Professor Profile: Zaki Hasan

 

It's rare to find a professor at a college who is young, yet can connect well with other students.

Zaki Hassan is one of those professors.

Born in Chicago, Hassan moved to the Bay Area in March of 2003 and begun teaching in 2005. This is his first year at Menlo College. Hassan so far really likes teaching. "I love it, I love the community. The students here have just been great. It's a good place to teach.

Hassan is a Mass Comm. professor, teaching Principles of Performance, Media Management, and Intro to Media.

Hasan's education can from the Windy City. "I received my undergrad education at Columbia College, which is the largest school in the Midwest and then I received my masters degree at San Jose State. I taught at SJSU for a bit as well, that's how I first got into teaching," said Hasan.

Hasan says that he enjoys teaching because of the dialogue that he shares between his students and himself.

"I love being able to interact with people, and share dialogue," said Hasan. "I get to share something and they get to share something back."

"What I really love about teaching is that I'm always learning. It's not just the students that are learning.  Every day in which I am teaching, I am always learning something new, and that's what I really love about teaching," said Hasan.

 

Hasan joking said that the reason he moved from Chicago to the Bay Area was because of the "weather."

"It wasn't exactly the real reason I moved out here, but the weather sure is better here than it is in Chicago."

He is also an avid film lover, as he will be happy to discuss any film with any students. Out of all the movies that Hasan has seen, he believes that the original version of "Planet of the Apes" is the best film he has seen thus far.

One thing about Hasan that his students may not know about him is that he has made films in the past. "I am a filmmaker, I don't think most of my students know that," said Hasan. "I am always working on a project and most of the time I don't tell my students that I'm actually working on it."

Hasan has very interesting taste when it comes to food. He likes Indian food and also likes California Pizza Kitchen as his favorite foods.

"I like California Pizza Kitchen, I like to go whenever I can," said Hasan. "I'm also a big fan when it comes to Indian food, so I like finding good Indian restaurants."

Hasan is married and has two children.

Zaki Hasan is teacher, a husband, a father and a filmmaker. If you would like to contact Zaki, email him at zhasan@menlo.edu.