MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICAN LANGUAGES PROGRAM

Dr. Rana Raddawi holds a PhD in Translation Studies Arabic/English/French from Sorbonne University in Paris, France. She is fluent in five languages English, Arabic, French, Portuguese and Turkish with a fair knowledge of Spanish and Italian. Dr. Raddawi has more than 15 years of teaching experience in the Middle East and the West at the graduate and undergraduate levels. She is the editor of the book Intercultural Communication with Arabs (Publisher: Springer) and has several publications in international journals related to her area of expertise. 

Prof. Raddawi was the recipient of the Northwestern CLI Excellence in Language Teaching  Award in 2025-2026.

She was instrumental in the creation of the Arabic Minor. She also developed two advanced courses, one in translation and a literature seminar on the Arabic short story, thereby expanding opportunities for advanced study. Prof. Raddawi integrates technology to create inclusive and engaging learning environments. She also consistently enriches instruction with real-world learning and cultural engagement in local Arabic speaking communities to promote meaningful language use and intercultural competence. She is a certified interpreter and has several published translations into Arabic such as the books Happiness is a Serious Problem and Natural Medicine for Flu and Cold.  Her research interests relate to Gender Equity in the Language Curriculum and Critical Pedagogy, Curriculum Design and Cross-Cultural studies. She was awarded the Catalyst Grant (2022-2025) by the Buffett Institute for Global Affairs at Northwestern to lead the Project Language Curricula and Gender Equity. She won The Office of the Vice President for International Relations and The Buffett Institute Classroom Partnering Award for Fall 2022.  

Dr. Raddawi won the ASG Faculty Honor Roll three times (2019-2020, 2021-2022, and 2022-2023). She is a member of the Salzburg Global Seminar group for Education.  

She is leading a project on the new design of the Online Arabic Placement Test in the MENA Languages Program (2026-2028).