About Mara Naaman
Mara Naaman is an independent scholar and writer based in Washington Heights, New York. She serves as Adjunct Assistant Professor of Arabic Studies at Hunter College, a position she has held since 2025. Naaman specializes in Arabic literature, comparative literature, and contemporary Egyptian literary studies, with research interests in urban space, working-class identity, and gender in Middle Eastern cultural production.
She was Assistant Professor of Comparative Literature and Arabic at Williams College from 2007 to 2014. She subsequently served as Associate Director of Programs at the Modern Language Association from 2015 to 2017. She has also taught at Columbia University, Hofstra University, and New York University. Naaman is currently pursuing an MFA in Creative Writing at City College of New York and is at work on a novel.
Naaman earned her PhD in Arabic Literature from Columbia University in 2008, where her dissertation on literary representations of downtown Cairo received high honors. She was a Fulbright IIE Scholar in Cairo, Egypt from September 2006 to June 2007 and received multiple fellowships from Columbia University including the President’s Fellowship and dissertation support. She received the University of Chicago Outstanding Educator Award in Spring 2022. She holds a BA with honors in English from Wesleyan University, completed in 1996, and studied dance and performing arts at Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan.
Born on May 2, 1974 in Oakland, California, Naaman was raised in Michigan by a single mother who worked as a secretary and painted at night. Her grandparents were Iraqi immigrants from Mosul who emigrated to Detroit in the 1930s to open a grocery store. She grew up surrounded by an extended community of Arab relatives.
Naaman has held editorial roles including Book Review Editor for the Journal of Arabic Literature and Academic Editor for the Association of Language Departments. She is a member of the Association of Writers and Writing Programs.
Career Background
Hunter College
Modern Language Association
Williams College
Columbia University
Hofstra University
New York University
Hofstra University
The Reference Works Inc.
Columbia University Press
Education
Interlochen Arts Academy
Wesleyan University
Columbia University
City College of New York (CCNY)
Media
Press
Mara Naaman is an independent scholar, writer, and editor based in New York. She is a former professor of Comparative Literature and Arabic at Williams College and is at work on a novel. Born in Oakland, California and raised in Michigan by a single mother who painted at night, her grandparents were Iraqi immigrants. She holds a PhD in Arabic Literature from Columbia University, where her dissertation on literary representations of downtown Cairo received high honors in 2008.
Mara Naaman, a former professor of Comparative Literature and Arabic at Williams College, is speaking out about the need to shift away from what she calls a ‘success mindset.’ Born in Oakland, California and raised in Michigan by a single mother who painted at night, she earned her PhD in Arabic Literature from Columbia University after years of study and research in Cairo. Her dissertation on literary representations of downtown Cairo received high honors.
Mara Naaman is a New York-based writer and former professor at Hunter College, Williams College, Hofstra University, Columbia, and NYU. Born in Oakland, California and raised in Michigan by a single mother who painted by night, she trained as a dancer at Interlochen Arts Academy. She earned a PhD in Arabic Literature from Columbia University, where her dissertation on how downtown Cairo is represented in literature earned high honors in 2008.
Mara Naaman is a New York-based scholar and writer advocating for a cultural shift from achievement-oriented thinking to process-focused work. A former professor of Comparative Literature and Arabic at Williams College, she holds a PhD in Arabic Literature from Columbia University and has held fellowships including a Fulbright IIE Scholarship in Cairo.
Awards & Recognition
- University of Chicago Outstanding Educator Award, Spring 2022
- Fulbright IIE Scholar, Cairo, Egypt, September 2006 to June 2007
- Fulbright-Hays Dissertation Fellowship, awarded but declined
- CASA II Research Fellow, Center for Arabic Study Abroad, American University in Cairo
- Dissertation Fellowship, Columbia University
- Graduate Student Teaching Fellow, Columbia University
- CASA Fellow, Center for Arabic Study Abroad, American University in Cairo
- Mellon Fellowship for Summer Language Study, Columbia University
- FLAS Fellowship in Arabic, Columbia University
- Pennar Fellowship for Middle Eastern Studies, Columbia University
- President’s Fellowship, Columbia University
- Ronald E. McNair Post Baccalaureate Fellowship, Wesleyan University
- Young Artists Award in Creative Writing, high school
Boards & Memberships
- Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP)
- Journal of Arabic Literature, Former Book Review Editor
- Association of Language Departments, Former Academic Editor
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