Mark Ferrara's interest in cultural studies emerged in the context of an interdisciplinary undergraduate program (focused on the religious and philosophical dimensions of literature). His coursework in East Asian studies led him to Masan, South Korea to teach English at Kyungnam University from 1996 to 1998. Subsequently drawn to China, he taught writing and literature at Fudan University in Shanghai until entering a doctoral program at the University of Denver in the fall of 1999. Always peripatetic, the urge to live overseas again led him to Turkey, this time on a Fulbright teaching assistantship during the 2001-2002 academic year. From 2004 to 2007, Ferrara directed the Chinese Cultural Exchange Program and taught world literature at Drake University in Des Moines. His courses at SUNY Oneonta are internationally focused, interdisciplinary, and aim to raise critical insight of other cultures through their literatures.
While Dr. Ferrara's research interests include utopian studies and religion in literature, he recently edited a translation of the book Cao Xueqin Xin Zhuan (Between Noble and Humble: Cao Xueqin and Dream of the Red Chamber) for Peter Lang’s Asian Thought and Culture Series. This book is a historical and biographical introduction to the writings of the Chinese novelist Cao Xueqin (1715-1763), the author of Honglou meng (Dream of the Red Chamber), which is widely considered the greatest work of traditional Chinese literature.
Dr. Ferrara's CV |
