Staff
Mahmoud Al-Batal
Interim Stateside Director
Dr. Al-Batal is an Associate Professor of Arabic in the Department of Middle Eastern Studies and Director of the Arabic Flagship at The University of Texas at Austin. In addition, Dr. Al-Batal previously served as the CASA Executive Director in Cairo (1985-1987), Director of the Arabic School at Middlebury College (1991-1998) and as Director of the Emory College Language Center (2000-2004). He holds a B.A. in Arabic language and literature from the Lebanese University, and a M.A. and Ph.D. in Arabic linguistics from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
Office: WMB 6.138
Phone: (512) 471-3513
albatal@mail.utexas.edu
Marissa Canales
Stateside Program Coordinator
Marissa recently joined CASA in February 2011 as Stateside Program Coordinator. She graduated with a B.A. in English and a minor in Business Administration from the University of San Diego in 1999. In addition to her undergraduate degree from USD, she received her paralegal certificate specializing in Business Litigation in 2002. Before joining CASA, she was an Administrative Associate for the Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs for four years.
Office:WMB 1.110
Phone: (512) 471-3513
casaprogram1967@gmail.com
Zeinab Taha
CASA Co-Director at American University in Cairo
Dr. Taha is an Associate Professor of Arabic Language and Linguistics and is currently the Director of the Arabic Language Institute at the American University in Cairo, as well as the Co-Director of the CASA Program. She served as the CASA Executive Director during 1997-1999 and 2003-2005. Dr. Taha received her Masters from the American University of Cairo in 1981 and her Ph.D. in Arabic Linguistics from Georgetown University in 1995. She has taught Arabic since 1981, seven years at Middlebury College, three years at Georgetown University and the remainder at the American University of Cairo. She has extensive experience in the field of journalism, where she served four years at the Cairo Bureau of the New York Times and two years editing the Arabic section of AUC's newspaper, Caravan. Dr. Taha's area of specialization is historical linguistics, syntax and language variation.
zeintaha@aucegypt.edu
Iman Soliman
CASA Executive Director at American University in Cairo
Dr. Soliman is an Arabic Language Instructor at the American University in Cairo. She earned her B.A. in English Literature from Ein Shams University. In 2003, she received her Ph.D. in TAFL from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. She has been teaching since 1992 at various reputable academic institutions, such as Middlebury College, the University of Edinburgh, and the University of St. Andrews. Dr. Soliman is a recent winner of the AUC Excellence in Teaching Award. She has written a number of Modern Standard Arabic and Egyptian Colloquial Arabic courses and workbooks, in addition to co-authoring Kallemni Arabi, an intermediate course in Egyptian Colloquial Arabic. Dr. Soliman has extensive experience in curriculum development and has participated in the development of several Arabic language curricula for learners of Arabic as a first language and a foreign language. Her academic interests include AFL curriculum development, computer enhanced language learning, community based language learning, teaching and foreign language program assessment.
iaziz@aucegypt.edu
http://www1.aucegypt.edu/faculty/imansoliman/
Wassima El-Shafie
CASA Program Specialist at American University in Cairo
Wassima joined CASA in September 2003 as a Program Secretary and was promoted to CASA Program Specialist in 2011. She graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Cairo University in 2003. Before joining CASA, she worked as a Student Assistant in the AUC Library for four years.
Hany Yousry
CASA Program Administrative Assistant and Technical Support at American University in Cairo
Hany joined CASA as a Cultural Assistant after graduating from Cairo University in 2004 with a Bachelor's degree in Law. He was hired as a Junior Secretary for the CASA program in September 2007, after which he was promoted to Secretary, acquiring additional responsibilities of providing technical support for the Cairo program. In September 2010, Hany was promoted to Administrative Assistant, and continues his technical support duties for the CASA Cairo program.
