Contemporary Arabic Literature, Arab Feminism(s), Literary and Trauma Theory, Gender Studies, Arabic Gay Literature, Autobiography, Travel, Fantasy, and War Narratives, Postcolonial and Diasporic Literature, Comparative Literature.
- Anxiety of Erasure: Trauma, Authorship, and the Diaspora in Arab Women’s Narrative examines the literature of Arab women writers of the European and North American diaspora, and formulates a theory of Arab women’s authorship influenced by Shahrazād’s orality syndrome, anxiety of erasure, and the tradition of female infanticide/wa’d al-banāt. (in progress).
- “Karamah: Dignity from Within the Islamic Feminine Hermeneutics.” Forthcoming in Mapping Arab Women’s Movements. Eds. Nawar Al-Hassan Golley and Pernille Arenfeldt. (Accepted, 2009).
- “Transforming Nationhood from Within the Minefield: Arab Female Guerrilla Fighters and the Politics of Peace Poetics.” In Women, War, and Conflict. Forthcoming in Women's Studies International Forum. February/2009.
- “Out of the Closet: Representation of Homosexuals and Lesbians in Modern Arabic Literature.” Journal of Arabic Literature 39.2 (2008): 270-310.
- “Contemporary Syrian Literature: An Introduction.” in Literature from the “Axis of
Evil”: Writing from Iran, Iraq, North Korea, and Other Enemy Nations. Ed. Words Without Borders. New York: The New Press, 2006.
- “Writing Away Exile with a Faceless Alphabet” a review of Without an Alphabet, Without a Face: Selections of Poems of Saadi Youssef. Trans. Khaled Mattawa. Saint Paul: Graywolf Press, 2002. In Cold Mountain Review. 34.2 (2006): 58-66.
- A translation of Hanna Mina’s “On the Sacks” in Literature from the “Axis of Evil”: Writing from Iran, Iraq, North Korea, and Other Enemy Nations. Ed. Words Without Borders. New York: The New Press, 2006.
- “Are We There Yet? Lesbian Identity in Modern Arabic Literature.” Middle East Studies
Association (MESA). Washington, DC. November 22-25, 2008.
- “A Man Against His Will: Suppressed Homosexuality and Ruptured National Memory in Hoda Barakat’s The Stone of Laughter.” Middle East Studies Association (MESA). MontrJal, Canada, November 17-20, 2007.
- “Transforming Nationhood from Within the Minefield: Arab Female Guerrilla Fighters and the Politics of Peace Poetics.” Middle East Studies Association (MESA). Boston, November 18-21, 2006.
- “The Poetics of Mosaic Autobiography in Contemporary Arabic Literature.” Middle East Studies Association (MESA). Washington, D.C. November 19-22, 2005.
- “Buried Alive: The Poetics of Exile and Arab Women Writers.” Sheikh Mohammad Bin Khalid al-Nahyan Cultural Center. Al-‘Ain, United Arab Emirates. February 18, 2003.
- “Contested Departures in Ghada Al-Samman’s Travel Writing.” Middle East Studies Association (MESA). Washington, D.C. November 20-22, 1999.
- “The Prodigal Daughter: Women Writers, the Academia, and the Dissertation Novel.” American Comparative Literature Association (ACLA). Austin, TX. March 26-28, 1998.
- “The Academia at Trial: Memoirs of a Prodigal Daughter from ‘Hisland.’” Indiana University Conference in the Humanities. Bloomington, IN. March 6-7, 1998.
- “A Spaceship to the Orient: Fantasy Fiction as Exile in Ghada Al-Samman’s Narrative.” Middle Eastern Studies Association (MESA). San Francisco, CA. November 22-24, 1997.
- “(Re)Writing Magic: Science Fiction and the Arab Novel." Crossing the Jordan Annual Conference. Cultural Studies. Indiana University. Bloomington, IN. February 7-8, 1996.
- “Uncovering the Lens: The Mis/Representation of the ‘Other’ in Pasolini’s Il Fiore delle Mille e Una Notte.” Crossing the Jordan Annual Conference. Cultural Studies. Indiana University. Bloomington, IN. February 17-19, 1995.
ARAB 227/527 Culture and Society of the Contemporary Arab Middle East
ARTR 335/535 Introduction to Arab Women’s Literature
ARTR 329/529 Modern Arabic Literature in Translation
ARAB 386/586 Modern Fiction in Arabic
ARAB 583/584 Readings in Modern Arabic Poetry & Prose
| 2008-09 | University Teaching Fellowship, Teaching Resource Center, University of Virginia (UVa Today).
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| 2008 | University of Virginia Summer Research Award.
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| 2008 | University of Virginia Summer Grant.
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| 2007 | University of Virginia Summer Research Award.
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| 2006 | Professors as Writers Award, Teaching Resource Center, University of Virginia.
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| 2006 | Excellence in Diversity Fellow, Teaching Resource Center, University of Virginia.
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| 1998-99 | College of Arts and Sciences Travel Grant, Indiana University.
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| 1998 | American Comparative Literature Association Travel Grant.
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| 1997 | Outstanding Scholar and Teacher Fellowship, College of Arts & Sciences, Indiana University.
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| 1990-1992 | Fulbright Scholarship, United States Information Agency (U.S.I.A.) |
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