Dr. Joe Abisaid may be a relatively new face on campus, as the latest member of the Communication Studies Department. But he’s not new to Michigan.
Abisaid is a state native, born and raised in Farmington Hills. He also received his undergraduate degree from Michigan State University in 2002, before heading to University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he earned a doctorate in 2012.
“Ultimately, I applied to Detroit Mercy because this is where I grew up,” he said. “A lot of the time it’s hard to find work where you grew up and so I saw the opportunity and I jumped on it.”
Before UDM, Abisaid was at Loras College, a small Catholic university in Iowa.
“You know, for the past 15 years or so I’ve been in the Iowa-Wisconsin area,” he noted, “so to come back home after all this time is truly amazing.”
Abisaid teaches several topics related to communications, including advertising, public relations, public opinion and political communication.
How does he feel being one of the newbies in the College of Liberal Arts and Education (CLAE)?
“There’s always going to be somebody new and in this case that somebody is me, but one thing I can say is that I have great colleagues who have made me feel welcome in CST and in CLAE,” he said. “Plus, I like it here. I like the community. This is the type of community I want to be apart of.”
When it comes to Detroit Mercy students, what does Abisaid want them to know?
“I want my students to know that I’m very open, and that they can always come and talk to me as I’m here to listen,” he said. “I want students to feel welcome and warm, and know that there’s no intimidation in class or from me.”
Abisaid invites students to visit him in his office in Briggs, room 117A, if they would like to get to know him a little better.
Beginning his second semester on campus, he hopes to be here for a long time.
“This is where I’m from and it feels good to be back in my home state,” he said. “I’ll stay for as long as Detroit Mercy will have me.”