Department of Performing and Digital Arts

Maria Varsamopoulou



Rank
Special Research Personnel

Maria Varsamopoulou has been employed by the University of the Peloponnese since October 2021 as Special Teaching Staff in the Department of Performing and Digital Arts. She is a native speaker of English, having spent her formative years in the USA. She holds a degree in English Language and Literature from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, majoring in literature. Her MA is from the Departments of English Literature/Women's Studies at Lancaster University, her MPhil from the University of Glasgow, and her Ph.D. (with the financial assistance of the Greek State scholarship, I.K.Y.), from the University of Nottingham, Departments of American/Canadian Literature/Critical Theory, with a thesis on Anglo-American Dystopias. She has presented talks and published articles in the areas of contemporary women's literature, 19th-20th century utopia and dystopia, memory and trauma, (self-)sacrifice, friendship, postcolonial literature, neo-slave narratives, and feminist performance. As a TA, she has led seminar groups, teaching Contemporary American Literature, Theatre and Film at Nottingham, Leicester and Nottingham Trent Universities as well as English for Academic Purposes in London (Hackney Community College) and at the University of Birmingham. In Greece she has taught English for Specific Purposes at the Merchant Marine Academy, NATO military corps, The National Organisation of Tourism, and IEK academies for life-long learning. For over a decade, she was an English language examiner for levels B2/C2 (University of Michigan's English Language Certification Exams).

Field
Studies in Utopia and Dystopia and the Teaching of the English Language
Studies
2010, PhD Depts. American/Canadian Studies and Critical Theory, University of Nottingham, UK (Greek State Scholarship)
1997, MPHIL (Research): Depts. English/Centre for the Study of Literature and Theology, University of Glasgow, UK
1992, MA (Coursework): Depts. English and Women’s Studies, Lancaster University, UK
1990, BA: English Language and Philology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece

Keywords: Utopian and Dystopian Studies, Gender and Feminist Theory, American Women Writers, Neo-Slave Narratives and Trauma, English for Academic Purposes
Correlation with courses