Hala Halim

Hala Halim is an Associate Professor of Comparative Literature and Director of the Comparative Approaches to the Literatures of Africa, the Middle East, and the Global South (CALAMEGS) Advanced Certificate at New York University. She holds a Ph.D. from UCLA, an M.A. from the American University in Cairo, and a B.A. from Alexandria University. Her work critically examines cosmopolitanism, postcolonial theory, and transnational cultural networks, with a focus on Arabic, English, and Anglophone literatures.

Her research interrogates Eurocentric narratives of cosmopolitanism through studies of Alexandria's cultural history and the Afro-Asian Writers' Association's Lotus journal. She has authored Alexandrian Cosmopolitanism: An Archive (2013), translated into Arabic in 2023, and edited volumes including translations of Egyptian novelist Mahmoud Al-Wardani and playwright Bernard de Zogheb.

Her scholarly awards include a National Endowment for the Humanities-funded fellowship (2021-2022), the American Comparative Literature Association’s Harry Levin Prize (2014), and the Egyptian State Incentive Award for Translation (2006). She serves on editorial boards for Modernism/modernity and Global South Studies, and has guest-edited special issues on 'Literature and Journalism.'

Halim’s current projects explore postcolonial cosmopolitanism and South-South comparatism, with a focus on Third World internationalism and cultural solidarity. Her work bridges literary analysis with activism, emphasizing marginalized voices and decolonial methodologies.