Ms. Kureishy is in the process of completing her MPhil at University of Karachi. She holds a Master’s degree in Urdu Language and Literature and a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Karachi University.

Ms. Kureishy works as an Assistant Instructional Professor of Urdu, University of Chicago, romeenak@uchicago.edu.

She also worked as an Independent Urdu Specialist for the American Councils for International Education. She is also involved with non-profit organizations promoting South Asian art and culture in the Tri-State area.

Ms. Kureishy started her STARTALK affiliation with the University of Pennsylvania  STARTALK Urdu Program in 2009 and stayed with the program till 2014 as an instructor, lead instructor and later as Program Director.  She also taught Beginner and Intermediate Urdu courses in Fall 2010 at UPenn as an adjunct. 

In 2010 she attended the STARTALK Teacher Training Program at New York University. She has completed training in and attended workshops on: Standards-Based Curriculum, Teaching Heritage Students, Using Authentic materials, Integration of Language, Culture and Content, Using Target Language in Class, Differentiated Instruction, Student Centered Instruction, Backward Design Lesson Plans at Excellence in Leadership Summer institute at University of Pennsylvania and ACTFL , ACTFL Reading Proficiency (NYU) and Oral Proficiency (Columbia University), Performance Based Assessment (Center for Applied Linguistics), Thematically Organized Assessment. Most recently she attended the Professional Learning Institute at Loyola Marymount University, California. She also completed the Kean University Teacher Training Program and served as an instructor in the students program.

She has extensive experience in curriculum design for heritage and non- heritage learners and teacher training in Pakistan and in the U.S.