Sandra Naddaff

Sandra Naddaff is a Senior Lecturer on Comparative Literature at Harvard University, where she serves as the Director of Undergraduate Studies and Dean of the Harvard Summer School. Her work bridges multilingual literary studies and media history within the Department of Comparative Literature.

Education:

• A.B., Harvard College (1975)
• Graduate work, American University in Cairo (1975-77)
• A.M., Harvard University (1978)
• Ph.D., Harvard University (1983)

Nadaff’s research focuses on cross-cultural literary relations between the Arab Middle East and Western Europe, with a particular emphasis on the 1001 Nights. She explores themes such as narrative structure, translation, and the intersection of literature with music, drawing on English, French, and Arabic literary traditions.

Her publications, including the monograph Arabesque and critical essays on the 1001 Nights, analyze narrative repetition, cultural hybridity, and reverse Orientalism. These works highlight structural and thematic interconnections in global literary traditions.