Mariana Akawi is a doctoral student in the Department of English at the University of Pennsylvania, specializing in novel theory, postcolonial literature, and Victorian studies. She is especially interested in tracing the registers of multilingualism, realism, and the coming-of-age plot in nineteenth-century and postcolonial Anglophone novels. Her research constantly draws from narratology and archival theory. 

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. She is currently an Auerbach Fellow in Victorian Studies.

At Penn and beyond, Mariana has taught or TAed for various courses, including African-American Literature, Asian-American Literature, Academic English, and Theory and Criticism. In addition, at Haifa, she served as a mentor to Arab and/or first-generation students, helping them acclimate to the university environment.