Jonas Elbousty

Jonas Elbousty holds a few graduate degrees, including an MPhil and a Ph.D. from Columbia University. He teaches in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at Yale University, where he served as the Director of Undergraduate Studies for six years. He is currently the Director of Undergraduate Studies at the Council on Middle East Studies, and he is also the director of the Yale Summer Study Abroad Program in Rabat, Morocco. In addition to his academic responsibilities, he is a literary critic, translator, and a short story writer. He also writes poetry.
 
Elbousty has taught at Al Akhawayan, Emory, Georgia Institute of Technology, Columbia, and Yale. He has taught widely in the areas of North African and Middle Eastern studies. His research interests focus on the theories of world literature, problematics of literary translation, cultural history, the image of the Arab in U.S literary and media narratives, postcolonial literature, Maghrebi studies, the poetics of exile, digital disinformation, and the life and works of Mohamed Choukri.

Elbousty has numerous publications appearing in Michigan Quarterly Review, ArabLit, ArabLit Quarterly, Asheville Poetry Review, Banipal, Prospectus, Sekka, Live Encounters, Journal of New Jersey Poets, Journal of North African Studies, International Journal of Middle East Studies, and Middle Eastern Literatures, amongst others.

Elbousty has given lectures at numerous universities, including Stockholm University, University of Lisbon, University of Copenhagen, Bochum University, Zhejiang University, University of Brussels, Dunărea de Jos University, etc. He also serves as an associate researcher in many institutions, including the Center for Cultural and Multidisciplinary Studies at Dunarea de Jos University of Galati, Romania, the Moroccan Institute for Advanced Studies (IMEA), the Comparative Humanities and Applied Language Studies (CHALS Lab), University of Ibn Zohr, Agadir, Morocco, and the Humanities and Social Sciences Research Center (HSSRC), Ajman University, United Arab Emirates.

He works as a consultant and external examiner to numerous academic institutions. He also consults for NGOs, offering advice that pertains to North African and Middle Eastern Affairs, and has directed diverse programs in the MENA region. Elbousty is on many governmental and non-governmental boards and his advice is often sought by numerous agencies. In his spare time, he consults for a wide variety of clients, including media production and publishing companies. His work includes translation of screenplays, subtitles captioning for award-winning documentaries and films, manuscript proofreading, literary translations, etc. He is also on the board of trustees of a few institutions.

He has received many awards, including the Ordre des Palmes Académiques, 2020 Poorvu Family Award for excellence in teaching at Yale University, Special Commendation for contributions to education from the State of Massachusetts Senate, and research fellowships.