AHMED MUHAMED
BLOOMINGTON,INDIANA
Summary
Multilingual scholar of Islamic and Religious Studies and Arabic instructor with over a decade of teaching experience at U.S. universities and liberal arts colleges. Research specializes in premodern and modern Islamic thought, comparative religious ethics, and the conceptual encounters between the Islamic Umma and Western modernity. Experience includes designing Arabic language and culture curricula, supervising teaching teams, and establishing intensive Arabic study abroad programs. A former Fulbright Language Teaching Assistant and U.S. State Department Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) Arabic assessor, committed to fostering cross-cultural communication and active learning in the classroom.
Overview
1
1
Certification
19
19
years of professional experience
Work History
Arabic Tutor
Indiana University
05.2025 - 08.2025
- Tutored students in elementary and intermediate Arabic in the Language Workshop Summer Program at Indiana University, Bloomington, with a focus on integrating grammar into conversation to build communicative competence.
Associate Instructor of Arabic
Indiana University
01.2021 - 01.2022
- Graded homework for fourth- and fifth-year Arabic students, created written and oral exercises, covered classes for the main instructor, and proctored exams.
Full-time Arabic Lecturer
Western Kentucky University
08.2019 - 06.2021
- Taught first-year intensive Arabic 101-102, Media Arabic, Arabic for business, Arabic civilizations and Egyptian Arabic Colloquial in addition to developing Arabic curriculum materials for High schools in the State of Kentucky in fulfillment of a US Federal grant from the U.S. Department of Education.
Full-time Arabic Lecturer
University of California
09.2017 - 06.2018
- Taught Elementary Arabic in MSA and Levant Colloquial
- Promoted the teaching of Arabic language in language fairs and other related venues through creative and enhanced interaction aimed at recruiting potential Arabic students
- Supervised Arabic language interns and provided linguistic and cultural feedback for student participants in end of quarter events.
Part time Arabic Lecturer
Germantown Friends School
09.2015 - 06.2017
- Taught Elementary, Intermediate and Advanced Directed Readings in Arabic Literature and Middle Eastern history: Introduction to Islam, Orientalism, Arabic Thought in Liberal Age, and Contemporary Arabic Novel.
Full-time Arabic Lecturer
Swarthmore College
09.2013 - 08.2016
- Taught Intensive Elementary, Intermediate and Advanced Arabic classes, including a course on Advanced Arabic Conversation where students engaged in debating various world topics.
- Incorporated online resources (Blackboard, Moodle) into course design to ensure a higher level of interaction and engagement.
- Organized lecture series for visiting academics covering Middle East topics as diverse as “Iraqi Cultural Production After the Invasion and Occupation”; “Arabic Spring, Four Years Later: Hope or Despair”, and the merging of Arabic and American “Hip-Hop, Poetry and Peace”. Approximately 60 to 80 attended the lectures.
Instructor & Coordinator of Elementary and Intermediate Arabic
Cornell University
08.2011 - 08.2013
- Taught Elementary and Intermediate Arabic courses and Introduction to Quranic Arabic/Syntax of Quran
- Worked with the Cornell Arabic team to assess and edit Arabic curricula for publication
- Coordinated all aspects of course management for Elementary and Intermediate Arabic
Full-time Visiting Arabic Instructor
College of Holy Cross
08.2010 - 08.2011
- Taught Elementary and Intermediate Arabic courses and Introduction to Quranic Arabic/Syntax of Quran
- Established first Arabic Program in the college's history & taught Elementary Arabic
- Coordinated with the Office of Study Abroad to send students abroad for intensive Arabic study
- Worked successfully with department head and College's dean to increase demand and interest in Arabic language and culture
Summer Intensive Arabic Program Instructor
Beloit College
06.2010 - 08.2010
- Taught Intermediate Intensive Arabic
- Organized cultural trips to Arabic neighborhoods and festivals in Chicago.
Visiting Arabic Instructor
College of William & Mary
08.2009 - 05.2010
- Taught three sections of Elementary Arabic
- Trained team of teaching assistants in new teaching techniques
- Facilitated cultural Arabic evenings with students featuring food from around the Arabic world
Summer Intensive Arabic Program Instructor
Middlebury College
05.2009 - 08.2009
- Taught Elementary Intensive Arabic; Developed advanced Arabic curriculum material (Listening and Reading)
Graduate Teaching Assistant for Advanced Standard Arabic
University of Arizona
01.2008 - 05.2009
Oral Proficiency Interview Tester for Critical Language Scholarship Program
University of Arizona
01.2008 - 01.2008
- Served as instructor of record for first year class in Iraqi Arabic; Completed lesson plans, assessments, grading, final course grades and all other aspects of course delivery.
- Performed oral proficiency interviews (+30) with students of Critical Language Scholarship program in order to assess language proficiency upon returning from Morocco.
- Assisted two professors of Advanced Standard Arabic with instruction, class activities and grading; Conducted weekly Arabic conversation; Served as a Teaching Assistant for Elementary Arabic.
Full-time Iraqi Arabic Language Instructor
University of Arizona
08.2006 - 05.2007
Education
Ph.D. - Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures
Indiana University
04-2026
M.A. - Middle Eastern Studies
University of Arizona
01-2009
B.A. - English Literature and Linguistics
University of Baghdad
01-2002
Skills
- Curriculum development
- Language instruction
- Cross-cultural communication
- Educational assessment
- Interactive teaching methods
- Student engagement strategies
Certification
Certified OPI (Oral Proficiency Interview) tester for Arabic Language by ACTFL (American Council For Foreign Language Teaching), Member of Iraqi Translators Association (From English to Arabic and vice versa), 7th Sustainment Brigade Certificate of Appreciation
LANGUAGES
ARABIC, ENGLISH, TURKISH, PERSIAN
FELLOWSHIP AWARDS
Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowship, Turkish, 2022–2023, Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowship, Persian, 2023–2024, Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowship, Persian, 2024–2025
VOLUNTEER ACTIVITY
International Students Incorporated (ISI), Philadelphia, PA, Extensively involved with ISI in Philadelphia where I have personally gotten to know many students from all over the world. I have interacted with students from Saudi Arabia and other Arabic countries in the context of cultural activities designed to teach international students about U.S. culture and help them acclimate to the American dynamic of life.
WRITINGS AND PRESENTATIONS
- Giving to God Between Agency and Automatism: Transcendence, the Ethics of Integration, and a Critique of the Notion of Duty Beyond Compassion. (Accepted with revisions by American Journal of Islam and Society).
- The Pragmatics of Sarcasm in Classical Arabic: A Speech Act Analysis of The Epistle of Forgiveness by Ab al-Al al-Maarri. (Accepted with revisions by International Journal of Arabic Linguistics)
- Islam and Religious Pluralism: Theological Compatibility and Conceptual Tensions. (In preparation for publication)
- “Arab Spring in the Context of Democracy and U.S. Revolution,” Jadaliyya, May 2015
- “Iraqi Memoirs: Nests of Fear” – A Literary Exploration of Fear and Memory in Iraqi Narratives. (Original, unpublished essay)
- Guest Lecture, Germantown Friends School History Class: Islam, ISIS, and Islamophobia
- 7th Sustainment Brigade Lecture: Understanding and Respecting a Unique and Diverse Iraq
SPECIALIZED TRAINING
- Workshop: Basic Principles of Language Acquisition / University of Minnesota, Summer 2008
- Prof. Elaine Tarone and Prof. Maggie Broner
- Workshop: Western Consortium Multi-Language Workshop / University of Arizona, March 2008
- Workshop: How to Teach Arabic According to Learner-Based and Proficiency-Based Principles in Post-Secondary Education / Georgetown University, March 2007
- Professors. Mahmoud al-Batal & Martha Schulte Nafeh
- Fullbright Workshop: Language Teaching / Washington D.C. - 2006
- Focus on language teaching pedagogy and language importance in fostering communication between nations
- Workshop: Putting Spice and Flavor into Reading Comprehension and Student Writing / University of Arizona - Summer 2007
- Focus on activities and techniques making writing and reading of greater interest to students
- Workshop: Teacher's Education in Communicative Language Teaching Approach (CLT) / Iraqi Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, Baghdad, Iraq - Summer 2007
- Under the supervision of American Coalition Provisional Authority [CPA]
Timeline
Arabic Tutor
Indiana University
05.2025 - 08.2025
Associate Instructor of Arabic
Indiana University
01.2021 - 01.2022
Full-time Arabic Lecturer
Western Kentucky University
08.2019 - 06.2021
Full-time Arabic Lecturer
University of California
09.2017 - 06.2018
Part time Arabic Lecturer
Germantown Friends School
09.2015 - 06.2017
Full-time Arabic Lecturer
Swarthmore College
09.2013 - 08.2016
Instructor & Coordinator of Elementary and Intermediate Arabic
Cornell University
08.2011 - 08.2013
Full-time Visiting Arabic Instructor
College of Holy Cross
08.2010 - 08.2011
Summer Intensive Arabic Program Instructor
Beloit College
06.2010 - 08.2010
Visiting Arabic Instructor
College of William & Mary
08.2009 - 05.2010
Summer Intensive Arabic Program Instructor
Middlebury College
05.2009 - 08.2009
Graduate Teaching Assistant for Advanced Standard Arabic
University of Arizona
01.2008 - 05.2009
Oral Proficiency Interview Tester for Critical Language Scholarship Program
University of Arizona
01.2008 - 01.2008
Full-time Iraqi Arabic Language Instructor
University of Arizona
08.2006 - 05.2007
Ph.D. - Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures
Indiana University
M.A. - Middle Eastern Studies
University of Arizona
B.A. - English Literature and Linguistics
University of Baghdad