Rate My Professor Aman Nadhiri

Dr. Aman Nadhiri serves as Associate Professor of Arabic and English in the Department of Arts and Humanities at Johnson C. Smith University, where he joined the faculty in 2009. He holds a B.A. from Morehouse College (1998), an M.A. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (2001), and a Ph.D. in English from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (2009). His doctoral dissertation, "Saracens and Franks: Perceptions of Self and the Other in 12th-15th Century Literature," explores Christian and Muslim perceptions of each other during the medieval era, particularly around the Third Crusade.

Nadhiri's academic interests encompass medieval European and Near Eastern literature, Arabic language pedagogy, and the role of the Muridiyyah Sufi order in American Muslim communities. He is the author of the monograph Saracens and Franks in 12th-15th Century European and Near Eastern Literature: Perceptions of Self and the Other (Routledge, 2016). Notable publications include the co-authored article "Contextualizing 'Muridiyyah' within the American Muslim Community: Perspectives on the Past, Present, and Future" in the African Journal of Political Science and International Relations (2010), and "Arabic and the Problem of Learning" in The Arabic Classroom (2019). As Chair of the Department of Arts and Humanities, he leads departmental initiatives at this historically Black university. Nadhiri contributes to scholarly communities through service on the Review Team for Research Africa, the Academics Committee for the ZORA! Festival, and the Advisory Board of the International Society for the Study of Early Medieval England. He has engaged in public scholarship via media appearances discussing Juneteenth's significance and presentations on the religious milieu of the antebellum South and enslaved Muslim writers like Omar ibn Said. His teaching portfolio includes courses in English composition, intermediate Arabic, academic research, and topics in Arabic literature.