undergraduate

• American Literature (87898) - Lecturer in charge

doctoral

• Multiculturalism and the Novel (276860) - Lecturer in charge

Biography - Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sc. Gordan Matas

I was born in 1969 in Split. In 1994, I graduated from the Faculty of Philosophy in Zagreb with a degree in English Language and Literature, teaching major, with a thesis entitled "Metaphor as a Part of Everyday Life" written under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Milena Žic-Fuchs. In 2005, I received my master's degree from the Faculty of Philosophy in Zagreb with a thesis entitled Ethnicity and Identity in the Novels of Amy Tan under the supervision of my mentor Željka Švrljuga from the University of Bergen (Norway). Before the committee consisting of Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sc. Jelena Šesnić (President of the Committee), Prof. Dr. Sc. Stipe Grgas (mentor and member of the Committee) and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sc. Ivan Matković (Commission member) on December 21, 2010, I defended my doctoral thesis entitled Historical and Political Aspects of Emotional Structures in the Novels of Zora Neale Hurston and Toni Morrison, and thus obtained the academic degree of Doctor of Science in the scientific field of humanities, philology, branch of English studies. I am the recipient of the prestigious international scientific scholarships A Foreign Language That Unites (2004/2005) for research work at the University of Bergen in Norway, the American Fulbright scholarship for pre-doctoral research at Northwestern University in Chicago (2006/2007), and the Canadian Faculty Enrichment Program scholarship (2008) for research work at the Universities of Toronto and Montreal.

Since October 1, 2003, I have been employed at the Department of English Language and Literature at the Faculty of Philosophy in Split. During the aforementioned period, I have taught the following courses: Early American Literature, 20th and 21st Century American Literature, American Literature, Multiculturalism, Identity, Literature: Canada and the USA, African-American Novel, Society and Culture of the USA, Introduction to the Study of Literature, and Translation Practices. I have participated in presentations at about thirty international conferences in the country and abroad. I gave a plenary lecture at the Fulbright Conference in Chicago on May 19, 2007, entitled Ethnicity in the United States. In addition, I have given invited lectures: Political and Social Aspects in the Novels of Toni Morrison at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia on March 7, 2017, The Ever-Changing Character of Canadian Literature at the University of Graz on May 12, 2010, and Multiculturalism and Re-visioning of Experience at the University of Maribor on July 2, 2008. I am registered in the Croatian National Register of Scientists under the number CroRIS ID 581.

Until 2003, I worked as a lecturer at the University of Split's Professional Studies Department (2002/2003), as an instructor of Croatian at the Language Resort Center foreign language school (1995-2002) in Darmstadt (Germany), and as a professor of English language and literature (1994-1995) at the private foreign language school Octopus in Zagreb.

My research interests include American literature and culture, African American studies, ethnic and multicultural studies, contemporary postcolonial theory and literature, feminist theory, and Canadian studies.

I have published two scholarly monographs: Amy Tan: Novels, ethnicity, and identity. Split: Faculty of Philosophy, University of Split, 2022, and Toni Morrison: Literature at the crossroads of American politics and history. Split: Faculty of Philosophy, University of Split, 2021. In addition, I am the author of a number of scholarly articles, as well as two editorial books: Social and Cultural Implications of Multiculturalism - Implications Sociales et Culturelles du Multiculturalisme / Kostadinov, Biljana ; Matas, Gordan (ed.) Split: Faculty of Philosophy, University of Split ; Croatian-Canadian Academic Society, 2011, and Migration, Globalization, Hybridity: Canadian and Croatian Experiences - Migration, Globalisation, Hybridite: Experiences Canadiennes et Croates Kostadinov, Biljana ; Matas, Gordan (ed.) Zagreb : Split: Faculty of Philosophy, University of Split ; Croatian-Canadian Academic Society, 2011.

I have held numerous administrative and scientific positions at the Faculty of Philosophy in Split: Vice-Dean for Science and International Cooperation (2017-2020), Head of the Department of English Studies (2015-2017), and Head of the Department of Literature (2023 to present). In addition, I have participated in the work of the Commission for the Recognition of Foreign Qualifications at the Ministry of Science and Education.
Send feedback