Her academic interest in Arabic literature began when she was pursuing postgraduate studies in comparative and general literature at The University of Edinburgh where she first taught Arabic language, literature, and culture to non-native speakers in 2002. In 2007, she began the very successful Arabic program at Davidson College, NC. She has developed methods of teaching that take account of the distinct challenges that these subjects present to students who are encountering many of the sounds, most of the grammar, and nearly all of the cultural landscape for the very first time. Her background as a native Arabic speaker and her diverse teaching experience have been invaluable, for it allows her to combine some useful pedagogical techniques for teaching foreign languages with a deeper socio-cultural understanding of the Arab world.