West Chester University Community Remembers & Celebrates Professor Emerita Geetha Ramanathan
West Chester University honored the memory of admired and respected Professor Emerita
of Comparative Literature and Women’s Studies Geetha Ramanathan, who died March 22,
2023 at New York-Presbyterian Hospital in New York City. West Chester University colleagues,
friends, family, and members of the community gathered on campus in the Special Collections
department of The Francis Harvey Green Library on Thursday, October 26, to pay tribute
to the long-time educator who was known as an international scholar, award-winning
author, community activist, beloved professor and mentor, and, as named in 2022, one
of West Chester University’s 150 most influential women.
Organized by University colleagues, the standing-room-only memorial service celebrated the legacy of Professor Ramanathan, who taught at the University from 1987 until her retirement in 2020. Throughout the ceremony, colleagues, former students, graduate assistants, and more spoke lovingly of a woman who had made an indelible impression on their minds, hearts and lives.
Long-time colleague, Professor Emeritus of English and Founding Director of the Frederick Douglass Institute James Trotman addressed those gathered and spoke of Professor Ramanathan’s “collaborative nature, vision of a complex world and her sense of humanity.” Following the reading of a passage from one of the many books she authored, he added, “You could hope with her, share and debate with her, and grow with her. You could color her human — color her Geetha.”
Professor Emerita of English Judy Scheffler, an office mate of Professor Ramanathan for many years in Main Hall, Room 530, had been equally touched by the scholar’s humanity. “She was my confidante. We shared the news of life…. She never failed to impress me with her deeply human understanding of her students’ circumstances. She recognized her students’ potential and she worked to foster that potential.”
One former student and graduate assistant, Vicki Kereszi, shared a story about the potential that Professor Ramanathan saw in her very early on during a class in feminist film. Opting to produce a film instead of a paper for an assignment, Ms. Kereszi mentioned the vulnerability she felt when she showed the class her final project. Vicki remembered when Professor Ramanathan called her after class to encourage her to pursue the field of film. Vicki, who followed that advice and went on to study film at NYU, is now a professional filmmaker who credits Professor Ramanathan with changing her life.
Vicki said of Professor Ramanathan’s memory, “You live in my film, in my heart and the feminist ether of the world. Rest in peace.”
Among the many attending the service to honor Professor Ramanathan’s impact at West Chester University was Jen Bacon, dean of the College of Arts and Humanities. “Dr. Ramanathan made a lasting impression on all that knew her, and those of us who had the opportunity to work with her are deeply grateful for the long-lasting contributions that she made to our University, our College, her department, and, most importantly, to our students. She inspired thousands to pursue the humanities, to invest in feminist scholarship, to think deeply about film, and to challenge assumptions about issues of representation while guiding their pursuit of graduate degrees,” said Dean Bacon.
“She was instrumental in my own journey here as a teacher and scholar, and I am forever grateful for the ways she pushed my thinking,” Dean Bacon added. “She was an outstanding scholar, with six books over her truly impressive career here. Her memory will live on through the many she motivated in classes that prompted thoughtful and reflective discussions about comparative literature, feminist film and African American film. Her legacy will always remain with us.”
The Life of Professor Geetha Ramanathan
Born July 31, 1956 in Madras (Chennai), India, Geetha Ramanathan was the daughter of K.V. Ramanathan and Radha Ramanathan (née Rajagopalan). She grew up in Madras and Bombay (Mumbai), India. She graduated from St. Joseph’s School, received a bachelor’s degree in English Literature from Stella Maris College, Madras, and earned a master’s degree in English Literature from Bombay University. She moved to the U.S. in 1980 and earned her Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 1987. After moving to West Chester following the receipt of her doctorate degree, she served as professor of comparative literature and women’s studies at West Chester University, where she worked until her retirement in 2020; she was conferred emerita status in 2021.
While at the University, Professor Ramanathan pioneered diverse course offerings, including those related to world literature, Black film and feminist texts. She also spearheaded the establishment of the Madelyn Gutwirth Women’s Studies Endowment and was chair of the Committee of Social Equity. She acted as coordinator of comparative literature, director of women’s studies, and director and facilitator of the Curriculum Integration Project. In 2004-2005, she was named Fulbright Distinguished Chair of Gender Studies at the University of Klagenfurt in Austria. In 2022, upon the occasion of West Chester University’s 150th anniversary, she was named one of the 150 most influential women in the University’s history.
As a recognized and acclaimed author, Professor Ramanathan’s award-winning publications included Post-colonial Intertexts: Hierarchies of Modernism (2023), Kathleen Collins: The Black Essai Film (2020), The Female in German Modernisms (2019), Locating Gender in Modernism (2012), Feminist Auteurs (2006), as well as Sexual Politics and the Male Playwright (1996).