My training is in literary criticism, comparative literature, and modern Arabic literature and culture. I've researched how narratives of exile, displacement and migration in Arabic, English and Hebrew refract notions of multiple attachment, modernity, gender and sexuality, and self-determination. At NYU, I often serve as a reader and supervisor for undergraduate and graduate research on Arabic cultural production.
At NYU, I teach Arabic language, literature and culture. The Arabic classroom is a space where we collaborate to build and refine language skills while acquiring cultural knowledge. In pairs, groups and teams, we learn about Arab cultures, each other and express ourselves in Arabic; the aim is to create a supportive, rewarding and stimulating atmosphere. Together, we build a solid foundation in Modern Standard Arabic, without neglecting the everyday, spoken register.
In the field of foreign-language pedagogy, I am interested in curricular design and the integration of realia into language teaching, as well as training faculty in instructional strategies that are communicative, learner-centered, and proficiency-based.
In my literature seminars, we read significant works from modern and contemporary Arabic literary traditions, both in English translation and in the original. In our discussions, the rallying point is the formal elements of text, even as we consider a variety of perspectives and critical interventions. At all times, we consider how literature is, means and does.
I am an active literary translator; my publications include works by established authors as well as the latest generation of Arab writers.