Teaching Philosophy

As an Assistant Professor at the University of Portland, graduate teaching assistant at the University of Southern California, and Visiting Lecturer at Addis Ababa University (Ethiopia), I have helped facilitate my students’ education by modeling reflexivity and critical thinking. Using my background in communication, media, and Africana studies, I draw on contemporary social issues and cultural artifacts to explain difficult course concepts to students. Through multimodal class activities, I encourage and show my students how to closely read, discuss, and master difficult concepts – not only for their personal intellectual fulfillment but also so they can learn how to interrogate, synthesize, and meaningfully apply different sets of discourses to contemporary issues and their own lived realities. Because my students come from many different cultural and ideological backgrounds, I use my classes to model inclusivity, cross-cultural exchange, and respectful discussion – allowing my students room to make mistakes, challenge concepts, learn from each other, and reflexively (un)learn what they may have previously accepted as common sense or as established systems of knowledge.


Sample Syllabus: 

Syllabus - The Politics & Ethics of Technological Transformation (Madebo) .docx

Teaching Highlights 

"Azeb uses useful explanatory examples and experiences of her own about the topics we discussed. In addition to sharing examples and experiences she also tries to elaborate on the topics by using videos and also including students’ thoughts and experiences which make the course easy and clear." 



-Masters student at Addis Ababa Univestity, Ethiopia

“All of the concepts and topics we learned connected to issues going on in the world around us and deepened my understanding of how to engage with and address those issues.



-USC Student 

"I cannot thank Azeb enough for her continued assistance and understanding. After transferring from a university last year that had an undergraduate student body of 1,000, I never thought that I would receive similar one on one attention as she has given me. Thank you for helping me work towards reaching my fullest potential as a writer."



-USC Student