A full-time lecturer at UC Davis since 1990, Aliki Dragona was born in Paris, France, and raised in Athens, Greece. She holds a B.A. (University of Athens) and an M.A. and Ph.D. (State University of New York at Binghamton)-all degrees in English Literature. She is also a certified literary translator (CRIT/TRIP SUNY Binghamton). She has taught composition and literature courses both in the United States and in Greece. Aliki Dragona has been teaching her program in Greece since 2002. A native speaker and long-time Athens resident, she enjoys teaching her students about her country's rich culture and history-and she believes that traveling with students around the country while reading about it is the only way they can immerse themselves in the culture and learn about it in a profound and significant manner.