She received her Masters and PH. D. degrees in American Literature but her publications also include papers on translation: theory and practice, travel literature, women writing and post-colonial literature. Dr. Ali is a member of two of the most active NGOs in Egypt; namely, the Women and Memory Forum and New Women Research Center. She has had stories published and participated in many story-telling evenings within the framework of the Women and Memory Forum's project of rewriting folk stories and stories from the One Thousand and One Nights from a gender sensitive prespective. She is editor-in-chief of Tiba, the theoretical magazine of the New Woman Research Center. Her awards include two Fulbright grants; one to the TESOL Summer Institute (1989), the other to the American Studies Research Center in Hydrabad, India (1991). She was also awarded a USIS IVP grant