Splash Biography



SAAD ANSARI, Yale graduate student into ed-tech, post-war dev.



Major: Global Affairs

College/Employer: Yale

Year of Graduation: G

Picture of Saad Ansari

Brief Biographical Sketch:

I grew up Florida where 70% of my high school spoke Spanish. I studied governments and Islam at the University of Michigan, where I also studied abroad in Argentina, Turkey, and Vietnam. Thereafter, I served as a non-profit consultant and helped developed a community center in Manhattan, refugee center in Tucson, and co-started up an Arabic Institute in DC. I also did pro-bono work for a women's shelter in Honduras. On the side, I continued Islamic studies part-time with a refugee-professor from Iraq. At Yale's Jackson Institute, I study how law is constructed during and after war, with special focus on Syria. I have thought all four semesters while at Yale to high acclaim, and very much love teaching. I am also working on an educational technology start up in which pedagogical innovation in international education is a major component.



Past Classes

  (Clicking a class title will bring you to the course's section of the corresponding course catalog)

H998: The Story of Islam in Splash Spring 14 (Mar. 29, 2014)
What do rap competitions, the toothbrush, Red Beard the Pirate, and Dracula have to do with Islamic history? This course introduces students to one of the world's most widely practiced religions, exploring the basic roots, but also some lesser known and striking historical moments and characters. This course's flow of inquiry will range from the philosophically deepest questions (free will vs. determinism) to some of the lightest topics (the importance of humor) ever present in our common human story. Time will be left for a QA session.


H999: Lessons of Lincoln | Education. Law. War. in Splash Spring 14 (Mar. 29, 2014)
How do you teach yourself when you only have "a barrel of books?" Is it possible to save the rule of law by breaking the law? How can a war be waged without considering the other side an enemy? This course explores the life of Abraham Lincoln, especially the lessons key to navigating our own daily challenges, from learning, reconciling opposing objectives, to being able to address complexity with nuance. This course will be discussion based.