Mirjana Dedaic is a Visiting Assistant Professor in the Communication, Culture & Technology Program (CCT). Previously, she taught at Fairfield University, Southern Connecticut State University, University of Virginia, and the University of Split (Croatia). She has also served as an International Broadcaster and Editor of Croatian Programs at Voice of America. She received a B.A. in South Slavic Languages and World Literatures from the University of Zagreb, Croatia, an M.A. in Philology from the same University, a second M.A. in Linguistics from the University of Virginia and Ph.D. in Linguistics from Georgetown University.

Professor Dedaic has an interdisciplinary background that includes theoretical, cognitive and sociocultural linguistics, communication theories, literature, semiotics, positioning theory, critical discourse studies, and identity studies.

Professor Dedaic published papers in leading linguistic journals, including Journal of Pragmatics and Journal of Sociolinguistics, and several book chapters. Her newest book is South Slavic Discourse Particles theory (2010), a pioneering volume in the field. Previously, she co-edited a volume At War with Words (2003) that explores the link between language and conflict through comparative and case study analyses in various regions of the world.

Among Dr. Dedaic’s current projects are a book on the discursive construction of the stepmother, an edited volume offering a new view of national identity construction through the lens of Bourdieu’s habitus (this book includes 12 chapters authored by CCT students and alumni), and articles on conceptual metaphor blending in media discourse on female politicians, positioning of prisoner bloggers, and the language of ICTY.

Dedaic joined CCT in 2006, where she has taught Language and Politics, Intercultural Communication, Constructing National Identity through Communication, Netspeak: Language, Discourse, and Identity on the Internet, and Ethnography of Communication. She also mentors projects with the Georgetown University Women Leadership Initiative (GUWLI). She takes pride in her collaborations with CCT students, with whom she organized, and/or presented at, eight conference panels. Students in Professor Dedaic’s Netspeak class maintain and develop the Netaphor Wiki – a wiki dedicated to the Internet related metaphors.

A native of Croatia, Professor Dedaic came to the United States on a Fulbright grant in 1990, just months before the war erupted in the former Yugoslavia. Her creative writing includes poetry published in both Croatian and English, and translations of Croatian and American poets. She recently completed the English translation of a Croatian novel, Pristajanje (No Landfall in Sight), written by the cult writer Slobodan Novak.