UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Katharina Piechocki, assistant professor in the Department of Comparative Literature at Harvard University, will present “The Rise of the Surface: Cartography, Poetics, and Visual Art across the Early Modern World (France, Germany, Poland)” at 12:15 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 24, in 102 Kern Building.

Piechocki earned a doctorate in comparative literature from New York University in 2013 for a thesis on “Cartographic Humanism” and a doctorate in romance languages from Vienna University in 2009 on the origin of the opera libretto. In 2015-16, Katharina was a Distinguished Junior External Fellow at the Stanford Humanities Center, where she was completing her first book manuscript, “Cartographic Humanism: Defining Early Modern Europe, 1480-1580.” In spring 2017, she will be a scholar in residence at the IFK (Internationales Forschungsinstitut für Kulturwissenschaften) in Vienna, Austria. At Harvard, Katharina is the co-chair (together with Tom Conley) of the Cartography Seminar at the Mahindra Humanities Center.

This event is a part of the Comparative Literature Luncheon lecture series, a weekly, informal lunchtime gathering of students, faculty and other members of the University community. Each week the event begins at 12:15 p.m. — coffee, tea and light lunch fare are provided. At 12:30 p.m. there will be a presentation, by a visitor or a local speaker, on a topic related to any humanities discipline. All students, faculty, colleagues and friends are welcome. For a full list of Comparative Literature lunches, visit http://complit.la.psu.edu/news-events/comp-lit-luncheon-series.