Tamara Issak

Tamara Issak is an Assistant Professor in the Institute for Core Studies - First Year Writing and Writing Across Communities Faculty-in-Residence. She studies constitutive rhetorics, geographic rhetorics, and community literacy initiatives. She is currently working on a book focused on Islamophobic rhetoric in New York City in the aftermath of 9/11. Issak is the recipient of several national fellowships and awards including an American Association of University Women Fellowship 2017-2018 and a Fulbright Fellowship to Syria 2008-2009.

Before starting at St. John's University, 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.