June 26, 2018

Formerly a judge in Tunisia, Amel Mili, JD, PhD, is inspired by the everyday teaching moments in her career as an assistant teaching professor of global studies and modern languages.

Hometown:  Tunisia
Degree: PhD in Global Affairs from Rutgers University
Research interests: Law, language and cultural change, gender activism and the Arab Spring

What did you do before coming to Drexel?
I taught Arabic language and culture at the University of Pennsylvania.

What is your favorite book? Movie?
One of the most beautiful books I read is “One Hundred Years of Solitude” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. A book that has marked my youth is “Les Misérables” by Victor Hugo. A very interesting book I have read recently is “The Forty Rules of Love” by Elif Shafak.

What is your favorite food or restaurant?
Mediterranean food and Tunisian cuisine

When is the last time you did something “for the first time”? What was it?
I took art knitting classes.

What/who inspires you? 
All the people I meet in books, movies or in real life, and mostly my children and my students

What was the most impactful moment of your own college career? 
The college years in Tunisia when the university was the place of resistance and the place that wanted to bring change

Which current event/issue do you think students should know more about and why?
Above all, I believe that education should develop critical mind and critical thinking and help students see beyond their classroom and connect what they learn with what happens there in the world.

What would students be surprised to learn about you?
Very hard to say these days that surprises — in any case I would not reveal it, so they always wonder!

If you could relive a moment in your life what would it be?
The first time I met my twins when they were born

What did you want to be when you were a kid? What made you want to become a professor?
I always wanted to learn and to teach but I always had a deep sense of “justice” and fairness, so I become first a judge in Tunisia. When I came to the US, I pursued my other passion, which is learning and teaching.

What do you consider to be your biggest achievement thus far in your career?
There is no big achievement, but every day that I teach and see that my students have learned something new and meaningful, I feel proud of myself.

What do you hope to add to the CoAS community?
Maybe some original thinking and a new way of doing old things!