Radwa El Barouni Appointed to J. Dean Amro Endowed Lectureship

Radwa El Barouni has been appointed to the J. Dean Amro Endowed Lectureship in Arabic Language and Study. El Barouni is currently the director and coordinator of the Arabic Language Program at the University of Pennsylvania in the Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures department.

Much of her research explores historical fiction. Her doctoral dissertation (at University of Texas, Austin) focused on a dynamic archive of historical fiction produced in the late 19th to 21st centuries. El Barouni analyzed how the works problematize and process their subjects’ relationship to their pasts, presents, and potential futures. El Barouni is also interested in the depiction of non-human animals in Arabic and Persian texts, and the configuration of their relations with humans and place in the surrounding environments in both theocentric and non-theocentric paradigms.

Prior to joining Penn, El Barouni taught Arabic literature, language, and translation at Williams College, Durham University (U.K.), and UT Austin. She also taught and was the main curricula developer in the Flagship Capstone Year Abroad program (Egypt, Morocco) and the Middlebury C.V. Starr program (Egypt), among other study abroad programs. Currently, El Barouni is co-organizer of the TAFL Talks, a series of events in Arabic designed to foster discussions that bridge theory and practice in the teaching of Arabic as a second language, and is co-authoring a book for advanced students of Arabic literature with Laila Familiar at NYU Abu Dhabi.

The J. Dean Amro Endowed Lectureship was established by Dean Amro, C’97, and Amira Amro in 2022. Dean Amro graduated from the College of Arts & Sciences with a degree in international relations and a minor in economics. He is a Principal at The Brodsky Organization, a family-run business, which develops, owns, and manages residential and mixed-use real estate in New York City. He also serves on the Board of Governors of the Real Estate Board of New York. For the past 10 years, Dean has been a Trustee of the Lycée Français de New York and is currently Chair of the Board.