معرفی
Sunil Agnani is an Associate Professor with a joint appointment in the Department of English and the Department of History at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), within the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. He served as Director of Graduate Studies in English (2017-2018) and held fellowships including the Rice University Humanities Research Center (2014-2015) and UIC’s Institute for the Humanities (2016-2017). His research bridges 18th-century British and French literature, Enlightenment thought, colonialism, and postcolonial theory.
Central to his work is the intersection of colonialism and Enlightenment ideas, exemplified by his award-winning book Hating Empire Properly (2013), which explores anticolonial thought’s limits. His publications analyze figures like Edmund Burke and Denis Diderot, addressing themes such as ressentiment in colonial contexts, decolonization impasses, and the global reach of Enlightenment debates.
Research interests include the European Enlightenment’s literary and political dimensions, postcolonial theory, and critical engagements with colonial history. Awards include the Harry Levin Prize for Best First Book (2014). His interdisciplinary approach spans literary criticism, political theory, and historical analysis, reflecting a commitment to rethinking colonial and postcolonial frameworks.
Recent articles (e.g., 2022’s boundary 2 contribution) engage with Hannah Arendt’s On Revolution and Burke’s legacy in decolonial thought. His work underscores tensions between Enlightenment ideals and colonial realities, emphasizing the need for critical re-evaluations of imperial narratives.
