Bobby Liberatos, Special to The Denisonian–

Students might know Dr. Hoda Yousef from her work in the Middle East and North Africa Studies Department. 

She teaches introductory classes on topics such as the making of the modern Middle East as well as upper level courses on the Ottoman Mediterranean and urban life in the region. She is of Egyptian American ancestry and has roots in the Midwest- specifically in the the state of Wisconsin. She attended Duke University for her undergraduate studies and then went on to Georgetown to complete her masters degree and doctorate. 

Yousef began her college education as a computer science major and then for two years began a career at “a large company” in the field. However, she described it as unfulfilling. 

Yousef has had a lifelong passion for history that started when her grandmother would talk about the Egyptian leader. Later, when reading a textbook about him, she realized there were contradictory messages; this brought her to see that history has many sides to its narrative. Thus she began pursuing her current path.

She first started teaching at Franklin & Marshall College and then came to Denison in 2016. She welcomed being able to return closer to home by coming to Ohio but she also had other factors pushing her to Denison.

“I didn’t have a traditional liberal arts experience in my undergraduate education,” she said. In graduate school she met students who had attended liberal arts colleges and said she “was impressed by the breadth of their knowledge, their way of thinking, and problem solving ability.” She said that teaching at liberal arts colleges is like a “breath of fresh air,” and her experience so far at Denison has been “wonderful.” She notes the “dedicated faculty and curious, motivated students” as why. 

Yousef is a historian and never tires of teaching the subject.

“Students always ask really great questions,” she said. There is a lot of information on the topic she teaches about in the media that she describes as “misunderstood.” She said her role as a professor is to break through the noise and show students “a wider aperture of the past, of culture, politics, and society.” In her classes, she shows primary sources that shed light on the feelings of people who lived through history. 

Dr. Yousef is not just a professor at Denison; she holds several other important roles. She is a member of the Academic Freedom Task Force which seeks to protect freedom of expression within the academic setting. She also works with the center of learning and teaching. The focus of this is to provide professional development and resources for Denison’s teachers.

“We have great discussions among the faculty about how to improve and meet students where they are,” she said about their work. She is also a published author by Stanford University Press writing Composing “Egypt: Reading, Writing, and the Emergence of a Modern Nation, 1870-1930.”

Editor’s Note: The professor spotlight is a recurring  feature. Email [email protected] if you would like to suggest a professor to be featured.