Key Insights
From Dec. 3-18, Mina will lead training on digital innovation and artificial intelligence in English language teaching for educators from nine countries in East and Central Africa.
Lilian Mina,
Lilian Mina, Ph.D. Ph.D., has been selected by the United States Department of State as an English-language specialist for a regional project in Tanzania.
Mina is a University of Alabama at Birmingham professor of English in the College of Arts and Sciences’ Department of English, and directs the First-Year Composition program. Mina is also director of Institutional Assessment within UAB’s Office of Institutional Effectiveness and Analysis.
English-language specialists are top-tier experts in the field of teaching English to speakers of other languages. The specialists assist U.S. Embassies in delivering and maintaining quality English-language programs overseas and promoting mutual understanding between the U.S. and other countries. English-language specialists have a master’s or doctoral degree in TESOL, applied linguistics or a related field and lead intensive, high-level English language projects.
From Dec. 3-18, Mina will lead training on digital innovation and artificial intelligence in English-language teaching for educators from nine countries in East and Central Africa. Working with the U.S. Embassy in Dar es Salaam, the Tanzania English Language Teachers Association and English language fellows from across the region, Mina will reach several hundred educators. She will also author an AI and project-based instruction toolkit, including a facilitator guide, slide decks and worked examples, for reuse in future regional trainings.
Tanzania will mark Mina’s fourth English-language specialist project, following successful virtual projects with Nepal and Russia and an in-country project in Bangladesh in 2025.
Mina earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Cairo University, a master’s degree in English from The American University in Cairo, and a Ph.D. in composition from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Mina’s research is situated in digital writing, writing program administration and multilingual composition. She has published articles in the journals Computers & Composition and Composition Forum, and book chapters in multiple books from university presses.