Maria Hadjipolycarpou

I am specializing in postcolonial and Mediterranean studies. I earned my Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from the University of Michigan, where I began my inquiry into the deep intersections of autobiography, politics, and narrative communities. My research is centered on the Eastern Mediterranean, specifically looking at how religion, modernity, and the state interact to shape our sense of self. I am particularly interested in how themes of class, gender, and "islandness" inform Mediterranean literature, and I extend this curiosity to global studies across Africa, Asia, and the Americas, exploring the tensions between orality, literacy, and textuality. 

I have presented my research extensively across the United States, Canada, and Europe and have actively organized panels for MLA, ACLA, and MGSA. Before joining Illinois, I was a Visiting Fellow at the Center for European and Mediterranean Studies at New York University (2016-2017) and a James A. Winn Graduate Student Fellow at the Institute for the Humanities at the University of Michigan (2013-2014). I taught at Columbia University (2014 - 2017) and at The City University of New York, Queens College (2017- 2019). 

I am an elected member of the MLA Comparative Literary and Cultural Studies Forum on Mediterranean Studies. I am an organizer of the Arthur G. Nikelly and John S. Latsis public lectures (2019-current).