
An educator. I have been teaching at the college level since Fall 2001, and I find this to be my calling. I feel extremely fortunate to get to interact with students in and out of the classroom, and I find seeing them grow intellectually and emotionally to be extremely satisfying.
A linguist. I studied linguistics at California State University, Northridge and the University of Southern California. My training is in experimental phonology, but I also work in language documentation, working with community members who arrived in the United States as resettled refugees. My current research and administrative work focus on capacity building for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) in the field of linguistics. I also teach linguistics at Boise State University, but I am on sabbatical for the 2022-2023 academic year.
An immigrant. I moved to the United States from the Middle East with my family when I was 11 years old. This is the reason I have a first name that’s hard to pronounce.
A cat lady. My husband and I have had five wonderful furry feline companions. All five have lived with us in the residence halls on campus, and most of them love hanging out with students (and humans in general) and enjoyed serving as Pets in Residents (PIRs, pronounced ‘purrs’).
An amateur photographer. I enjoy taking photos and sharing them with others. I have taken a few classes, and won a couple of small local competitions.