Close-ups

What do you teach at Ca’ Foscari? What are your main research interests? 
I teach Arabic in Bachelor's and Master's degree programmes (LEISAAM). My main research interests revolve around the history of teaching Arabic as a foreign language, the language policies implemented by modern Arab nation-states, non-verbal languages and intercultural communication. Recently, however, I have also turned to teaching literature and Arabic literature by translating the work of an important contemporary author from southern Tunisia.
My academic background is entirely at Ca' Foscari, although during my PhD I spent some time studying and researching abroad in Tunisia, Egypt, the Netherlands and Finland. 

What led you to pursue a research career? What are you most passionate about in your field of study? 
The love for studying, reading, the thoughts that come out of it and then the desire to know and discover new worlds and different ways of interpreting the reality around us. The Arab world and its societies never cease to amaze us, along with the events that affect them, set them apart and their changes, every day, including through the new tools we have available online. I believe that making the content of a culture, with all its nuances, available to students, or anyone who is interested, and being able to discuss it, is what I am most passionate about.

What does teaching at the university mean to you?
It means building the university and research of tomorrow, exploring topics that are either urgent or simply worth knowing because they are unknown to most people or have been neglected for countless reasons.
You work in a department dealing with non-European worlds: what does working on cultural diversity mean to you in an increasingly interconnected world?
It means giving voice to that very diversity, which when described or discussed can only enrich us. It is a diversity that provides new food for thought, new ideas, in order to build bridges between cultures and initiate an exchange between them.