Silvia Ammary is an assistant professor of American literature and advanced writing. She is also the director of Enlus (English Language for University Studies). Ammary has a Ph.D. in American Literature. She did her MA in American drama (the drama of Tennessee Williams and Arthur Miller) and her PhD in American poetry (the influence of Futurism on the poetry of E. E. Cummings). Ammary considers herself a global citizen as she is half Jordanian and half Italian. She also speaks five languages: Arabic, English, French, Spanish and Italian and has a wide international experience in teaching. Ammary also has a Diploma in Teaching English as a Foreign/Second Language (TEFL/TESL). She is an expert in Toefl teaching and testing. As the director of Enlus, Ammary’s job entails getting the students to the proficiency level in all basic skills so they can pursue their studies at an American university. Part of her job is to devise suitable curricula to suit the needs of international students who want to study in an American university, interview applicants, hire instructors, monitor students’ progress and development, and address the problems of second language learning that international students face.
Among the various courses that Ammary teaches at JCU are Introduction to literature, American literature, world literature, Modern American Fiction, and Advanced writing courses. In the course “Introduction to literature”, students learn the fundamental elements and major literary terms of each genre in literature: fiction, poetry, and drama so that they can read literary texts critically by using the right approaches. In the course “American literature”, students study the major historical, cultural, intellectual, and political events which occasioned American writing from the early explorers till the contemporary time. Students utilize various critical approaches and reading strategies as they examine important authors and themes of each period. In all of these courses, Ammary encourage students to become critical readers, thinkers, and writers; Ammary’s goals is not only to promote their intellectual engagement with cultural texts of all kinds, but also to help them become more perceptive readers and forceful writers about the world around them. For Ammary, The most important way to make students appreciate literature is to have empathy, nurture it, model it, and communicate it. An emphatic professor seizes on precious “teachable moments” to make students express their feelings and opinions about what is going on in the world around them and encourage them to share those feelings with other classmates. This process of self-disclosure not only allows them to speak the language naturally and spontaneously, but it also creates a safe environment and a sense of community. As a citizen of the world, Ammary believes in embracing differences and promoting liberal education, free expression, and the democratic exchange of ideas.
Research interests
Ammary published several articles and books on writing, international education, American literature, world literature, and TESOL She published the following two books on writing: Practice Make Perfect (2005) and Top Twenty Writing Flaws (2008). She also published a book on Hemingway’s fiction entitled The Influence of the European Culture on Hemingway’s Fiction (2015). The book is an essential companion to Hemingway’s scholars and students as it deals with the way Hemingway depicts Europe in his fiction, the way he assimilates to the European culture, and his portrayal of the different aspects of that culture in terms of food, music, customs, architecture, and literature.
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