Silver Circles: Nadine Naber

Nadine Naber, associate professor, gender and women’s studies and global Asian studies. Photo: Roberta Dupuis-Devlin

Since 1966, the Silver Circle Award has been presented to some of UIC’s best teachers. Winners, who are honored at their college commencements, receive $500 and their names join a long list of distinguished colleagues. But what makes the award especially meaningful is its selection committee: the graduating seniors.

Silver Circles:1
Years at UIC: 5

What does it mean to win this award from the graduating seniors?

I care deeply about my students. I especially care about providing them with applicable tools for expressing who they are, thinking critically about our world, and making positive contributions to their communities. Winning this award gives me hope that my teaching has made a positive difference in their lives.

What do you teach?

I teach courses in the areas of Arab American studies; Middle East women’s studies; global feminisms; activism and social change; Asian and Arab American solidarity; and feminist methodologies.

How do you engage students in your courses?

Most of my teaching relies upon the frameworks of critical ethnic studies, Arab American studies, and women of color feminisms as analytic tools for making sense of the social worlds students inhabit. Students apply these frameworks through community-based class projects that include interactions with leaders from nonprofit organizations, museums, social movements, and art collectives, and result in group productions such as films, oral history archives, zines and campaigns.

What are your research interests?

My research explores the intersections of race, class, gender, sexuality and nation within the context of the Arab region and its diasporas and makes interventions at the levels of feminist activism, epistemology, and policy.

What is your advice to graduating students?

Speak kindly of yourself. Understand your gifts and talents. Be intentional about where you place your energy. Work for social justice. Create support networks. Care for your self and community. Never give up. You are capable of an unlimited amount of amazing accomplishments.