Encourages students to ask questions.
Miriam Ben-Yoseph is an Associate Professor Emeritus in DePaul University's School of Continuing and Professional Studies, specializing in adult education. Originally from Romania, she earned her bachelor's and master's degrees from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and her doctorate in French literature from Northwestern University. Prior to joining DePaul in 1991, she served as vice president in market research and training at Continental Bank. Over her 27-year tenure at DePaul, she progressed through roles including visiting faculty, assistant professor, associate professor, associate dean, and acting dean. Fluent in six languages, Ben-Yoseph is renowned for fostering collaborative learning environments that bridge academia, workplace, and life experiences, emphasizing questions over answers to promote ongoing inquiry among students and faculty.
Ben-Yoseph teaches and researches cross-cultural communication management, change management, culture, gender, and work. Her more recent scholarship focuses on place and identity issues, including cultural homelessness and the Holocaust. She was named the 2006 Illinois Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education, recognizing her extraordinary dedication to undergraduate teaching. In June 2014, she received DePaul University's Via Sapientiae Award, the highest honor for faculty and staff. Her publications, appearing in the United States and abroad, include "Teaching about the Holocaust" (2006), "Longing for Home: Displacement, Memory, and Identity" (2005), "Introduction: Shifting Meanings of Home" (2005), "Women Entrepreneurs in Romania, Poland, and the United States: Cultural and Family Influences on Strategy and Growth" (1998), "Retention of Adult Students in a Competence-Based Individualized Degree Program: Lessons Learned" (1999), and "Designing and Delivering Cross-Cultural Instruction" (1988). She co-edited Psychological, Political, and Cultural Meanings of Home with Mechthild Hart.
