Mona Choucair, Ph.D.
Senior Lecturer
Dr. Mona M. Choucair is a senior lecturer with a dual appointment in the School of Education and the College of Arts & Sciences in the English Department. Dr. Choucair teaches American Literature survey courses as well as an advanced grammar course in the English department and teaches Young Adult Literature and Secondary Methods courses in the School of Education. She also supervises secondary teaching interns. She has been a Councilor for the Council for College Teachers of English, is an active member of South Central Modern Language Association, and continues her annual role as an invited grader and question leader for The College Board, specifically in the Advanced Placement English language exams.
A native of Munday, Texas, Dr. Choucair received her B.A. in English as well as a secondary teaching certificate from Baylor and taught at Waxahachie High School for several years. She received her M.A. in Interdisciplinary Studies of English & Humanities from The University of Dallas and her Ph.D. from Baylor.
In 2008, Baylor University honored Dr. Choucair with the Collins Outstanding Professor of the Year Award, an award that is selected by a vote of the university’s senior class.
She has directed the Baylor Study Abroad Program in Maastricht, Netherlands, where she was a Visiting Professor at the University of Maastricht, teaching classes on American Short Stories and Contemporary Women Writers. She has also taught in several Baylor study-abroad programs in Great Britain.
Her research interests include advocating for Young Adult Literature to be added to the traditional English curriculum used in secondary schools and studying Contemporary Minority Women writers. Dr. Choucair wrote her dissertation, titled “Whose Culture Are You Bearing: Searching for Self,” on Toni Morrison’s novels, including Beloved, Song of Solomon, and Paradise. She has taught a Toni Morrison Novels seminar.
Dr. Choucair serves as a Faculty in Residence in South Russell Hall and said she sees this important role as a natural extension of what she already loves to do—getting to know students.
Dr. Choucair is an active member of First United Methodist Church and enjoys volunteer activities ranging from tutoring in the LEAF literacy project in Waco to the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure, as well as the One Book One Waco initiatives.