Mariana Akawi is a doctoral student in the Department of English at the University of Pennsylvania, specializing in novel theory,  empire and postcolonial studies, and Victorian literature. She is especially interested in tracing the circulation and dissimination of the English language and the registers of multilingualism across varying Anglophone contexts, particularly, though not exclusively, in South Asia. Mariana is interested in bringing together research on the novel genre with discourses around language, the archive and the museum, periodicals, and gender.

Mariana received a BA in English and Political Sciences and an MA in English Literature from the University of Haifa, both summa cum laude. There, she was the recipient of the Council for Higher Education Excellence Fellowship for Arab Students, as well as of the New Questions in Postcolonial Studies Fellowship. At Haifa, Mariana worked as a Teaching Assistant for the introductory Theory and Criticism course. In addition, she had previously taught an English for Academic Purposes class to non-native speakers of the language, and served as a mentor to Arab and/or first-generation students, helping them acclimate to the university environment.

For the 2025-2026 year, Mariana is an Auerbach fellow in Victorian Studies. She is also the GEA’s workshop coordinator.