Humanities for 2023-25.

The Moorman Professorship honors the late Dr. Charles Moorman, a professor of English and Vice President for Academic Affairs at USM. Supported by the USM Foundation and through a matching grant from the Phil Hardin Foundation, it is awarded biennially for a two-year term to a senior professor in English, history, foreign languages, or philosophy to support their research efforts. At the end of the two-year term of appointment, the Moorman Professor will present his or her research with the Moorman Lecture.

Dr. Gehlawat, who attained full professor rank in 2022, is an expert on modern and contemporary literature, visual art, and critical theory. She says she’s proud to join the ranks of colleagues who previously held the professorship.

“I was delighted to learn I was awarded the Moorman Professorship and couldn’t have asked for better timing in terms of my scholarship,” Dr. Gehlawat said. “I’m in the midst of writing my second book on contemporary American novelists, and the Moorman will make it so much easier to conduct the research I need to do in order to finish it and find a suitable publisher.

“And I loved learning the story about this professorship, which was endowed by two sons in honor of their father Charles Moorman, a beloved English professor at USM,” she further noted.  “Although his sons went on to illustrious careers in science and business, it makes me so happy to know they appreciated the value of their father’s work in the Humanities and wanted to support future scholars in this field. I’m grateful to be a beneficiary of their vision and generosity.”

Dr. Gehlawat’s current research focuses on contemporary ekphrastic writers who describe and prioritize art experiences in their novels.

“Painting, sculpture, photography, musical performances, and other forms of fine art play a major role in the narratives I study, so my scholarship is inherently interdisciplinary,” she explained. “The Moorman Professorship will support my travel to visit art museums and archives, but also to meet with and interview the writers I study.

“The exciting aspect of being a scholar of contemporary literature is that I have the opportunity to make real connections with artists who are still alive. My ambition is to bring one or more of the writers I focus on in my book to Hattiesburg as part of the Moorman public lecture.”

Dr. Gehlawat came to USM from the University of California at Berkeley, where she earned her Ph.D. in 2008. She is also a recipient of the University Research Award (2021), the Faculty Senate Teaching Award (2020), and the Junior Faculty Teaching Award (2013). She served as the director of graduate studies in English from 2011-2017 and has been the series editor for University Press of Mississippi’s Literary Conversations book series.

Her first book, In Defense of Dialogue: Reading Habermas and Postwar American Literature was published by Routledge Press in 2020; she has had scholarly essays published in journals that include Contemporary Literature, Post45: Peer Reviewed, Literary Imagination, and The James Baldwin Review, among others. Dr. Gehlawat’s interdisciplinary writing is included in forthcoming edited collections published by Duke UP, Edinburgh UP, and Routledge. She also serves on the editorial board and steering committee for the James Baldwin Review.

"The Moorman Distinguished Professorship is such a great way to honor our faculty and to bring high profile academic events to the public,” said Dr. Matthew Casey, director of the USM School of Humanities. “I was thrilled to learn that Dr. Gehlawat was chosen for this prestigious award, and I'm excited to see the way she will present her research on the intersections between literary works and the visual arts."

Dr. Gehlawat has forged strong relationships with her students throughout her career and has maintained many of those after they’ve graduated.

“I love reading together, exchanging book recommendations, and talking about art with them, and I find our students to be so open and curious to learn,” she continued. “Talking about art in seminars, but also over email and in hallway chats is totally rewarding for me, and my scholarship is deeply influenced by the discussions I have with both current students and alumni.”

Dr. Chris Winstead, dean of the USM College of Arts and Sciences, praised Dr. Gehlawat as “a major influence not only in her field, but also with our students.”

“Dr. Gehlawat conducts exciting interdisciplinary research,” he said. “Through analyzing how literary texts describe encounters with the beauty of visual art, her study suggests avenues for communication in the modern world. We congratulate her on this well-deserved recognition and look forward to the lectures and experiences she plans to bring to the university and regional community involving major contemporary writers and their engagement with sculpture, photography, and painting.” 

USM alumna Rachael Fowler of Mobile, Alabama, is a former student of Dr. Gehlawat. She praised her former graduate school mentor for her support during Fowler’s pursuit of her Ph.D. in English.

“During my time as a grad student at USM, Monika urged me to be ambitious with reading, with my own creative writing, and with career goals,” Fowler said. “In addition to endlessly supporting me as a scholar and writer, she also taught me, at a crucial moment in my life, that it's always okay to take care of yourself as a person first. COVID was, and continues to be, rough on all of us.

“Monika was one of the few people who helped me through the worst of it as a mentor, teacher, and friend.” 

Gaven Wallace of Milton, Florida, a second-year master’s degree student in USM’s creative writing program, says even though he’s only taken one class from Dr. Gehlawat, he believes the qualities he witnessed in her teaching style and rapport with students have earned her such an accolade as the Moorman Professorship.

“Monika is, just honestly, a great teacher and an even better person, and definitely deserves the Moorman Professorship,” Wallace said. “It became very clear to me in a short amount of time what sets her apart from the status quo as a both a professor and a person. She is considerate far beyond the necessary degree and is patient and brilliant and kind and all the other things that a professor should be. 

“Empathy comes first in her teaching. She approaches every student foremost as a person and never positions herself above them, and this philosophy is very much on display in her class structure. She provided us all with a space—herself including—to discuss heavy philosophical and artistic topics as equals, forming our own conclusions about the subject at hand rather than being fed her opinions as fact.”

Learn more about the USM English Program in its School of Humanities.