Jeff Sacks

Jeff Sacks is an Associate Professor and Chair in Comparative Literature and Arabic at the University of California, Riverside. He holds a Ph.D. from Columbia University (2006) in Arabic and Comparative Literature. His research spans poetics, philology, medieval Arabic philosophy, Arab Jewish writing, colonialism, and the question of Palestine. He has been awarded the Harry Levin Prize for his book Iterations of Loss (2015).

His educational background includes studies in Cairo, Beirut, Ann Arbor, Austin, and New York. Current projects include Simplicities: A Colonial Archive and For Decolonization: The Lyric Poem and the Question of Palestine. His publications explore intersections between Arabic literature, postcolonial theory, and decolonial thought.

• Key research areas: Philology, Palestinian sovereignty, medieval Arabic philosophy, colonial archives
• Notable works: Iterations of Loss, translations of Mahmoud Darwish

Recent articles engage topics like Fanon’s legacy, the politics of Palestinian death, and decolonial methodologies in literary analysis. His teaching emphasizes critical engagement with Arabic texts and global literatures.

He actively participates in academic activism around Palestine solidarity, including debates over the Modern Language Association’s stance on boycott movements.