Menu Close

Aleksandra Hadzelek

Lecturer in International Studies, University of Technology Sydney

Aleksandra is originally from Poland where she studied Iberian Studies at the University of Warsaw, with a major in 20th century Spanish literature. Her Master’s thesis on 'La imagen de América en la poesía de la Generación del 27' explored the myth of representation of America as promised land. As a post-graduate researcher in Spain and in the United States where she became a PhD Candidate, she continued working on contemporary Spanish poetry, fiction writing, diaries, memoirs and autobiography. She focused primarily on Spanish writers exiled in Latin America after the Civil War and their representation of exile, uprooting and identity. Since moving to Australia, Aleksandra's research interests focused on historical memory and politics of memory and memorialisation, primarily in the context of post-Franco Spain but also in post-Soviet countries of Central Europe. She is also researching social movements emerging in Spain as a result of the current economic and political situation - in particular the 15-M movement and the mobilisation of the Spanish youth. Re-engaging with her native Poland, she has been working on memories and memorialisations of the escape of Polish Jews in WWII, thus exploring areas such Polish-Jewish relations, national identity and identification, WWII-time policies regarding refugees and community building among refugees.

Experience

  • 2003–present
    Lecturer in Social and Political Change, University Technology Sydney
  • 2001–2002
    Casual Lecturer in Spanish and Latin American Studies, University of Sydney
  • 2001–2002
    Casual Lecturer in Spanish and Latin American Studies, UNSW

Education

  • 1996 
    University of Pittsburgh, MA Hispanic Studies
  • 1989 
    University of Warsaw, MA Iberian Studies