I have a PhD in Arabic Language and Literature from Indiana University and PhD in French Language and Literatures from McGill University. I teach both French and Arabic and my research interests are in the French and Arabic literature of North Africa, in particular Tunisia, where I served two years in the Peace Corps. I am also actively involved in teaching methods and creative use of instructional technology.
I have taught at the University of Maine, Canton College, Potsdam High School, Saint Lawrence University, and played many roles at SUNY Potsdam since 1981, from Associate Dean of Arts and Sciences, to Director of International Education, while always offering courses in French, Arabic, and ESL. Since 2006, I have devoted my time to teaching in the Modern language Department.
I have won a number of grants to provide professional development for language teachers in New York State, as well as grants to bring international scholars to SUNY Potsdam, including a MEPI Middle East Program Initiative, and I am currently organizing an annual conference, with a colleague at Saint Lawrence University, for language teachers of the North Country.
Committed to the importance of international exchange and immersion experiences in language and culture for our students, I have organized a field trip to Montreal every semester for our language students. I have taught six short-term travel courses to North Africa, three to Tunisia and three to Morocco, winning a Chancellor's Award for the last Morocco course on Women and Democracy in Morocco. My team-taught January 2020 course with Allonah Ezrowill took students to Spain and Morocco and explored the flourishing of cultures in Moorish Spain and contemporary issues in Morocco.
Courses at SUNY Potsdam
Francophone Cultures through Their Music Seminar
Seventeenth Century French Literature Seminar
Contemporary French Theater Seminar
Quebec Literature and Culture
North African Literature and Cultures (French and English versions)
French Literature and Thought I & II
French intermediate conversation
Oral and Written French I & II
Contemporary French 101, 102, 103
Arabic 101, 102, 103, 203
Arabic intermediate conversation
Media Arabic
North African Literature and Cultures
Arabic across the curriculum research projects
English as a second language
ESL 190 English conversation
ESL 497 Conversation Partners internship
Publications and recent articles & presentations
The Childhood of a Muslim Girl Growing up in Pre-Independent Tunisia, a translation from French into English of the novel Les Jardins du Nord, by Souad Guellouz, 2016.
The Potsdam Reader, Ginn Publishing Company, editor; an interdisciplinary text for the Freshman Seminar program, 1982.
Recent papers and panels on language teaching and articles on North African Literature and Culture
Associated Colleges, 2018 "Tech Tools for Teaching."
NeMLA (Northeast Modern Language Association) 2018
•Reflections on short-term programs to Tunisia and Morocco for Study Abroad roundtable led by Kevin Bongiorno, Louisiana State U.
•Teaching Culture in non-traditional ways: My Journey, presented and co-chaired panel with Gisele El Khoury of St. Lawrence University.
NeMLA 2017 Using Maps in Teaching Language and Culture: Traditional vs Hi-Tech Approaches, presenter and co-chair.
NeMLA 2015 two papers:
•Proficiency Methodologies and Tech Tools in teaching Arabic at SUNY Potsdam, for the session "Building a Proficiency-oriented Arabic Curriculum"
•In Memoriam, in honor of Celine Philibert: Disconnection and Empathy in the film'Les Intouchables'.
NeMLA 2014 Arabic Classroom and Technology (co-chaired with a colleague from Bryn Mawr)
NeMLA 2013 Developing an Advanced Curriculum in Arabic
NYS Sociology Association Fall 2013 Women in North Africa and the Jasmine Revolution, with Abdelkader Cheref.
NeMLA 2010 panel chair and presenter: Au Croisement des Chemins: la Fermentation Intellectuelle dans le Roman Maghrébin
Awards
SUNY Chancellor's Award for Internationalization, 2014.
SUNY Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Professional Service, 2007.
President's Award for Excellence in Academic Service, SUNY Potsdam, 2001.
President's Award for Excellence in Academic Advising, SUNY Potsdam, 1985.
Marquis's Who's Who in America 2003, Who's Who among American Women, Who's Who in Education.