Antonia Szabari

Antonia Szabari is a Professor of French and Comparative Literature at the University of Southern California. Her academic roles include interim director of the Program in Comparative Studies in Literatures and Cultures and organizational leadership in conferences like 'Early Modern French Diplomacy and Theater.' Her research spans early modern French literature, ecocriticism, plant studies, and gender theory, with a focus on vegetal ontologies and interspecies ethics.

Education:

• Ph.D. in French Literature, Johns Hopkins University (2005)

Research Interests: Her work explores the intersection of literature and natural history, particularly how plants shape political and social thought. Key projects include *Less Rightly Said* (2010), analyzing satire in early modern France; *Radical Botany* (2019, with Natania Meeker), linking botany to queer theory; and *Agents without Empire* (2024), examining race-making in pre-colonial France. She has curated exhibitions like 'French Travelers to the East' (2012) at the Huntington Art Collections.

Publications & Awards:

• Recipient of fellowships from Radcliffe Institute, Huntington Library, and USC.
• Author of three monographs and numerous articles on early modern literature, plant studies, and ecocriticism.
• Awarded the 2019 Science Fiction and Technoculture Studies Book Prize for *Radical Botany*.

Grants & Service:

• USC Early Modern Studies Institute Fellowship for *Agents without Empire*.
• Service roles: MLA Executive Committee on 16th-Century French Literature, conference organizer, and professional memberships in Renaissance and Early Modern Studies societies.

Labs/Teams: Collaborations include partnerships with Natania Meeker on botanical projects and interdisciplinary initiatives in environmental humanities and comparative literature.