Dr. Moulouk Berry

Assistant Professor in the Department of Arabic Studies

Dr. Moulouk Berry obtained her Ph.D. from the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, in Near Eastern Studies with focus on Islamic Studies (2002). She is currently an Assistant Professor of Arabic Studies at the American University of Sharjah. 
Dr. Berry had taught at several higher academic institutions in the U.S. and abroad on topics dealing with Arab literature, language and culture, Islam, Qur’an, gender, and Arab American writing.
Dr. Berry served as the interim director for the first and only Center for Arab American Studies in the U.S., and directed the Arabic language program at the University of Michigan-Dearborn from 2002-2007. She has also founded, organized and directed the Arab and Arab American Writers Series at the University of Michigan-Dearborn (2002-2007), in which leading national and international literary authors are invited to present their works on campus. She also served on a number of advisory boards and academic and non-academic committees including the appointment to chair the Women’ Studies Advisory Board at the University of Michigan-Dearborn (2003).
To her credit are several articles, presentation and awards. Her publications include “Rethinking Notions of Sexuality: Muslim Legal Writings” in Hawwa: Journal of Women of the Middle East and the Islamic Word, vol. 4. no 2, Brill Academic Publishers, Spring 2006; “Teaching Scriptural Texts in the Classroom: The Question of Gender” in MIT-EJMES, Vol. 5, Spring 2005; and The Women’s Right to Occupy Position of Judge in Muslim Shi`i Law” in University of Detroit Mercy: Law Review, vol. 81, no. 5, Summer 2004 and “Lebanon,” a chapter in the WorldMark Encyclopedia of Religious Practices vol. 2(Michigan: Gale Group, December 2005); and a forthcoming article “Muslim Lebanese-American Women Forging New Ground: Negotiating Rights, Navigating Through Religious and Civil Legal Systems” in Women's Studies International Forum Journal and is currently working on her book manuscript.
She has presented in a number of national and international conferences in the U.S. and abroad on Islam, law, gender, religion, and Arab Americans. She is the recipient of the Graduate Student Instructor Award from the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor and is listed in Who’s Who in America (2004).
In addition to her academic work, Dr. Berry writes fiction and poetry in English and Arabic. She is fluent in Arabic, English and French and possesses a working knowledge of German and Persian.