Dialectal Literacy & Language Ideology: Iraqi Arabic as Cultural Memory

Meet The Speaker

• Zainab Aldaoseri

  Graduate Student

  Zainab Aldaoseri is a graduate student and instructor in English, originally from Iraq. As a native Arabic speaker, her research interests include trauma theory, comparative literature, medieval studies, and linguistic approaches to cultural memory. She is particularly drawn to the ways in which literature responds to historical and psychological rupture, and how language functions as both a site of resistance and remembrance.

  Zainab’s work often bridges Arabic and English literary traditions, focusing on the affective and ethical dimensions of storytelling. She is passionate about highlighting marginalized voices and fostering cross-cultural dialogue through scholarship and teaching. In the classroom, she encourages her students to think critically about the relationship between language, identity, and power.

  Beyond academia, she is interested in public-facing scholarship, creative writing, and exploring the role of empathy and justice in literary and social discourse.