Professorial Lecturer

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Benjamin Djain Professorial Lecturer Literature

Degrees: PhD in English Literature, The Catholic University of America, 2019.
MA(Hons) in English, The University of Auckland, 2013.
BA(Hons) in English, The University of Auckland, 2012.
BA in English and European Studies, The University of Auckland, 2011.
Languages Spoken: English, Spanish, French, Portuguese
Bio: Benjamin Djain is a Professorial Lecturer in the Writing Program and the Department of Literature at AU. He is a comparative early modernist who focuses on English and Spanish theatre. Professor Djain's current research interests are focused on the legacies of inwardness and self-talk in early modern English and Spanish theatre, the intersections between traditional literary scholarship and newly emerging digital tools, and multimodality. His doctoral dissertation, "The soliloquy in Shakespeare and Lope de Vega," was completed in May 2019.

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Teaching

Fall 2024

LIT-125 Lit Classics & Western Culture
LIT-204 Hidden Figures/Cultural Calcul
WRT-101 College Writing Seminar

Spring 2025

LIT-204 Hidden Figures/Cultural Calcul
WRT-101 College Writing Seminar
WRT-101 College Writing Seminar

Partnerships & Affiliations

Renaissance Society of America
Member
Association for Hispanic Classical Theater
Member

Scholarly, Creative & Professional Activities

Research Interests

16th and 17th Century English and Spanish Theatre
Soliloquies, interiority and selfhood in the early modern period
Multimodality
Quantitative methods in the humanities
Intersections between humanities scholarship and emerging digital tools

Professional Presentations

“Who am I talking to exactly? Soliloquy, dialogues, and the solution to self-doubt.” Sixteenth Century Society & Conference 2023. Baltimore, Maryland. October 2023.
“Lope de Vega’s soliloquies and performance: a different paradigm.” Renaissance Society of America 2023. San Juan, Puerto Rico. March 2023
“Myths and Maidens.” Talkback on the folklore and mythological origins of La Llorona after a performance of Gabby Wolfe’s La Llorona. We Happy Few Theater Company. Capitol Hill Arts Workshop. Washington DC. November 2022.
“Space vs. Cyberspace: Contextualizing Digital Tools in a Physical Classroom.” Ann Ferren Conference on Teaching, Research, and Learning. January 2022.
Talkback and interview on a performance of William Shakespeare’s Macbeth. We Happy Few Theater Company. Capitol Hill Arts Workshop. Washington DC. March 2019.
“Bridging the Armada: The soliloquy in early Shakespeare and early Lope.” College English Association: Mid-Atlantic Group Conference. University of District Columbia. March 2018.
Talkback and interview on a performance of Lope de Vega’s El perro del hortelano (The dog in the manger). We Happy Few Theater Company. Capitol Hill Arts Workshop. Washington DC. November 2017.
“Haunted by Doubt: The English Reformation’s Search for a New Theatrical Identity.” 21st International Conference of Europeanists, Washington D.C. March 2014.
““External vs. Internal Worlds: Comparing Christopher Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus with Mira de Amescua’s El Esclavo del Demonio (The Slave of the Devil).” Inaugural National Symposium for Postgraduate Researchers: Languages, Literatures, and Intercultural Studies, The University of Auckland. October 2012.

Selected Publications

“Review of Lope de Vega’s La prueba de los ingenios.” Comedia Performance 19 (2022): 201-204.

“Review of Lope de Vega’s A Wild Night in Toledo.” Comedia Performance 18 (2021): 130-133.

“Reflective Artist’s Statement for Multimodal Assignments” (with Angela Geosits). Writing Spaces Assignment and Activity Archive. (2021): https://writingspaces.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Djain-Geosits-AAA-contribution.pdf

“External vs. Internal Worlds: Comparing Christopher Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus with Mira de Amescua’s El Esclavo del Demonio (The Slave of the Devil).” The European Connection 16 (2012): 1-11.