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- Tamara Issak
Associate Professor
Ph.D. Syracuse University, Composition and Cultural RhetoricM.A. Rutgers University-Newark, English LiteratureB.A. William Paterson University, English; Secondary Education K-12 English; Humanities Honors Track
Tamara Issak is an Associate Professor of First-Year Writing in the Department of Core Studies and holds a joint appointment in the Department of English. Previously, she served as director of Writing Across Communities in 2022-2025. Her research focuses on Islamophobic rhetoric, Muslim women’s rhetoric, and community engagement. Issak is the recipient of several fellowships including an American Association of University Women Fellowship and a Fulbright Fellowship to Syria. She was recognized by St. John’s University for her teaching and service as the recipient of the Faculty Excellence in Student Engagement Award.
Before starting at St. John’s, she taught at Syracuse University, Rutgers University-Newark, Concordia University-Chicago, Triton Community College, and DePaul University. Born and raised in New Jersey, she has been an active member of various community organizations in the New York/New Jersey area. In the past, she was a contributing radio producer and host of Tahrir: Voices of the Arab and Muslim Community which aired on Pacifica's WBAI 99.5 FM, and she was a co-producer of the disciplinary podcast, This Rhetorical Life.
First-Year Writing: Writing and Your Career
Honors 1000H First-Year Writing: Writing Your Past, Present, and Future
English 807 Teaching World Literature: Teaching About Islamophobic Rhetoric
“Muslim Homeschooling in America.” Professors Who Homeschool: Theory, Expertise, and Practice. Edited by Heidi Williams. Palgrave Macmillan. In Press.
“A Reflection on Archival Liberation and Power.” With Ann George et al. Journal for the History of Rhetoric. Vol. 27 No. 3 2024. Pennsylvania State University, 2025.
“Fulfilling Allah’s Trust: Rhetoric of Amannah as a Foundation for Social Change.” Literacies of/from the Pluriversal: Tools for Perseverance and Livable Futures. With Lana Oweidat. University of Pittsburgh Press, 2023.
“At a Crossroads: The Committee for Chagne and the Voices of CCCC.” With Bernice Olivas et al. Systems Shift: Creating and Navigating Change in Rhetoric and Composition Administration. WAC Clearinghouse, 2023.
“Never Forget: Ground Zero, Park51, and Constitutive Rhetorics.” Constellations. Issue 3, 2020. “How Does it Feel to be a Problem at the 9/11 Museum?” Writing Democracy: The Political Turn in and Beyond the Trump Era. Eds. Shannon Carter, Deborah Mutnick, Jess Pauszek, and Steve Parks. Routledge: 2019.
“Thinking Collectively about Academic Labor.” With Ben Kuebrich, Karrieann Soto, Allison Hitt, and Jana Rosinski. Present Tense 3.2 (2014).
Co-edited Collections
The Best of the Independent Rhetoric and Composition Journals, 2014. Co-edited with Steve Parks, James Seitz, Jessica Pauszek, Heather Christiansen, and Brian Bailie. Parlor Press, 2016.
Revolution By Love: Emerging Arab Youth Voices. Co-edited with Lindsey Banister and Theresa Keicher. New City Community Press. 2012.
“Al Kalima Al Tayeba: An Arab Islamic Rhetorical Framework for Responding to Microaggressions.” With Lana Oweidat. Conference on College Composition and Communication. March 2026.
“Honoring Embodied Experience and Cross-Cultural Communication in First Year Writing.” Conference on Writing and Wellbeing. Manhattan, NY. June 2025.
“Historiography and Rhetoric: Working in Institutional Archives.” Participant. Rhetoric Society of America Summer Institute. May 2025.
“Violence and Care in Higher Education.” Participant. Rhetoric Society of America Summer Institute. May 2025.
“Building the High School to College Bridge on Solid Ground.” Conference on College Composition and Communication: Baltimore, MD. April 2025.
“Literacy Narratives Across Borders.” University of Connecticut Conference on Writing, April 2024.
“New York City to Amman: Initiating Global Online Writing Exchanges.” Conference on College Composition and Communication: Chicago, IL, February 2023.
“Fulfilling Trust: Arab-Islamic Rhetorics of Amannah as a Foundation for Social Change.” With Lana Oweidat. Rhetoric Society of America: Baltimore, MD, May 2022.
“Living the ‘Work’: Being Accountable to Communities Within and Beyond the Institution.” Roundtable Discussion. Conference on Community Writing: Philadelphia, PA, October 2019.
“Organizing Muslim Women: The Affordances and Limitations of Interventions.” Cultural
Rhetorics Conference: Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, November 2018.
“Muslim Women Write Back.” Conference on College Composition and Communication: Kansas City, MO, March 2018.
“All Our Relations: Teaching Social Justice Movements.” Workshop Co-Presenter. Conference on College Composition and Communication: Kansas City, MO, March 2018.
“Learning Together: Gathering Resources and Building Critical Mass for Feminist Community Writing.” Seminar Co-Presenter. Feminisms and Rhetorics Conference: Dayton, OH, October 2017.
“Gitmo, The Muslim Male, and Torture: A Transnational Feminist Reading.” Conference on College Composition and Communication: Tampa, FL, March 2015.
“Narrations of the Arab Spring—Challenges in Community Engagement and Service Learning.” New Jersey College English Association Conference: Seton Hall University. South Orange, NJ, April 2014.
“Park51 and Transnational Feminism.” Feminist Workshop at the Conference on College
Composition and Communication: Indianapolis, IN, March 2014.
“Al Kalima Al Tayeba: An Arab Islamic Rhetorical Framework for Responding to Microaggressions.” With Lana Oweidat.
Conference on College Composition and Communication. March 2026.