Dr. Vanda Zajko

Biography

Vanda D Zajko is an Associate Professor at the University of Bristol, specializing in Classics and Digital Cultures. Her extensive research interests encompass the reception of classical myth and literature, particularly in the 20th and 21st centuries. Dr. Zajko applies psychoanalytic theory and feminist thought to her studies in literary empathy and has published works on a diverse range of ancient and modern authors, including Homer, Aeschylus, Ovid, Shakespeare, Keats, Melanie Klein, James Joyce, Freud, Mary Shelley, Ted Hughes, Robert Graves, and Neil Gaiman. Currently, she is engaged in projects focusing on globalized cultures and contemporary myth-making, particularly examining Anne Carson's utilization of myth and Simon Armitage's classicism. Dr. Zajko serves as the Programme Director for the interdisciplinary BA and MLib Liberal Arts programmes within the Faculty of Arts. She teaches undergraduate courses on topics such as Sex and Gender, as well as the Receptions of Greek Tragedy and Approaches to Myth. Her course includes a contemporary myth-making project where students collaborate in teams to create modern adaptations of classical myths. In addition, Dr. Zajko supervises PhD students exploring themes such as gender and death in Greek tragedy, as well as the works of Virginia Woolf, Alice Oswald, and Christopher Logue. She is also interested in supervising graduate dissertations on various aspects of the reception of classical myth and literature during the 20th and 21st centuries.

Research Interests

Experience