Dr. Sophia Mo

Biography

Sophia Mo is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures at the University of Michigan. She holds a Ph.D. in French Comparative Literature from Columbia University, as well as an M.A. in French Romance Philology and a B.A. in French, International Relations, and Economics from Wellesley College. Her research interests include comparative literature, gender studies, (post-)colonialism, and translation theory, with a focus on twentieth-century periodical print culture in North Africa. Currently, she is working on a book project titled 'Rescripting Liberation Margins', which examines the intersection of women’s emancipation and global anticolonial struggle during the 1950s and 60s. Through her analysis of transnational Arabic and French-language periodicals from Algeria, Professor Mo documents the pivotal role of women in constructing postcolonial nations within the broader context of the 'Third World'. She particularly focuses on female writers and performers who inscribe women's historical narratives against the backdrop of patriarchal nationalist discourse. Her research has been supported by grants from institutions such as the American Council of Learned Societies, the U.S. Department of Education, and the American Institute for Maghrib Studies.

Research Interests

Experience