Julia di Liberti

Areas of Current Research Interest

• The intersections of Humanities, Science, and Math
• The role of Public Humanities in communal life
• Art forgeries and thefts
• Women’s Studies
• Nineteenth Century French Fantastic Literature and Francophone Literature particularly West and Central Africa

Courses Taught

• Humanities: Introduction to the Humanities through the Arts,
• Humanities: Ideas and Values
• Humanities Beyond Europe and the U.S.
• Women in the Arts
• The Arts and Cultural Diversity in the US

International Experience 

Kenya

Co-led a Learning Community: Humanities and Biology for an interdisciplinary course: Sustainability and the Arts, Brackenhurst, Kenya, (2023) 

• Exploratory trip to learn about risk management and study abroad (2019) 

Gabon

Trip to interview Gabonese Women Writers (2011) 

Belgium

Sabbatical Research at the Comics Museum and Library, Brussels (2011) 

• American Association for Teachers of French Summer Scholarship for study in Mons (2003). 

France

Lectrice d’Anglais, Université de Liège (1991-92) 

• Assistante d’Anglais, Lycée Polyvalent and Lycée Technique Valence, France, 1987-88 

Quebec

Bilingual Contractor, Liaison: Motorola, (1999) Chicago Rawhide (1996-97) 

Republic of Benin, West Africa

Teacher Trainer (1995-96)

Selected Publications, Presentations, Performances, Books

Publications

• “Gilded Age Cartoons: Artistic Antecedents and Descendants” Inks: The Journal of the Comics Studies Society. Vol.1: 2 Summer 2017 125-142 
• “No Defense for the Humanities.” Community College Humanities Review. Vol. 2: 1 Fall 2017. 70-79. 
• “Defying Literary Colonization: Reading the African Comic Book (BD) as the New African Proverb.” Defying the Global Language: Perspectives in Ethnic Studies. Ed. Cheryl Toman. Amherst: Teneo Press. 121-146. 2014. Print. 
• “Afterward” for The World is a Bird in a Cage” a collection of poems by Cameroonian poet Leon Tuam. New York: iUniverse, 2010. Print.
• “Vampires Suck but Not as Much as the Men Who Use Them: The Narratological Strategy of the Vampire chez Gautier.” Aimer et Mourir: Women, Love, and Death in French Literature, Cambridge Scholars Press, 2009. Print.
• “Excising Sleep and Subverting the Patriarchy: Creativity in the Novels of Accad and Chedid,” in On Evelyne Accad. Birmingham: Summa Publications Inc., 2007. Print. 
• “Book Review : Gounaridou Kiki and Frazier Lively. Rachilde: Madame La Mort and Other Plays. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1998 in Women in French. 2001. Print. 
• "Ils ont acié le bon argent and Other Crimes Related to Second Language Dictionary Use." American Association of Teachers of French National Bulletin, January, 2000. Print. 

Videos/Podcasts

• Studying Humanities to Create a Career Path with Julia diLiberti The Career Ready Podcast Career Services College of DuPage. 7 Jan. 2025. The podcast allows listeners to understand the value of the Humanities and makes the case that the Humanities are not incidental to the rest of life or to any career.
• Hum Prof. “Why Study the Humanities?” 8 Aug. 2014 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_0wKFOcmp8 The video makes the case that Humanities bring value to all educations, explains in more detail why we still study them, and gives a clearer understanding of what the Humanities are.
• Global Chats: COVID-19 Focus is a series of talks hosted by Dr. Julia DiLiberti, Professor of Humanities and Global Education Liaison, Maren McKellin, Manager of Field and Experiential Learning, and Sue Kerby, Coordinator of Study Abroad. These talks feature College of DuPage faculty experts and their perspective of how the pandemic is affecting people and places all over the world in a variety of subjects, including biology, psychology, humanities, health, fitness, economics and others. dc.cod.edu/globalchats

Conferences

• “A Feminist Wave: The Creation and Influence of The Great Wave Off Kanagawa.” Humanities Festival College of DuPage, Glen Ellyn, IL April 2025.
• “The Art World’s Dirty Little Secrets: Contemporary Art and Forgeries – Who Is Fooling Who? Some Desultory Musings.” Community College Humanities Association, Knoxville, TN. October, 2024 
• “Soup Can Can’t: Warhol and the Unraveling of Art,” at the McAninch Art Center, Belushi Theater, Mainstage, College of DuPage, Glen Ellyn, IL, August 17^,
• “Weaving Context with Threads of History and Sculpture: An Interactive Workshop.” Community College Humanities Association, Austin, TX. October 2023 An interactive forum where participants observed, commented on, and engaged in activities which can help students analyze art and write more fully about it while noting the overlaps between history and sculpture.
• “Narrative Mapping: A Few Simple Tools to Start,” Community College Humanities Association, Cleveland, OH. 2022
• “Challenges to a Dual: Fantastic Androgyny and Even More Fantastic Post-Humanism.” Midwest Modern Language Association. Chicago. November 14-16, 2019
• “What Gilded Age Cartoons Can Tell Us about Politics Today.” The Illinois Political Science Association, College of DuPage Glen Ellyn, IL Nov. 10, 2019. 
• “Verne, Méliès, Hergé: Rendez-vous entre l’art et la science des alunissages.” Biennale de la langue française. XXVIIIe Biennale de la langue francaise, Chicago. October 2-5, 2019.
• “DaVinci Had It Right but Boy Stelarc and Vita-More Sure Are Interesting: Humanism, Transhumanism, Post-humanism: A Quick Exploration.” Comm. College Humanities Association. Louisville, KY October 18-20, 2018 
• “Infrastructure et méconnaissance: La BD africaine répond.” XXVIIe Biennale de la langue françàise Paris les 14, 15 et 16 septembre 2017 
• “Meeting at the Intersection of Math, Science, and the Humanities.” Community College Humanities Association. Baltimore, MD. Nov. 9-11, 2017.
• “Trips to the Moon: Méliès, Hergé, and Armstrong.” Midwest Modern Language Association. Colombus, OH. Nov. 12-15, 2015 
• “Rachilde, Einstein, and the Symbolist and Scientific Views of Space and Time.” Midwest Modern Language Association. Detroit, MI. Nov. 14-16, 2014. 
• “Conquering AIDS: The Adventures of Yannick Dombi,” Graphic Medicine Annual Conference: Comics and Medicine: Navigating the Margins, Health Sciences, University of Toronto. July 22-24, 2012. 
• “Jacqueline Harpman and Allan Moore: What You Didn’t Hear or When the Narrative Continues.” Community College Humanities Association Midwest Conference Nov 4-6, 2010. Cleveland, OH.
• "The Interdependent Text: Strategies in African Literature for Defying Literary Colonization," American Comparative Literature Association conference at Harvard University, March 26-29, 2009. 
• “Sharing Common Threads: Chedid, Danticat, Roy.” Texts: Pacific, Ancient and Modern Language Association, November 2004, Portland, Oregon. 

Education

• Ph.D. Nineteenth Century French Literature, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 
• M.A. French Literature, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
• B.A. French, Knox College, Galesburg, Illinois 
• Certificate: Teaching Online Using Technology, College of DuPage, 2015 

Awards and Recognitions

• Sabbaticals: 2026 Spring (Developing Public Humanities curriculum at COD), 2019 Fall (Global Education, Stanford Fellow), 2010-11 (Work in Belgium),
• Recipient of Multicultural Professional Development Grant to create and bring an Intercultural Comedy Festival to the College in 2025. Worked in collaboration with Student Life.
• Recipient State Department IDEAS Grant, (with Susan Brown Kerby) for Developing a Model of Study Abroad for underserved students to underserved countries, 2020. Implemented post-COVID 2023.
• EPIC* Fellow Stanford University, 2020-2021. (*Education Partnership for Internationalizing Curriculum). Created an 8-week course for faculty for Professional Development on Globalizing Classes.
• Roads Scholar, Illinois Humanities, (Topic: Native Sons of Illinois: Taft, Nevins, Jackson), 2018 
• Recipient of All-College Outstanding Faculty Award when the nominations were students-driven, 2009-10. (Also nominated for the award in 2006-07, 2007-08, 2021-22) 
• NEH Fellow at the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library: Cartoons of the Gilded Age, 2008. (Of this came an article on Gilded Age Political Cartoons).
• NEH Fellow at the East-West Center: Infusing Asian Studies into the Undergraduate Curriculum, 2005 
• Scholarship to pursue work/study in Belgium awarded by the American Association of Teachers of French (AATF) (Summer, 2003). 

Committees and Service at the College and Beyond

• President, Illinois Community College Faculty Association (2021-25), Faculty Association Executive Board (2007-2013) 
• President, Illinois Community College Faculty Association. Served as the President to an advisory board charted by the state in 1971 to directly advise the Illinois Community College Board on issues relating to community college faculty. (This is not a union). The goals of the board are outreach, professional development, and advocacy on matters of Higher Education.
• Volunteer Docent for the following exhibits held at the Cleve Carney Museum: Frida Kahlo: Timeless, 2021, Andy Warhol Portfolios: A Life in Pop, 2023, Hokusai and Ukiyo-e: The Floating World, 2025
• Global Education Faculty Liaison and Chair, Global Education Committee 2018-2022
• Chair, Women’s Studies Committee (2005-08), (2013-2025) 
• Chair, Humanities Festival (2016-2018)
• Human Library: Organized the first Human Library in DuPage Country with 28 human books who could be checked out by students to learn about a particular point of view (2018). (Yes it was fun. And it was cool).
• Degree Requirements Committee, Faculty Technology Advisory Committee, Division Curriculum Committee, Instruction Committee, Faculty Senate, Constitution Day Committee,
• Chair, Africa and African Diaspora Committee--AADC (2011-2014) (2016-2017) 
• Community College Humanities Association (CCHA) Liaison Officer (2013-2016), Vice-President (2008-09), CCHA Regional Conference Steering Committee, 2006 and CCHA National Conference Steering Committee, 2009