SALAH BASSIOUNI, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Sociology and Anthropology
UW-Waukesha
E-Mail: sbassiou@uwc.edu

Coming from Egypt, the mother of seven thousand years of rich civilization, I feel honored and obligated to spread knowledge and value diversity. Let me briefly tell you my story. I received my bachelor's degree in Sociology and Psychology in 1967 from Ain-Shams University in Cairo, Egypt. In 1969, I was awarded a two-year fellowship at the United Nations Institute for Economic Development and Planning in Dakar, Senegal, from which I obtained a graduate diploma in Social Development in 1970. In 1973, I received my Master's degree in Sociology from Ain-Shams University. I went on to receive my first Ph.D. in Social Anthropology from Alexandria University in 1977. I taught at Ain-Shams University from 1973 to 1981.

In 1981, I was invited to Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, as a visiting scholar for two years. While conducting research, I decided to join their competitive Ph.D. program. I completed my course work and comprehensive exam in 1984. I accepted a teaching position at King Saud University in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. I taught and conducted research there from 1984 to 1989. I returned to Northwestern University to submit and defend my dissertation, and received my second Ph.D. in Sociology in 1991. I joined the UW System in 1992.

My guiding principles in the past thirty years of my career have been dedication, integrity, and hard work. I have published three books and a number of articles in both Arabic and in English.  I have presented more than a dozen scholarly papers at annual professional meetings and conducted several field research projects in both Sociology and Anthropology. I have written and received numerous grants. I have also received several awards, including Teacher of the Year Award in 1994, and the Arthur Kaplan Fellowship in 1998.

I have been teaching a variety of courses at the UW Colleges in both Anthropology and Sociology. Among these courses are Introduction to Sociology; Sociology of Race and Ethnicity; Contemporary Social Problems; Marriage and Family; Crime and Criminal Justice; General Anthropology; Cultural Anthropology; Cultures and Peoples of the Middle East. I have also been active in the integrated studies and learning community clusters. I started and taught the first Learning Community Cluster in the UW Colleges in the fall of 1993. My areas of interest include racial and ethnic relations, cross-cultural studies, interdisciplinary studies, and Middle Eastern studies. I am currently working on two projects. The first one focuses on the performance and needs of the non-traditional students. The second project deals with racial and ethnic stereotypes in small towns.

My teaching philosophy stems from my experience and training. I bring the global perspective to the classroom and use the cross-cultural approach to explore with my students the world's diverse cultures, their similarities and differences, each with its own unique beauty and dignity. I encourage my students to use their rational reasoning and enhance their critical thinking in this flooded information age. In addition, I love innovation and use instructional technology for more effective teaching and learning. I use different teaching strategies and techniques to meet my students' needs and to involve them in the teaching/learning process. These techniques include active participation, group projects, field trips to prisons and courtrooms and other institutions, in-class presentations, and field assignments in the community. For me, teaching has been a rewarding intellectual experience. I enjoy teaching my students as well as learning from them. I inspire them to advance and make a positive difference in their own lives and the lives of others.