Nada Petkovic

A native of Belgrade, Nada Petković joined the University of Chicago as a Fulbright scholar in the late 1980s and prefers to identify as Yugoslav. She was trained in comparative literature and literary theory at the University of Belgrade, and in general and Slavic linguistics at the University of Chicago. Her teaching and research focus on the languages, history and cultures of the former Yugoslavia, cultural anthropology, and urban studies, with particular interest in recent practices of state and city branding.

She has taught and lectured widely on the region’s complex histories and cultural traditions. Her publications include Balkan Epic: Song, History, Modernity (co-authored with Philip V. Bohlman), as well as pedagogical works such as Po naški through Fiction: A Structural Reader of Bosnian, Croatian, and Serbian Prose and Idemo dalje: Intermediate B/C/S teaching materials, alongside additional work in language pedagogy and grammar. Her background in comparative literature also informs her ongoing engagement with literary translation. She has received numerous grants and honors, including awards from the Fulbright Program, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Consortium for Language Teaching and Learning, and the University of Chicago.

Petković currently serves as President of the North American Society for Serbian Studies (NASSS), a non-profit organization founded in 1978 to advance research on Serbian history and culture. Affiliated with the Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies (ASEEES), NASSS brings together an international network of scholars. Its principal activity is the journal Serbian Studies, an interdisciplinary, peer-reviewed publication featuring research articles, archival materials, and book reviews, and distributed to libraries across North America and beyond.