Overview
Makda Weatherspoon is a Senior Lecturer of Arabic in the Department of Near Eastern Studies, where she has been teaching since 2008. A co-author of the widely used Arabiyyat al-Naas textbooks series published by Routledge, she brings extensive experience in language education, curricula design, and second language acquisition to her teaching and scholarship.
Her current research examines how resettled refugee women navigate healthcare access in the United States. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork, she investigates how language, literacy, cultural health beliefs, and community networks shape the ways women define health, interpret illness, and make decisions about care. Her work challenges deficit framings of health literacy and aims to inform culturally responsive, linguistically accessible, and community-centered health policy and intervention.
During leaves from Cornell, she has taught at the University of Washington and served as a Curriculum Developer at the University of Cambridge Language Centre. She is a volunteer instructor at Auburn Correctional Facility through the Cornell Prison Education Program and a faculty advisor to a number of on-campus student organizations, including the Ethiopian-Eritrean Student Association (ESSA) and Cornell Coptic Club (CCC).
Courses Taught:
- Gateway to Arabic Language and Culture (developed by instructor)
- Elementary Arabic I & II
- Intermediate Arabic I & II
- Advanced Arabic I & II
- Arabic Language and Culture Through Film (developed by instructor)
- Intensive Arabic I & II
Research Focus
- Teaching Arabic as a Foreign Language
- Curriculum Development and Second Language Acquisition
- Refugee Health and Healthcare Access
- Health Literacy and Health Equity
- Language, Literacy, and Marginalized Communities
- Forced Migration and Resettlement
- Ethnographic Methods in Education and Health Research
- Community-Centered Health Policy and Intervention
Awards and Honors
Sophie Washburn French Instructorship award, recognizing excellence in language instruction (2021)
Publications
Reel Arabic: Film, Language, and Culture for Intermediate-Advanced Learners (Routledge, forthcoming December 2027)
Arabiyyat al-Naas Part I: An Introductory Course in Arabic, second edition, with Munther Younes and Maha Foster (Routledge, June 2023)
Arabiyyat al-Naas Part II: An Intermediate Course in Arabic, with Munther Younes, Hanada al-Masri, Jonathan Featherstone, and Lizz Huntley (Routledge, July 2022)
Weatherspoon, M. (2021). "Laughing and Learning: Utilizing Humor in the Arabic as a Foreign Language Classroom." In Vaidya, K. (Ed.), Teach Arabic with a Sense of Humor: Why (and how to) be a Funnier and more Effective Arabic Teacher and Laugh all the Way to your Classroom.
Arabiyyat al-Naas fii MaSr Part I: A Comprehensive Introductory Arabic Textbook, Egyptian edition, with Munther Younes, Jonathan Featherstone, and Lizz Huntley (Routledge, December 2019)
Arabiyyat al-Naas Part I: An Introductory Course in Arabic, with Munther Younes and Maha Foster (Routledge, 2013)
Selected Conference Presentations and Talks
"Between Biomedicine and Belief: Holy Water, Healing, and Health Care Access Among Resettled Ethiopian Refugee Women." Qualitative Health Research Network Conference, UCL, London, May 2026.
"Between Biomedicine and Holy Water: Healing and Health Care among Resettled Ethiopian Refugee Women." Poster presentation, Cornell Center for Health Equity, Ithaca, NY, May 2026.
News
- Makda Weatherspoon receives the "Sophie Washburn French Instructorship" award in recognition of excellence in language teaching. This award is given to only two A&S faculty members each year.
- Students of Arabic serving as TA's at Auburn Prison
- Arabic classes offered through Cornell's Prison Education Program