Research and Publications

Participation in Conferences (Presentations in American and Canadian Studies)

2019.

  • Oklopčić, Biljana. Lying and Related Fictions, Freiburg, Germany (15-16 February 2019), with the presentation “When anything gets to be a habit, it also manages to get a right good distance away from truth and fact”: Lie and Truth, Fiction and Reality in William Faulkner’s Light in August
  • Oklopčić, Biljana. 9th International Research Conference Child and Language: Child and Linguistic Identity, Osijek, Croatia (12-14 September 2019), with the presentation Children and Identity in Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, co-authored with Izabela Potnar Mijić
  • Oklopčić, Biljana. Transatlantic Dreams: Understanding Central European Immigration to Canada, Halifax, Canada (27-30 October 2019), with the presentation Stereotypes of Central European Immigrants in Popular Fiction and Its Adaptations: A Case Study of The Murdoch Mysteries
  • Poljak Rehlicki, Jasna. Influence, Desinformation and Power in Europe and the Americas, Université de Caen, Normandy, France (17-19 January 2019), with the presentation The Power of War and the War for Power. The Image of American Soldiers in Mailer’s The Naked and the Dead and Heller’s Catch 22
  • Runtić, Sanja. 5th International Conference on English Language and Anglophone Literatures Today (ELALT 5), Novi Sad, Serbia (9 March 2019), with the presentation “Playing Indian” in European Cinema

 

2021.

  • Matek, Ljubica and Jasna Poljak Rehlicki. 10th Workshop of the Croatian Association for American Studies – Tracing Populism in the U.S. and Comparative Perspective (25 September 2021), with the presentation “The Image of a Nation in Angie Thomas’s The Hate U Give (2017)”
  • Runtić, Sanja. Mid-Atlantic Popular and American Culture Association Annual Conference; Lansdowne, PA, USA / online (10–13 November 2021), with the presentation “‘Going Native’ from an Intercultural Perspective: The Case of Winnetou”
  • Runtić, Sanja. “Narrating Lives” International Conference on Storytelling, (Auto)Biography and (Auto)Ethnography; London Centre for Interdisciplinary Research, London, United Kingdom / online (28–29 August 2021), with the presentation “Redefining Autobiography in Leslie Marmon Silko’s Storyteller”
  • Runtić, Sanja and Ivana Drenjančević. Breaking Boundaries: Reimagining Borders in Postcolonial and Migrant Studies; The Centre for Migration and Postcolonial Studies, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, United Kingdom / online (3 September 2021), with the presentation “Francisco Cantú’s Poetics of Relationality”
  • Runtić, Sanja and Ivana Drenjančević. International Conference on Film Studies: “The Anatomy of Cinematic Identities”; London Centre for Interdisciplinary Research, London, United Kingdom / online (31 July – 1 August 2021), with the presentation “Native American Cinematic Identity in the Global Context”
  • Runtić, Sanja and Ivana Drenjančević. Caméra Stylo 4 Conference “Transnational Screens: Global Literature and Cinema”; University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia / online (14–16 July 2021), with the presentation “Indigenous (Mis)Representation in Cinema: Transnational Perspectives”
  • Zlomislić, Jadranka, Katarina Šijaković and Mato Matijević. 35th International Conference of the Croatian Applied Linguistics Society – Language in the Digital Environment (9–11 September 2021), with the presentation “Bridging the Digital Divide: Participation Inequality in Croatia”

 

2022.

  • Markasović, Valentina. “The Contemporary Values of a Romance Heroine: The Case of Bridgerton.” Gender Equality: Global Challenges and Perspectives. Bucharest, 12-14 May 2022, online.
  • Markasović, Valentina. “Ecocriticism in Rick Riordan’s Mythological Series.” International Doctoral Conference: Sustainable Development – Challenges for the Future in Research, Osijek, 26-27 May 2022.
  • Markasović, Valentina. “Summer School ‘Global Crises and Multiple Transitions.'” Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTh), Greece, 25 June 2022, online.
  • Markasović, Valentina. “Subversion of Gender Stereotypes in Holly Black’s The Folk of the Air Trilogy.” Breaking Stereotypes in American Popular Culture, Osijek, 9-10 September 2022.
  • Markasović, Valentina. “Constructing Diversity: Alternative History in Netflix’s Bridgerton.” See and Be Seen: An Interdisciplinary Conference on Storytelling and Identity in Popular Culture, Auckland, 13–14 September 2022, Popular Culture Research Centre, online.
  • Oklopčić, Biljana. ”The Southern Belle Myth in the Golden Age of Hollywood.” Southern Studies Forum 2022: The Spirit(s) of the South, Krakow, May 26-28, 2022.
  • Oklopčić, Biljana, and Vedran Domjanović. “High School Stereotypes in Thirteen Reasons Why: Victims, Bullies, and Parents.” Breaking Stereotypes in American Popular Culture, Osijek, September 9-10, 2022.
  • Oklopčić, Biljana, and Sanja Jukić. “’What an old country, timeless’: The Emplotment of Southern Cultural Codes in Tennessee Williams’s South.” The Twelfth International Interdisciplinary Symposium Encounter of Cultures, Novi Sad, December 1, 2022.
  • Matek, Ljubica, and Jelena Pataki. “The Abuse of Language in Twentieth Century British Dystopias.” Language, Literature, Power 2022, 6-7 May 2022, University of Niš, Serbia, online.
  • Pataki, Jelena. “Summer School ‘Global Crises and Multiple Transitions.'” Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTh), Greece, 25 June 2022, online.
  • Pataki Šumiga, Jelena. “Encanto: Everyday Hero(in)es and the Power of (Colombian) Community.” Breaking Stereotypes in American Popular Culture, 9-10 September 2022, University of Osijek, Croatia.
  • Pataki Šumiga, Jelena. “Let Me Be: Are the Finale of Seem: Storytelling and Identity in Ruby Sparks (2012).” See and Be Seen: An Interdisciplinary Conference on Storytelling and Identity in Popular Culture, 13–14 September 2022, Popular Culture Research Centre, Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand, online.
  • Poljak Rehlicki, Jasna. “Go West; Myths and Heroes in Kerouac’s On the Road.” Invited lecture at the conference Youth Conference on Language, Literature and Education: Joining Forces to Build a Better World, Sarajevo, September 30, 2022.
  • Zlomislić, Jadranka and Szélpál, Lívia Klára. “Breaking Stereotypes across Cultures: The Croatian and Hungarian Stereotypical Representations of American Culture” Breaking Stereotypes in American Popular Culture, Osijek, September 9-10, 2022.

2023.

  • Markasović, Valentina. “Media Language as a Political Instrument in The Hunger Games and Red Queen.” Media, American Culture, and Global Perspective: Images, Ideas, and Illusion. Rijeka, March 31, 2023.
  • Pataki Šumiga, Jelena. “Give Us Our Daily Dread”: Dystopian Traces in the COVID-19 Media Discourse.” Media, American Culture, and Global Perspective: Images, Ideas, and Illusion. Rijeka, March 31, 2023.
  • Poljak Rehlicki, Jasna. “War Blogs: Alternative Media in Narrating the War.” Media, American Culture, and Global Perspective: Images, Ideas, and Illusion, Rijeka, March 31, 2023.
  • Zlomislić, Jadranka. “Analysis of the News and Social-Media Coverage of the British Royal Family: Views May Vary.” Media, American Culture, and Global Perspective: Images, Ideas, and Illusion, Rijeka, March 31, 2023.

2025.

  • Markasović, Valentina. ““Fairest of Them All”: Exploitation of People in Snow White and the Huntsman (2012) and Snow White (2025).” Mediating Violence: Popular Culture and Contemporary Adaptations, 5 and 6 June 2025, Osijek.
  • Matek, Ljubica. “The Culture of Beauty and Pain: Self-Harm in The Substance.” Mediating Violence: Popular Culture and Contemporary Adaptations, 5 and 6 June 2025, Osijek.
  • Oklopčić, Biljana. “Does It End with Us?: Interpersonal Violence in/around Colleen Hoover’s It Ends with Us and Its Film Adaptation.” Mediating Violence: Popular Culture and Contemporary Adaptations, 5 and 6 June 2025, Osijek.
  • Pataki Šumiga, Jelena. “Love in the Time of Dystopia: Yorgos Lanthimos’ The Lobster (2015).” Mediating Violence: Popular Culture and Contemporary Adaptations, 5 and 6 June 2025, Osijek.
  • Poljak Rehlicki, Jasna. “The Spectacle of Violence and Trauma in Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk.” Mediating Violence: Popular Culture and Contemporary Adaptations, 5 and 6 June 2025, Osijek.
  • Pataki Šumiga, Jelena. “Food Symbolism in Bridgerton: Family Bonding, Desire, and Virginity.“ Conquers All: Exploring the Pop Culture Phenomenon of Bridgerton, POPCrN, Australia, January 29-31, 2025 (online)

 

Mobility

2019.

  • Matek, Ljubica. Erasmus+ teaching mobility at the Department of English Literature and Creative Writing, Lancaster University, UK (February 2019)
  • Matek, Ljubica. Erasmus+ training mobility at the Department of English Studies, Complutense University of Madrid, Spain (September 2019)
  • Oklopčić, Biljana. Erasmus+ training mobility at Instituto Benjamin Franklin de la Universidad de Alcalá de Henares, Spain (July 2019)
  • Poljak Rehlicki, Jasna. Erasmus+ teaching mobility at the Department of English, Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia (April 2019)

 

2021.

  • Pejić, Luka. Erasmus+ training mobility at the International Institute of Social History, Amsterdam, Netherlands (September 2021)

 

2022.

  • Oklopčić, Biljana. Instituto Universitario de Investigación de Estudios de Género de Universidad de Alicante, Alicante, Spain, July 1-31, 2022
  • Oklopčić, Biljana. Centre for the Study of the Literatures and Cultures of Slavery, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark, September 16-29, 2022
  • Podboj, Martina. University of Alberta, Canada (Postdoctoral Fellowship, August 20 – September 20, 2022)
  • Runtić, Sanja. Centro Studi Americani, Rome, Italy, April 3-17, 2022
  • Zlomislić, Jadranka. Department of English Language and Culture, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Pécs; University of Pécs Library; South Transdanubian Regional Library and Knowledge Centre; American Corner Pécs, Hungary, February 21-26, 2022

2023.

  • Poljak Rehlicki, Jasna. Scientists in Residence Program, 4-31 July 2023, Salzburg, Austria

 

2025.

  • Poljak Rehlicki, Jasna. 4th International Week, UNAM, Gran Canaria, Spain, 24-27 September 2025.

Projects

2019. –

  • Oklopčić, Biljana – project reviewer for The American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia from 2013 to the present
  • Runtić, Sanja. Following (in) Winnetou’s Footsteps: Representations of Canadian Indigeneity in Central Europe // Research project of the Central European Association for Canadian Studies (CEACS), project leader Klára Kolinská, PhD (Metropolitan University Prague, Czech Republic)

2022. –

North American Literatures and Cultures in the Croatian and European Context – Project of the Centre for North American Studies (project leader Jasna Poljak Rehlicki; collaborators Valentina Markasović, Barbara Kružić Jovičić and Jelena Pataki Šumiga)

  • The aim of this multi-year activity is to examine existing approaches to intercultural translation and select the most appropriate one / devise a new approach through the translation of nine American plays that will be published in two volumes in the Anthology of Affirmative American Drama. In 2025, the fourth year of this project, the plan is to proofread all selected plays, systematize terminology and translations, edit the manuscript of the Anthology and write the forewords. The main research question of the project is how to approach the translation of American dramatic texts dealing with issues that are not widely represented in Croatia, such as race, sexual orientation, immigrants and health issues such as severe obesity. The question of appropriation also arises (and to what extent it should be used) in order to bring the source text and translation closer to Croatian audiences, particularly when the time of publication of the plays is taken into account, i.e. how best to present the text to a modern reader. The project hypothesis is that the process of transferring cultural and literary paradigms from the North American to the Croatian context is almost always two-way because, by shaping attitudes and perceptions of the source culture, it simultaneously opens up space for intercultural criticism and dialogue.

    Translated and Proofread Plays

  • Kaufman and Moss, U grob ništa ne nosiš (You Can’t Take it With You), 1936.
  • Thornton Wilder, Naš grad (Our Town), 1937.
  • Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse, Život s ocem (Life With Father) 1939.
  • John Van Druten, Sjećam se mame (I Remember Mama), 1944.
  • William Gibson, Čudotvorka (The Miracle Worker), 1958.
  • Leonard Gershe, Leptiri su slobodni (Butterflies are Free) 1969.
  • Craig Lucas, Preludij za poljubac (Prelude to a Kiss), 1988.
  • Richard Kalinoski, Zvijer Na Mjesecu (Beast on the Moon) 1995.
  • Margaret Edson, Dosjetka (Wit), 1998.
  • Samuel D. Hunter, Kit (The Whale), 2012.

2025.

  • The Language of Desire in Literature and Culture (581-UNIOS-60): Institutional research project of Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, funded under source 581 – Recovery and Resilience Facility (project leader Biljana Oklopčić; collaborators Ivana Buljubašić Srb, PhD, Senior Assistant, Asst. Prof. Tomislav Dagen, PhD, Asst. Prof. Tihana Lubina, PhD, Assoc. Prof. Ljubica Matek, PhD, Prof. Biljana Oklopčić, PhD, Jelena Pataki Šumiga, PhD, Assistant, Assoc. Prof. Jasna Poljak Rehlicki, PhD, Prof. Ružica Pšihistal, PhD, Assoc. Prof. Jadranka Zlomislić, PhD, Romana Čačija, Senior Lecturer, Asst. Prof. Stephanie Jug, PhD, Assoc. Prof. Sanja Jukić, PhD, Assoc. Prof. Sonja Novak, PhD, Asst. Prof. Ivana Perkušić, PhD, Prof. Ivan Trojan, PhD)
  • COST Action CA24137 Literary Multilingualism and Social Transformations in Superdiverse Societies (Biljana Oklopčić, collaborator and Management Committee member)
  • Internal research project Violence in Contemporary Adaptations and Popular Culture (project leader Jelena Pataki Šumiga, PhD; collaborators: Assoc. Prof. Ljubica Matek, PhD, and assistants Valentina Markasović and Zvonimir Prtenjača; Prof. Kamilla Elliott, PhD, Lancaster University, UK, and Assoc. Prof. Matthew Leggatt, PhD, University of Winchester, UK), 1 October 2024–30 September 2025.
    https://www.ffos.unios.hr/filozofski-fakultet-u-osijeku-financira-projekt-mlade-znanstvenice-nasilje-u-suvremenim-adaptacijama-i-popularnoj-kulturi/

Science Popularization

2019.

  • Matek, Ljubica. Organized and participated in the research colloquium 1960s in Their Fifties / 1960-te pedeset godina poslije, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Osijek, 15 May 2019, as part of the Kliofest history festival.
  • Matek, Ljubica. As part of Kliofest, organized a guest lecture by Dr Jason Hansen from Furman University, Greenville, South Carolina, entitled “Beyond Sex, Drugs and Rock n’ Roll: Remembering Other Aspects of 1960s America”.
  • Oklopčić, Biljana, Andrej Labudić and Zvonimir Prtenjača. Presentation of the collection The Student’s Pen Shapes Beauty: Creative Writing in the BA Literature Classroom. 26 June 2019 at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Osijek.
  • Pejić, Luka. “Crvena Rosa – život za revoluciju u stripu.” Popular-science article published on the Vox Feminae portal on 22 July 2019.
  • Pejić, Luka. “Zaboravljena povijest seksualnih zločina u Drugom svjetskom ratu” – interview with American historian Wendy Jo Gertjejanssen on the Vox Feminae portal, 24 October 2019.
  • Poljak Rehlicki, Jasna. Co-leader of the science popularization project Open Thursday at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Osijek

 

2020.

  • Zlomislić, Jadranka. Cooperation with the Glotta Association as part of the courses American Culture and Civilization and British Culture and Civilization
  • Pejić, Luka. Co-leader of the science popularization project Open Thursday at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Osijek

 

2021.

  • Oklopčić, Biljana. “English Is Power”, online lecture/panel, American Corner Osijek, 27 October 2021.
  • Pejić, Luka. “Gender and Punishment: Female Criminality in the 19th Century”, public lecture organized by American Corner Osijek, 31 March 2021.
  • Pejić, Luka. Co-leader of the science popularization project Open Thursday at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Osijek
  • Zlomislić, Jadranka. Cooperation with the Glotta Association as part of the courses American Culture and Civilization and British Culture and Civilization

 

2022.

  • Božić, Kristina, and Biljana Oklopčić. “Kreativno pisanje kao metoda feminističke pedagogije” (workshop), FFOS Science Week, 2022.
  • Matek, Ljubica, and Valentina Markasović, Jelena Pataki Šumiga, Zvonimir Prtenjača. “Is Everything Really Awesome? The Lego Movie as a Dystopian Parody” (poster). FFOS Science Week, 2022.
  • Matek, Ljubica, and Valentina Markasović, Jelena Pataki Šumiga, Zvonimir Prtenjača. “Is Everything Really Awesome? The Lego Movie as a Dystopian Parody.” Fractals blog, Centre for Popular Culture, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Osijek, online, 2022.
  • Markasović, Valentina. “The Bridgerton Regency: Racial and Cultural Equality in Alternative History.” Fractals blog, Centre for Popular Culture, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Osijek, online, 2022.
  • Pataki Šumiga, Jelena. Interview with Laini Taylor. Liburnicon, SF and Fantasy Festival, 12-13 August 2022, Opatija, Croatia.
  • Pejić, Luka. Panel discussion marking the 100th anniversary of historian Howard Zinn’s birth (6 December 2022)

2025.

  • Poljak Rehlicki, Jasna. “The F Word: From the Feminine Mistique to Bad Feminist.” – invited lecture organized by the Glotta English Studies Students’ Association, May 13, 2025, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Osijek.
  • Poljak Rehlicki, Jasna. “Fahrenheit 451 and Knjiga Iskupljenja – Books as Renewable Sources of Energy.” Workshop for students of II Gymnasium Osijek as part of the Science Festival, 23 June 2025.

 

Publications by Centre Members in American and Canadian Studies

Authored Books

2019.

  • Runtić, Sanja. Vrijeme buđenja: (De)konstrukcija ženskog subjektiviteta u američkoj fikcionalnoj prozi na prijelazu iz 19. u 20. stoljeće. Osijek: Filozofski fakultet, 2019. ISBN: 978-953-314-125-1.

 

2021.

  • Oklopčić, Biljana. Mit i stereotip u djelima Williama Faulknera. Osijek: Filozofski fakultet, 2021. ISBN: 978-953-314-149-7.

 

2022.

  • Gruic Grmusa, Lovorka, and Biljana Oklopcic. Memory and Identity in Modern and Postmodern American Literature. Springer Nature, 2022.

2025.

Edited Volumes

2019.

  • Oklopčić, Biljana, Andrej Labudić and Zvonimir Prtenjača, editors. The Student’s Pen Shapes Beauty: Creative Writing in the BA Literature Classroom. Osijek: Filozofski fakultet, 2019. ISBN 978-953-314-112-1
  • Runtić, Sanja and Aleksandra Nikčević-Batrićević, editors. SIZE ZERO / MALA MJERA V: Politika i poetika ženskog pisma – komparativne perspektive. Cetinje: Fakultet za crnogorski jezik i književnost, 2019. ISBN: 978-9940-40-037-8

2020.

  • Bognar, Mirna, Valentina Markasović, Biljana Oklopčić and Petra Sršić, editors. Through the Looking Glass: BA Students’ Views on Popular Fiction. Osijek: Filozofski fakultet, 2020. ISBN: 978-953-314-142-8
  • Buljan, Gabrijela, Ljubica Matek, Biljana Oklopčić, Jasna Poljak Rehlicki, Sanja Runtić and Jadranka Zlomislić, editors. Essays in Honour of Boris Berić’s Sixty-Fifth Birthday: “What’s Past Is Prologue.” Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2020. ISBN: 978-1-5275-5507-5

2025.

  • Media, American Culture and the Global Perspective: Images, Ideas and Illusions. Proceedings of the 11th Annual Conference of the Croatian Association of American Studies, eds. Lovorka Gruić Grmuša, Sanja Runtić and Petra Sapun Kurtin, FF Press, Zagreb, 2026. https://doi.org/10.17234/9789533792774

 

Book Chapters

2019.

  • Matek, Ljubica. “Epic Theatre and the Culture of Spectacle: Aesthetic Figuration of Body and Race in Suzan-Lori Parks’s Venus.” Exploring the Black Venus Figure in Aestehtic Practices. Brill Rodopi, 2019. 129–48.
  • Oklopčić, Biljana. “Introduction.” The Student’s Pen Shapes Beauty: Creative Writing in the BA Literature Classroom. Osijek: Filozofski fakultet, 2019. 5–10.
  • Oklopčić, Biljana. “’I did not intend to miss it’: Žene i Pokret za ljudska prava u pripovijetkama Alice Walker.” SIZE ZERO / MALA MJERA V: Politika i poetika ženskog pisma – komparativne perspektive. Cetinje: Fakultet za crnogorski jezik i književnost, 2019. 75–89.
  • Runtić, Sanja and Marija Krivokapić. “Konstrukcija hibridnosti u romanu Pripovjedač Leslie Marmon Silko.” SIZE ZERO / MALA MJERA V: Politika i poetika ženskog pisma – komparativne perspektive. Cetinje: Fakultet za crnogorski jezik i književnost, 2019. 119–64.

 

2020.

  • Poljak Rehlicki, Jasna and Valentina Markasović. “The Swimmer’s Journey: Cheever’s Neddy Merrill as the (Anti)Hero of the Monomyth.“ Essays in Honour of Boris Berić’s Sixty-Fifth Birthday: “What’s Past Is Prologue”, edited by Gabrijela Buljan, Ljubica Matek, Biljana Oklopčić, Jasna Poljak Rehlicki, Sanja Runtić and Jadranka Zlomislić. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2020, pp. 179–93.
  • Runtić, Sanja and Ivana Drenjančević. “‘Witnessing beyond Recognition’: An Existentialist Reading of Francisco Cantú’s The Line Becomes a River: Dispatches from the Border.“ Aspects of Transnationality in American Literature and American English. Edited by Aleksandra Izgarjan, Dubravka Đurić and Sabina Halupka-Rešetar. Faculty of Philosophy Novi Sad, 2020, pp. 128–57. ISBN: 978-86-6065-632-4
  • Zlomislić, Jadranka and Myrl G. Jones. “The Golden Years: Myth vs. Reality.“ Essays in Honour of Boris Berić’s Sixty-Fifth Birthday: “What’s Past Is Prologue”, edited by Gabrijela Buljan, Ljubica Matek, Biljana Oklopčić, Jasna Poljak Rehlicki, Sanja Runtić and Jadranka Zlomislić. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2020, pp. 219–32.

 

2021.

  • Potnar Mijić, Izabela and Biljana Oklopčić. “Children and Identity in Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.“ Dijete i jezik danas – dijete i jezični identitet, edited by Lidija Bakota and Manuela Karlak, Fakultet za odgojne i obrazovne znanosti Osijek, 2021, pp. 127–39.

 

2023.

  • Poljak Rehlicki, Jasna, “Go West: Myths and Heroes of Kerouac’s On the Road.” Language, Literature and Education, 2 (2023), 2; pp. 7-16. e-ISSN: 3029-3197.
  • Runtić, Sanja; Zlomislić, Jadranka; Pataki Šumiga, Jelena. “Introduction.” Breaking Stereotypes in American Popular Culture: Proceedings of the 10th Annual Conference of the Croatian Association for American Studies / Runtić, Sanja; Zlomislić, Jadranka; Pataki Šumiga, Jelena (eds.). Zagreb: Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb, FF Press; Croatian Association for American Studies, 2023. pp. 1-8. doi: 10.17234/9789533791258.01

 

2026.

  • Poljak Rehlicki, Jasna. “War Blogs: Alternative Media in Narrating the War?” Media, American Culture, and Global Perspective: Images, Ideas, and Illusion. Proceedings of the 11th Annual Conference of the Croatian Association for American Studies, eds. Lovorka Gruić Grmuša, Sanja Runtić and Petra Sapun, FF Press, Zagreb, 2026, pp. 101-119. doi: 10.17234/9789533792774.05
  • Zlomislić, Jadranka. “Analysis of the News and Social Media Coverage of the British Royal Family: Recollections May Vary.” Media, American Culture, and Global Perspective Images, Ideas, and Illusion. Proceedings of the 11th Annual Conference of the Croatian Association for American Studies, eds. Gruić Grmuša, Lovorka; Runtić, Sanja; Sapun Kurtin, Petra, Zagreb: FF Press, 2026. pp. 61-100. doi: 10.17234/9789533792774.04
  • Pataki Šumiga, Jelena “Give Us Our Daily ‘Dread’”: Dystopian Traces in the COVID-19 Media Discourse on the Croatian Civil Protection Headquarters.” Media, American Culture, and Global Perspective Images, Ideas, and Illusion. Proceedings of the 11th Annual Conference of the Croatian Association for American Studies / Gruić Grmuša, Lovorka; Runtić, Sanja; Sapun Kurtin, Petra (eds.). Zagreb: FF Press, 2026. pp. 121-145

 

Journal Articles

2019.

  • Oklopčić, Biljana. “Destination South: Lena Grove’s ‘Like a lady travelling’.” Neohelicon: Acta Comparationis Litterarum Universarum vol 46, no. 2, 2019, pp. 557–73.

 

2020.

  • Matek, Ljubica and Zvonimir Prtenjača. “No Country for Old X-Men: The Aging Hero in No Country for Old Men and Logan.“ [sic] – Journal of Literature, Culture and Literary Translation, vol 10, no. 3, 2020, article no. 2, pp. 1-24, https://doi.org/10.15291/sic/3.10.lc.2.

 

2021.

  • Matek, Ljubica. “Pandemija i promjena u romanu Ja sam legenda Richarda Mathesona.“ Književna smotra, vol. 53, no. 201 (3), 2021, pp. 81–91.
  • Matek, Ljubica. “Pjesme o mačkama za djecu i odrasle: T. S. Eliot i pitanje identiteta.“ Libri et Liberi, vol. 10, no. 1, 2021, pp. 7–24. doi: 10.21066/carcl.libri.10.1.1

 

2022.

  • Domjanović, Vedran, and Biljana Oklopčić. ”Murder and Crime-Solving Strategies in Agatha Christie’s Works.” Folia Linguistica et Litteraria, 39, 2022, pp. 9-29.
  • Matek, Ljubica and Jelena Pataki Šumiga. “The Abuse of Language in Twentieth Century British Dystopias.” Language, Literature, Power 2022 Conference Proceedings, 2023, University of Niš, Serbia. (TBP)
  • Poljak Rehlicki, Jasna; Matek, Ljubica. “The Image of a Nation in Angie Thomas’s The Hate U Give (2017)” // Anafora, IX (2022), 2; pp. 223-239. doi: 10.29162/ANAFORA.v9i2.1

2023.

  • Živić, Tihomir; Zlomislić, Jadranka. “Od istočnoeuropske židovske četvrti do američkoga velegrada: rođenje američko-židovskoga književnika.” Anafora, 10 (2023), 2; 225-263. doi: 10.29162/ANAFORA.v10i2.2
  • Zlomislić, Jadranka; Szélpál, Lívia. “Breaking Stereotypes across Cultures: The Croatian and Hungarian Stereotypical Representations of American Culture.” Breaking Stereotypes in American Popular Culture: Proceedings of the 10th Annual Conference of the Croatian Association for American Studies / Runtić, Sanja; Zlomislić, Jadranka; Pataki Šumiga, Jelena (eds.). Zagreb: Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb, FF Press; Croatian Association for American Studies, 2023. pp. 165-210. doi: 10.17234/9789533791258.09

2024.

  • Oklopčić, Biljana. “Južnjačka gotička tradicija i rodna subverzija u romanu Carrie Stephena Kinga.” Radovi Filozofskog fakulteta u Sarajevu, (2024), 27; 133-160. doi: 10.46352/23036990.2024.133
  • Markasović, Valentina. Wolves in the Woods: An Ecocritical Analysis of Natural Motifs in Marissa Meyer’s Scarlet // International journal of young adult literature, 5 (2024), 1; 1-26. doi: 10.24877/ijyal.144

2025.

  • Matek, Ljubica “The Chance to Love Everything”: Mary Oliver’s Poetry of Affect.” AmLit – American literatures, 5 (2025), 2; 87-108. http://10.25364/27.5:2025.2.5
  • Oklopčić, B. and V. Domjanović. “Teen Culture, Stereotypical Identity Performances, and Bullying in Jay Asher’s Thirteen Reasons Why.” Children’s Literature in Education, doi.org/10.1007/s10583-024-09604-9.

2026.

  • Poljak Rehlicki, Jasna and Tomislav Berbić. “Istina koju su nosili: autentičnost i otuđenost u romanu The Things They Carried.“ [SIC] – Journal of Literature, Culture and Literary Translation.doi: 10.15291/sic/2.16.lc.4
  • Poljak Rehlicki, Jasna. “Biopolitical Spectacle of Violence in Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk.” Anafora, 13 (2026), 1; 121-135. doi: 10.29162/anafora.v13i1.6
  • Matek, Ljubica. “Alteration until Annihilation: Biopolitical Aspects of Beautification in “The Substance” Anafora, 13 (2026), 1; 55-80. http://10.29162/ANAFORA.v13i1.3
  • Pataki Šumiga, Jelena. “The Sweet Bonds of Society: Food Symbolism in Bridgerton.“ Sic: Journal of Literature, Culture and Literary Translation, (2025), 2.15; 1-17. https://hrcak.srce.hr/335097

 

Translations

 

Markasović, Valentina.

  • E. Schwab. Gallant. Sonatina, 2022, 326 pg.
  • Adam Silvera. Na kraju obojica umiru. Egmont, 2022, 337 pg.
  • Lucy Score. Sve što nismo preboljeli. Egmont, 2022, 554 pg.
  • Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. Život s ocem. Translation project of affirmative American plays from English to Croatian, Centre for North American Studies, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Osijek.

 

Pataki Šumiga, Jelena

  • Laini Taylor. Snovi o bogovima i čudovištima. Vorto Palabra, 2022, 490 pg. (with Martina Pranić)
  • Stephen King. Tajne Salema. Vorto Palabra, 2022, 595 pg.
  • Sosuke Natsukawa. Mačak koji je spasio knjige. Sonatina, 2022, 220 pg.
  • Helene Wecker. Golemica i Džin. Mitopeja, 2022.
  • Edward Albee. Bračna igra (translation into Croatian, unpublished). Gradsko kazalište “Joza Ivakić”, Vinkovci, 2025. https://www.kazaliste-vinkovci.hr/bracna-igra-premijera/
  • Carissa Broadbent. Sedam spaljenih ruža. Egmont, 2025.
  • Carissa Broadbent. Pepeo i ukleti kralj. Egmont, 2025.
  • Layne Fargo. Favoriti. Naklada Sonatina, 2025.
  • Taylor Jenkins Reid. Atmosfera. Vorto Palabra, 2025.
  • Brandon Sanderson; Kazu Kibuishi. Najdosadnija knjiga na svijetu. Koncept izdavaštvo, 2025.
  • Jess Zimmerman. Žene i ostala čudovišta: novi pogled na klasičnu mitologiju. Vorto Palabra, 2025.

 

Pejić, Luka: Translations and proofreading of translations of theoretical and methodological works by North American historians published in the collection Mikrohistorija. Pola stoljeća inovacija (FF Press – Centre for Comparative-Historical and Intercultural Studies, Zagreb, 2021):

  • David Bell, “Totalna historija i mikrohistorija: francuske i talijanske paradigme” (original title: “Total History and Microhistory: The French and Italian Paradigms”, 2002)
  • John Brewer, “Mikrohistorija i historije svakodnevice” (original title: “Microhistory and the Histories of Everyday Life”, 2010)
  • Richard D. Brown, “Mikrohistorija i postmoderni izazov” (original title: “Microhistory and the Post-Modern Challenge”, 2003)
  • John-Paul A. Ghobrial, “Svijet očima mikrohistoričara” (original title: “Seeing the World Like a Microhistorian”, 2019)
  • Brad S. Gregory, “Je li malo lijepo? Mikrohistorija i historija svakodnevice” (original title: “Is Small Beautiful? Microhistory and the History of Everyday Life”, 1995)
  • Naomi R. Lamoreaux, “Promišljanje mikrohistorije: komentar” (original title: “Rethinking Microhistory: A Comment”, 2006)
  • Ruth W. Sandwell, “Historija kao eksperiment: mikrohistorija i okolišna historija” (original title: “History as Experiment. Microhistory and Environmental History”, 2008)
  • Dale Tomich, “Poredak historijskog vremena: longe durée i mikrohistorija” (original title: “The Order of Historical Time: The Longue Durée and Micro-History”, 2008)

 

Poljak Rehlicki, Jasna

  • I Remember Mama, by John van Druten – translated into Croatian
  • The Whale, by Samuel D. Hunter

 

Zlomislić, Jadranka:

  • Translations, language editing and proofreading of articles and abstracts in the field of American Studies published in English in the journal “Anafora” of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Osijek.

Student Papers in American and Canadian Studies

Doctoral Dissertations

2021.

  • Čuljak, Ivana. The Scripts and Counter-Scripts of Womanhood and Manhood in American Modernist Fiction, supervisor Assoc. Prof. Biljana Oklopčić, PhD

2024.

  • Pataki Šumiga, Jelena. The (Ab)Use of the Body in Contemporary Anglophone Dystopian Novel, supervisor Assoc. Prof. Ljubica Matek, PhD

Master’s Theses

2019.

  • Gavran, Ivana. Negotiating Otherness in Contemporary American Immigrant Fiction, supervisor Prof. Sanja Runtić, PhD
  • Kuna, Maja. Dominant Themes in African American Women’s Literature, 2019, supervisor Assoc. Prof. Biljana Oklopčić, PhD
  • Lulić, Dina. From Subordination to Emancipation: Constructing the Female Self in the Works of Alice Walker and Rupi Kaur, 2019, supervisor Prof. Sanja Runtić, PhD
  • Orlović, Jelena. The Pursuit of Money in Contemporary American Fiction, supervisor Asst. Prof. Jasna Poljak Rehlicki, PhD
  • Pepić, Antonio. O Brother, Where Art Thou? as a Modern Odyssey, supervisor Assoc. Prof. Ljubica Matek, PhD
  • Šestak, Tajana. “Up From the Past That’s Rooted in Pain I Rise:” Contemporary African-American Women Narratives, supervisor Asst. Prof. Jasna Poljak Rehlicki, PhD

 

2020.

  • Laban, Andrea. The Legacy of the Civil Rights Movement in Contemporary African American Fiction, supervisor Prof. Sanja Runtić, PhD
  • Marinović, Tajana. Re-Writing/Righting History through Storytelling: Memory, Identity, and Trauma of Forced Child Removal in Contemporary Indigenous Prose, supervisor Prof. Sanja Runtić, PhD
  • Obradović, Zvonimir, The Representation of the American Dream in John Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath and John Ford’s Film Adaptation, supervisor Asst. Prof. Jadranka Zlomislić, PhD
  • Prišć, Jasmin. Serial Killer in Thomas Harris’s Novels, supervisor Assoc. Prof. Ljubica Matek, PhD
  • Prtenjača, Zvonimir. Man of Steel and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice: Superhero Narratives in Post-9/11 Era, supervisor Assoc. Prof. Ljubica Matek, PhD
  • Štefić, Andrea. The Attitude Towards Women in Kerouac’s Novel On the Road, supervisor Asst. Prof. Jasna Poljak Rehlicki, PhD

 

2021.

  • Berbić, Tomislav. Escape and Endurance: An Analysis of Philosophical Elements in Tim O’Brien’s Vietnam War Trilogy, supervisor Asst. Prof. Jasna Poljak Rehlicki, PhD
  • Domjanović, Vedran. Culture of Bullying in Contemporary Fiction, supervisor Assoc. Prof. Biljana Oklopčić, PhD
  • Kulić, Bruno. Andrew Sean Greer’s Less: How Queer Literature Learned to Stop Burying Their Gays, supervisor Asst. Prof. Jasna Poljak Rehlicki, PhD
  • Lončar, Dino. Potraga za stvarnošću u djelima VALIS i Egzegeza Philipa K. Dicka, supervisor Assoc. Prof. Ljubica Matek, PhD
  • Markasović, Valentina. Female Subjectivity in Fairy Tales by Angela Carter and Leigh Bardugo, supervisor Assoc. Prof. Ljubica Matek, PhD
  • Matuško, Jana. The Elements of Contemporary Technological Dystopia in Dave Eggers’ The Circle and TV Series Black Mirror, supervisor Assoc. Prof. Biljana Oklopčić, PhD
  • Mavretić, Zrinka. Representation of the American Dream in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby and Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man, supervisor Asst. Prof. Jadranka Zlomislić, PhD
  • Romić, Iva. The Haunted House in E. A. Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher” and Shirley Jackson’s Haunting of Hill House, supervisor Assoc. Prof. Ljubica Matek, PhD
  • Špiranec, Karla. Scripts and Counter-Scripts of Gender in Contemporary Feminist Dystopia, supervisor Assoc. Prof. Biljana Oklopčić, PhD
  • Tomakić, Izabela, The Evolution and Significance of American Culture and Its Impact on the Cultures of the World, supervisor Asst. Prof. Jadranka Zlomislić, PhD

 

2022.

  • Benković, Ivan. The Question of Morality in the World of Warcraft, 2022, advisor Biljana Oklopčić
  • Krmar, Alen. The White Presence and the Portrayal of White Characters in African American Slave Narratives, 2022, advisor Jasna Poljak Rehlicki
  • Najdert, Tihana. Women and Identity Search in Speculative Fiction, 2022, advisor Biljana Oklopčić
  • Sarić, Magdalena. Environmental Justice in the Works of Linda Hogan, 2022, advisor Sanja Runtić
  • Vukelić, Ana. Women Characters in the Works of Agatha Christie, 2022, advisor Biljana Oklopčić

Final Theses

2019.

  • Bognar, Mirna. The Scripts and Counter-scripts of Womanhood in American Literature, supervisor Assoc. Prof. Biljana Oklopčić, PhD
  • Jurić, Talia. Slavery in Autobiographies of Frederick Douglass and Harriet Jacobs, supervisor Assoc. Prof. Ljubica Matek, PhD
  • Marinković, Dominik. Forging of the American Identity in the Works of Henry David Thoreau and Frederick Douglass, supervisor Prof. Sanja Runtić, PhD
  • Markasović, Valentina. The Representation of Women in the Army in Contemporary American War and Fantasy Literature, supervisor Asst. Prof. Jasna Poljak Rehlicki, PhD
  • Marušić, Doroteja. The Female Identity in the Play A Raisin in the Sun and the Novel Americanah, supervisor Asst. Prof. Jasna Poljak Rehlicki, PhD
  • Mavretić, Zrinka. The Depiction of Women Characters in Tennessee Williams’s A Streetcar Named Desire, supervisor Assoc. Prof. Biljana Oklopčić, PhD
  • Mikolčić, Monika. American Horror Story as Adaptation of E. A. Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher, supervisor Assoc. Prof. Ljubica Matek, PhD
  • Nikoloso, Andrea. The Dystopian Elements in Suzanne Collins’s The Hunger Games, supervisor Assoc. Prof. Biljana Oklopčić, PhD

 

2020.

  • Akmačić, Filip. The American Dream in the Media, supervisor Asst. Prof. Jadranka Zlomislić, PhD
  • Benaković, Luka. The Consequences of Slavery on the Former Slave Community in Toni Morrison’s Beloved, supervisor Asst. Prof. Jasna Poljak Rehlicki, PhD
  • Blažeković, Petra. The Portrayal of Female Characters in Theodore Dreiser’s Sister Carrie and Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire, supervisor Prof. Sanja Runtić, PhD
  • Dernej, Dunja. (Dis)Ability in A Song of Ice and Fire: The Lion, the Wolf, and the Kraken, supervisor Assoc. Prof. Biljana Oklopčić, PhD
  • Đujić, Robert. A Very Old and Terrible Lie: The True Meaning of Courage in Tim O’Brien’s Novels, supervisor Asst. Prof. Jasna Poljak Rehlicki, PhD
  • Horvat, Tea. Puritanism and Witchcraft in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown”, supervisor Asst. Prof. Jadranka Zlomislić, PhD
  • Jakšić, Sandra. The Impact of Martin Luther King Jr. on Dealing with Racism Today, supervisor Asst. Prof. Jadranka Zlomislić, PhD
  • Kuserbanj, Leon. The Influence of the Super Bowl on the American Culture, supervisor Asst. Prof. Jadranka Zlomislić, PhD
  • Laslavić, Lana. Social Trauma and the Question of Identity in Don DeLillo’s Falling Man, supervisor Asst. Prof. Jasna Poljak Rehlicki, PhD
  • Lovrić, Anna Maria. The Portrayal of Women in American Television as a Reflection of Social Changes, supervisor Asst. Prof. Jadranka Zlomislić, PhD
  • Pezer, Anamarija. Madness and Horror in Edgar Allan Poe’s Short Stories, supervisor Assoc. Prof. Biljana Oklopčić, PhD
  • Stubičan, Valentina. Motherhood and Slavery in Toni Morrison’s Beloved, supervisor Assoc. Prof. Biljana Oklopčić, PhD
  • Šeda, Lorena. Women and Class in Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, supervisor Asst. Prof. Jasna Poljak Rehlicki, PhD
  • Šijaković, Katarina. “Feminism in Theory and Practice: Where Did It All Go Wrong?”, supervisor Assoc. Prof. Ljubica Matek, PhD
  • Šmehil, Mihaela. The Influence of Slavery on Women’s Relationships in Toni Morrison’s Beloved, supervisor Asst. Prof. Jadranka Zlomislić, PhD
  • Šovatović, Ana. The Shaping of Identity in J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter Novels and Veronica Roth’s Divergent Trilogy, supervisor Assoc. Prof. Ljubica Matek, PhD

 

2021.

  • Anić, Tihana. Abuse in Stephen King’s Carrie and Veronica Roth’s Divergent, supervisor Assoc. Prof. Ljubica Matek, PhD
  • Ćavar, Tomislava. The African American Women’s Search for Identity in Southern Literature, supervisor Assoc. Prof. Biljana Oklopčić, PhD
  • Djogaš, Nikolina. The Importance of Physical Appearance in Palacio’s Novel Wonder, supervisor Asst. Prof. Jadranka Zlomislić, PhD
  • Drnasin, Dorotea. Flappers in Modernist Novels, supervisor Assoc. Prof. Biljana Oklopčić, PhD
  • Jurišić, Ante. D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye as a Bildungsroman, supervisor Assoc. Prof. Biljana Oklopčić, PhD
  • Jusup, Patrik. Isolation and Insanity in Stephen King’s The Shining and Dennis Lehane’s Shutter Island, supervisor Assoc. Prof. Biljana Oklopčić, PhD
  • Milinković, Ljiljana. Marginalisation of Motherhood in Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World and Lois Lowry’s The Giver, supervisor Assoc. Prof. Ljubica Matek, PhD
  • Mrkalj, Mia. Racial Oppression and Trauma in Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, supervisor Assoc. Prof. Biljana Oklopčić, PhD
  • Simić, Anđela. Identity Crisis in Chuck Palahniuk’s Fight Club, supervisor Assoc. Prof. Biljana Oklopčić, PhD
  • Vujić, Fabijan. Contesting the American Dream in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby and Chuck Palahniuk’s Fight Club, supervisor Prof. Sanja Runtić, PhD

 

2022.

  • Bičvić, Antonija. The Symbol of the Female Ghost in Toni Morrison’s Beloved, 2022, advisor Jasna Poljak Rehlicki
  • Borbaš, Katarina. The Representation of Social and Class Injustice in S. E. Hinton’s The Outsiders, 2022, advisor Jasna Poljak Rehlicki
  • Bravić, Ante. Justice and Racial Prejudice in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, 2022, advisor Biljana Oklopčić
  • Ivanković, Anton. Narrative Perspective in Edgar Allan Poe’s Short Stories, 2022, advisor Sanja Runtić
  • Janković, Lea. Interpretations of Life and Death in Sylvia Plath’s “Lady Lazarus” and Edgar Allan Poe’s “Spirits of the Dead,” 2022, advisor Jasna Poljak Rehlicki
  • Karika, Emma. The Mythic World in Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson Novels, 2022, advisor Biljana Oklopčić
  • Kralj, Ana. Feminism in the Harry Potter Series, 2022, advisor Biljana Oklopčić
  • Kvesić, Ana. The Gothic in the Neo-Slave Narrative, 2022, advisor Sanja Runtić
  • Savanović, Sandra. The Animal Motif in Selected Works of Edgar Allan Poe, 2022, advisor Sanja Runtić