Dima Ayoub

Professor Ayoub creates a meaningful and tight-knit class environment in all of her classes. Arabic 202 was a large class (20 people), yet she cared about everyone's progress. While the homework is time-consuming, it really helps prepare you for quizzes. If you put time into this course, it will be incredibly rewarding.

Professor Ayoub is an incredibly caring and compassionate professor that puts in a lot of effort to curate a class that is high-paced, intellectually stimulating, and intimate. Our class was very tight-knit (possible a reflection of the course material) and was very meaningful to me. She is a fair-grader and has high expectations for you. She cares a lot about her students.

A lot of people told me this was a great course, and while I do find the subject matter interesting—especially since the readings break down different aspects of gender issues in the Arab world—I’m not sure I got as much out of the class as I expected. First, the class is scheduled pretty late (7:30 pm to 10:30 pm in Spring 2025), which can be exhausting. In the beginning, Professor Ayoub lectured, but later on, we were made to run the discussions ourselves, which sometimes made the class feel even longer. The material is quite theoretical and very much a “liberal arts” course that gives you a broad perspective on the world and how to not look at things from a western-centric perspective. However, if you’re not particularly interested in philosophy or anthropology, you might find it less engaging. That said, the final project is very flexible and can actually be a lot of fun.

A lot of people told me this was a great course, and while I do find the subject matter interesting—especially since the readings break down different aspects of gender issues in the Arab world—I’m not sure I got as much out of the class as I expected. First, the class is scheduled pretty late (7:30 pm to 10:30 pm in Spring 2025), wh …Read more