She is also an affiliate faculty at the Ali Vural Ak Center for Global Islamic Studies (AVACGIS) at George Mason University. She teaches courses on governments and politics of the Middle East and North Africa, Islam and politics, international relations theory, Israeli-Palestinian politics, and role of civil society in democratization. Professor El-Shazli earned a Ph.D. in political science from Virginia Tech (VT) School of Public and International Affairs (SPIA).