Sadia Abbas

Sadia Abbas is an Associate Professor in the Department of English at Rutgers University, Newark. She is affiliated with the Women's and Gender Studies Program and serves as an Adjunct Professor at the Stavros Niarchos Hellenic Studies Center, Simon Fraser University. Her academic journey includes a B.A. from Wellesley College (1992) and a Ph.D. from Brown University (2002).

Her research spans postcolonial literature, religion in modernity, early modern English literature, and the history of criticism. Key interests include Hellenism, European cultural history, neoliberalism, and contemporary Pakistani art. Abbas is particularly noted for her work on the intersection of Islam and postcolonial theory, as well as gender dynamics in literature.

Notable publications include the novel The Empty Room (2018) and the critical work At Freedom’s Limit (2014), which won the MLA First Book Prize. Her articles explore themes like Daesh’s cultural erasure, transnational Muslim narratives, and the role of art in society.

Awards include the President's Merit Award (2016) and the Board of Trustees Research Fellowship (2014). Abbas teaches courses on postcolonial theory, religion in literature, and decolonization. She has also delivered keynotes and lectures globally, engaging with topics like the refugee crisis in Greece and the political contemporary.