"Petković’s primary area of interests are the languages and literatures of the Former Yugoslavia, cultural anthropology of the region, and urban studies with a particular interest in recent state and city branding."
Biography
A native of Belgrade, Petković joined the University of Chicago as a Fulbright scholar in the late eighties and prefers to refer to herself as Yugoslav. Her background is in comparative literature and theory of literature at the University of Belgrade, and general and Slavic linguistics at the University of Chicago. Her teaching and research focus on languages and cultures of the Former Yugoslavia, second-language acquisition, cultural anthropology, and urban studies. She has taught and lectured on many topics concerning the rich history of the region and its diverse cultures and traditions, with a particular interest in recent state and city branding. Her projects include the book Balkan Epic: Song, History, Modernity, co-authored with Philip V. Bohlman, a textbook/reader, Po naški through Fiction: A Structural Reader of Bosnian, Croatian, and Serbian Prose, ‘Idemo dalje’: Intermediate B/C/S teaching materials, and other work on language pedagogy and grammar. Her background in comparative literature inspires her love for literary translation and her translation projects. She is the recipient of numerous grants and honors, including Fulbright and Mellon Foundations, Consortium for Language Teaching and Learning, and the University of Chicago.
Petković is currently the President of the North American Society for Serbian Studies (NASSS), a non-profit organization founded in 1978 to advance research in and promote knowledge of Serbian history and culture. NASSS is affiliated with the Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies (ASEEES). Its membership covers a wide academic network of American, Canadian, Australian and European scholars who specialize in Slavic, Balkan and Eurasian studies. It is dedicated to promoting an inclusive and interdisciplinary scholarly community, whose research branches out into related cultures of the Balkans. NASSS main activity is its journal, Serbian Studies, an interdisciplinary, peer-reviewed journal publishing research articles, including original work, archival documents and book reviews, related to any aspect of Serbian social and cultural history. The journal is distributed to almost two hundred libraries in North America and beyond. The Editors welcome innovative approaches and new methodologies in the study of Serbian cultural texts which offer new readings relevant to the contemporary context of global culture.
Publications
- Stories from Around the World, by Vladimir Pištalo, translation from the Serbian, Agora Publisher, September 2023
- Online database “Aspectual Pairs of BCMS Verbs,” http://www.verbaspects.com, launched July 2023
- Miljenko Jergović, Babukić the Vagabond and his Time, book review, Serbian Studies journal, Vol 33/2022, Slavica Publishers, Indiana University
- Dževad Karahasan Solace of the Night Sky, book review, Serbian Studies journal, Vol. 31-2020, Slavica Publishers, Indiana University
- “Chronicle of Hovering,” “Death in Las Vegas,” by Vladimir Pištalo, translation of stories from the Serbian by. Serbian Studies journal, Vol. 31/2020, Slavica Publishers, Indiana University
- Petkovic, Nada. “Phantom of the National Theater” translation of the short story by Aleksandar Gatalica in M. Ivanovic, ed. 2020 Belgrade Noir. Brooklyn, NY: Akashic Books.
- Petkovic, N. “'Po naški' through Fiction: A Structured Reader of Bosnian, Croatian, and Serbian Prose.” (manuscript under review for publication)
- Online database “Aspectual Pairs of Croatian and Serbian Verbs.” 2008.
Previously Taught Courses
- Spaces of Hope: The City and Its Immigrants (Chicago quarter 2019)
- (Re)branding the Balkan City: Belgrade, Sarajevo, Zagreb (one-quarter course)
- Special Topics in Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian (one-quarter course)
- Advanced Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian: Language through Fiction (one-quarter course)
- Advanced Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian: Language through Film (one-quarter course)
- Advanced Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian: Language through Art and Architecture (one-quarter course)
- Second-Year Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian (three-quarter sequence course)
- First-Year Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian (three-quarter sequence course)