Middle East Shindig Celebrates Five Years of Cultural Celebration in NES (11/09)

November 19, the NESUO hosted its fifth annual intercultural outreach event aptly named, 'Middle Eastern Shindig'. The event attracts students, faculty, community people and families from throughout Tucson. This year was highlighted by a belly dance troupe, authentic (FREE) Middle Eastern food and traditional dress, as well as music of the Middle East. Undergraduate advisor Dr. Maha Nassar is working closely with NESUO President Elise Marsh to keep the high standards of fun and outreach going. Thanks NESUO for a great event!

This year marks the 10th annual national celebration of International Education Week. This joint initiative of the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of Education is part of a continuing promotion of programs that prepare Americans for a global environment and attract future leaders from abroad to study, learn, and exchange experiences in the United States. Julie Ellison (NES Ph.D. candidate) and Ana Ghoreishian (MA candidate) facilitated a film viewing sponsored in by the UA Center for Middle Eastern Studies and International Affairs. The movie, 'Those Three' (An Seh), Iran 2007 was shown Nov 17 at 6:30 in ILC 130.

New Turkish Studies Assistant Professor Asli Igsiz Presents Invited Talk at Stanford (10/09)

Dr. Igsiz presented an invited talk October 27, titled, 'Grounds for Comparison: Jewish and Christian Converts to Islam within the context of 1923 Greco-Turkish Compulsory Religious Minority Exchange'. This was a part of the Mediterranean Studies Forum at Stanford University's Division of International, Comparative and Area Studies.

Professor Talattof Presents Symposium's Keynote Address, Leiden, Netherlands (10/09)

Professor Kamran Talattof presented the keynote address October 26 at the recent symposium on the burgeoning of Iranian cinema titled, From Pariah to the Pedestal. The topic of his talk was, Sexuality and Cultural Change: Gender in Film Farsi. The symposium is sponsored by Leiden University Centre for the Study of Islam and Society (LUCIS) Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie vanWetenschappen (KNAW) Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO, project ‘Of Politics and Poetry’), and was held at Leiden University, Netherlands. Excellent work!

NES Grad Students Present at Middle East Studies Association Annual Meeting (11/09)

PhD candidate Hikmet Kocamaner will present his paper entitled: 'National Characteristics of Turkish Television: Homogeneity vs. Hybridity'. W. Ben Adams, another PhD candidate will present his paper entitled, 'Guide Starts: The Celestial Clock as Interpreter of Classical Arabic Poetry'. Congratulations to them both!

Grad Presents at International Conference in Egypt (10/09)

PhD candidate W. Ben Adams presented an invited paper at the SEAC (European Society for Astronomy and Culture) titled, 'The Multivalency of Ancient Arabian Seasonal Asterisms and Megaconstellations'. Ben is enrolled in the dual PhD program with Anthropology. Excellent work!

NESUO and MENA 'Booths' it at Wildcat World Fair (10/09)

The NESUO (NES Undergraduate Organization) and the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) graduate organization collaborated October 16 to hold a booth at the Wildcat World Fair. This year the fair was combined with the UA 'Family Weekend' for the first time, and held on the UA mall. The Fair is an annual UA multicultural celebration organized by numerous clubs and organizations and included carnival rides, food and performances. The NESUO and MENA decorated their booth and sold henna tattoos to fair attendees. For more information on the NESUO, contact Elise Marsh, President at ebmarsh@email.arizona.edu. Graduate students interested in joining the MENA group may contact its president, Jason Hushour at hatchjaw@email.arizona.edu.

NES with NESUO (NES Undergrad Organization) Participates in Meet your Major Fair (10/09)

The Meet Your Major Fair, sponsored by the Center for Exploratory Students, was be held on Wednesday, October 7, 2009 from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm in the Student Union Ballroom. NES was there with flying colors (and our banner, and our literature) to introduce students to the vital world of Middle East Study. Dr. Anne Betteridge, Director, Center for Middle Eastern Studies, Dr. Maha Nassar, Assistant Professor of NES and Undergraduate Advisor, Elise Marsh, NES UO President, and other several other students from the NESUO manned the table. The Major Fair is a great opportunity for students to learn about the various majors on campus and to talk to representatives from the majors. Thanks for getting us out there!

Professor Kamran Talattof Receives Magellan Grant for Guest Lecturer

Kamran Talattof has recently received a Magellan Grant that will help inviting Dr. Marta Simidchieva to campus early in spring semester for a number of lectures on a variety of topics.

MA Student Featured in Boston Globe Article (10/09)

Master's candidate Scott Brown was recently featured in a Boston Globe article that portrayed him as an individual with native/near native speaking ability in Arabic. Although the article is dated September 2006, we in the department just heard about it. So news to us! Excellent job, Scott. http://www.boston.com/yourlife/articles/2006/09/10/crafting_new_career_at_school/

Persian Studies Professor Kamran Talattof Receives Student Interaction Grant (9/09)

NES MA Student Toni Richardson to Present at African Studies Association Annual Conference (11/09)

Turkish Studies Assistant Professor Dr. Asli Igsiz Joins Near Eastern Studies (8/09)

Dr. Asli Igsiz joins the Turkish program in Near Eastern Studies starting August 2009, bringing a wealth of experience and expertise to the Department. Her research combines archival research in Turkish and Greek sources and literary and cultural products (documentary films, novels, family histories, cookbooks) to investigate construction of cultural aspects of population-movement experience, memory and genre. She examines the dynamic role literary works play in putting national past and identities into question and probes identity: e.g., Jewish-Christian converts to Islam in Greece; and a conceptual discussion of historiography and literature. Her interests include: nineteenth and twentieth-century literary cultures in Ottoman State, Turkey, Greece, and France and their intersections and divergences; the Enlightenment and its exported legacies; implications of “East-West” in the Mediterranean; narratives of war and violence; forced migration and ethno-religious conflicts; art and politics; dissecting categories of analysis; history of disciplines and interdisciplinarity; transnationalism and world literature.

Her current project is Comparative Dialogues: Questioning the Unfamiliar in Modern Greece and Turkey. In addition to her research, she brings with her extensive Turkish Language teaching experience. Welcome Dr. Igsiz! See Full Vitae

Christine Dykgraaf, NES Instructor Receives College-Wide Teaching Award (4/09)

The 2008-2009 Social and Behavioral Sciences Dean's Award for Excellence in Teaching of Lower-Division Courses was given to our own Christine Dykgraaf!  She will be honored at the Mary 15, 2 p.m., Commencement Recognition Ceremony at the Tucson Convention Center.

Anyone who has spent any amount of time in the Department of Near Eastern Studies has born witness to the effort, time and care Christine Dykgraaf takes in her instructional and advising duties. Shortly after joining the department in 2003, Christine assumed the duties of Undergraduate Advisor, and Lecturer in TRAD 101, Middle Eastern Humanities. This core UA General Education course sees enrollments of five to seven hundred students in an academic year, with Christine supervising 10 to 16 teaching assistants in a given semester. What may not be apparent to those not directly involved, however, is the tremendous amount of energy and creativity required to keep the curriculum fresh, and original. Avoiding problems such as plagiarism and the tendency of many students to share tests, papers and other course requirements is not an easy task. What Christine has brought to her position has been an ongoing originality and positive enthusiasm that to this insider appears super-human, especially given the grueling rigor of grading, TA supervision, and curricular oversight required.

Congratulations from your friends and admirers in the Department and College!

Students & Faculty Attend Western Consortium Language Workshop (4/09)

Several graduate students from Near Eastern Studies recently attended the Western Consortium Language Conference at the University of Texas, Austin. Thanks to generous funding from the UA Center for Middle Eastern Studies eight participants attended, including several of the NES language teaching assistants and faculty were able to receive top-grade instruction in language pedagogy. They were also lucky to meet NES Alum Martha Schulte-Nafeh, now a UT faculty member. Attendees felt they received excellent instruction that will assist them in their roles as language instructors here at the University of Arizona.

John Costello Presents Paper at International Society for Language Studies (ISLS) (6/09)

M.A. Candidate John Costell presents his refereed paper, "The Social and Psychological Implications of a Classical Arabic-based Identity," at the 2009 ISLS conference held in Orlando Florida this coming June 11 to 13, 2009. Congratulations!

MENA Graduate Organization Conference Goes International (3/09)

The 9th Annual Southwest Graduate Conference in Middle Eastern Studies was hosted by the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Graduate Student Group at the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona March 25th to 27th, 2009. This year's theme was "Cross-Disciplinary Perspectives in Middle Eastern Studies". 45 students participated from across the United States, with four students from Turkey, one student from Egypt and a student from Canada. The conference was supported by the University Of Arizona Department Of Near Eastern Studies and the Center for Middle Eastern Studies. For the past nine years the conference has brought together graduate students studying the Middle East from all disciplines and provided an enriching forum for young scholars to present their work and to receive feedback from professors and their peers on scholarship and presentation skills.

Huge credit goes to NES graduate students Shauna Little, Keri Miller and Julie Ellison for putting on the most professionally conference in memory. Excellent job!

Professors from the Near Eastern Studies, History, and Anthropology departments chaired the panels, as well as a visiting professor from Notre Dame University, Asher Kaufman. The keynote speaker was Ziad Fahmy; a University of Arizona alum currently teaching Modern Middle East History at Cornell University. He presented a talk entitled: “Media Capitalism: Colloquial Mass Culture and Nationalism in Egypt, 1904-1919”. He also held a well-attended brown bag lunch discussion on preparing for jobs and interviewing in the academic world. A panel discussion, “Refugees of the Middle East”, was held on the first evening of the conference, with speakers Dr. Maha Nassar, Assistant Professor in the Department of Near Eastern Studies, Tara Deubel, PhD candidate in the Department of Anthropology, and Ken Briggs, Director of the International Rescue Committee, Tucson Office. Additional evening conference activities were an evening of Middle Eastern music and dance by performed by local and student artists, and a potluck dinner at the home of two students. Overall the conference was a valuable experience for scholarly networking and presentation skills building for academic conferences. The event also provided a richly informative event for the university and local community.

Yaseen Noorani Speaks at the College of Law, 'Global Society and Justice' Workshop (3/09)

Assistant Professor in Near Eastern Studies Yaseen Noorani spoke at the UA College of Law on the 'Rhetoric of Security', at their workshop entitled, 'Global Society and Justice'.

Grad Student Studies Lebanese American University in Beirut (summer 2009)

NES MA student Tamara Drenttel will study Levantine Arabic this summer at the Lebanese American University in Beirut, supported by a Javits Fellowship. While there, she plans to volunteer at a Palestinian refugee camp. Wow! Tamara is active in all facets of life here in NES, including being secretary of the MENA graduate organization, and presenting papers at upcoming conferences. Go Tamara!

NESUO Hosts Table at Winter Arts Festival (2/09)

The Near Eastern Studies Undergraduate Organization (NESUO) will be participating in the Winter Arts Festival on Friday February 20th, from 5-9 p.m. on the UA Mall. The festival will celebrate culture and music, with information tables, food, drinks, music, and dance ensembles performing on stage. All undergraduate majors and minors, including ARB, PRS and TURk minors are welcome! The group will be selling greeting cards and henna tattoos. Email Elise Marsh at ebmarsh@email.arizona.edu for more information or to volunteer.

Professor Farwaneh Nominated for GPSC Teaching & Mentoring Award (2/09)

Dr. Samira Farwaneh was nominated by students for the Graduate and Professional Student Council's (GPSC) 2009 Education Teaching and Mentoring Award. Although she ultimately did not receive this year's award, our students agree she is top notch and appreciate her. Congratulations Dr. Farwaneh!

Graduate Students Share Middle East Culture in Love of Reading Week (2/09)

Master's students Laura Provencher and Danielle van Dobben read to elementary students the week of February 9 as part of the 'Reading Around the World' love of reading week. They traveled to Henry Elementary, and Davidson Elementary Schools in Tucson to read to third graders, helping them to understand the culture and people of the Middle East.  Laura commented that, having been an elementary school teacher, she loves reading to children.  Excellent outreach Laura and Danielle!

NES Alum Ziad Fahmy Receives Malcolm Kerr Dissertation Award at MESA (11/08)

Dr. Ziad Fahmy, who currently holds the position of Assistant Professor at Cornell University, received his M.A. degree from NES, and his Ph.D. in History here at the University of Arizona. His dissertation, Popularizing Egyptian Nationalism: Colloquial Culture and Media Capitalism, 1870-1919, was recently chosen as winner of the 2008 Malcolm H. Kerr Dissertation Award in the Humanities!  The award was announced and presented at the MESA Annual Meeting awards ceremony on Sunday evening, November 23, 2008 at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in Washington, DC.  Congratulations to another outstanding alum of the Department!

Outstanding NES Undergraduates Earn Magellan Scholar Awards (12/08)

NES majors Matthew Chomiak, Ghazal Ghazi and Jason Hushour recently received the prestigious Magellan Circle Scholar awards of $500 each. Congratulations to them.

• Matthew Chomiak is a Junior in NES with a double minor in Persian and Sociology. Matthew's interest in the Middle East started as a spark of curiosity his first year in college and has grown into a large flame of interest that is carrying him through his education at the University of Arizona. He says he enjoys learning about the history, culture, and languages of the Middle East, and notes that the well rounded instruction received thorough NES helps to broaden his horizons and better understand the unique culture of the Middle East.  One goal of his is to develop the tools necessary to study abroad in the Middle East and experience the culture first hand.  We have no doubt he will obtain his goal in NES!
• Ghazal Ghazi is a Sophomore in NES with a minor in Persian. Great job Ghazal!
• Jason Hushour is a Senior in NES, who has been admitted to the Masters Program in NES for spring 2009. He is primarily interested in 20th-21st century Syrian history with an additional focus on the Israeli-Syrian relationship and Israeli domestic politics. Currently he is also doing work translating some contemporary Arabic fiction with the intent of publication. Outstanding!

Ph.D. Candidate Razi Ahmad to Present Paper at Upcoming MESA Annual Meeting (11/08)

NES Ph.d. candidate Razi Ahmad will present his paper entitled,"The Construction of Iranian National Identity and its Reflection in Jamalzadeh's Works," at the upcoming MESA annual meeting which will take place November 22-25, 2008.

Ph.D. Candidate Jeremy Palmer to Present at MESA (11/08)

Ph.D. Candidate Danielle van Dobben Participates in the World Learning Foreign Policy Dialogue Program (11/08)

Dual Anthropology/NES Ph.D. candidate Danielle van Dobben has been accepted for the World Learning Foreign Policy Dialogue Among Emerging Leaders in Turkey program.  She will travel to Turkey in mid-November to discuss issues with Turkish youth and will be going to Ankara, Diyarbakir & Istanbul.  Congratulations!

NES Undergraduate Organization's Holiday Food Drive (11/08)

The NES UO group is gathering non-perishable food items in boxes at the department of Near Eastern Studies AND the Center for Middle Eastern Studies. Drop by your goods in Marshall 440 or Marshall 470. All donations go to the Tucson Community Food Bank.

Fourth Annual Middle Eastern Shindig A Huge Success (11/08)

The 4th Annual NES Undergraduate Organization's Middle Eastern Shindig took place November 6 and marked an all time success for the event. Over 130 students and faculty enjoyed a delicious dinner and wonderful performances. Thanks to all of you who helped organize, including the Tucson businesses and performers who made the night extra special. Thanks also to all of you who attended the event. We hope to see you again next year! For more information on the group or to join, contact Shiva Kiani, NES UO President.

Professor Adel Gamal Awarded 2009-2010 SBSRI Research Professorship

The Social and Behavioral Sciences Research Institute's (SBSRI) Advisory Board recently voted to award Adel Gamal a 2009-2010 Research Professorship. Professor Gamal will receive a course release for one of the semesters (fall 2009 or spring 2010) to study the topic, "Editing and Critical Study of a Tenth-Century Arabic Literary Criticism Text." Professor Gamal is no stranger to awards, as he recently also received a Fulbright-Hays faculty research abroad award for 2009 to study the same topic. Congratulations!

Book Receives Awards: Anthology by NES Alum Nesreen Khashan with James Bowman

Below is detail on two awards earned by the anthology Encounters with the Middle East, co-edited by Nesreen Khashan, a 2005 graduate of the NES Master's program, and Jim Bowman, a doctoral student in Rhetoric with a formal minor in NES. Nesreen and James are thrilled about these accomplishments. Faculty and staff in NES and journalism were very helpful throughout the process and we thank them again for their early support of this successful project.

Gold Award, Encounters with the Middle East, Best Travel Book, Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Competition, 2008.  We are proud to note that this award is a very prestigious and competitive one, judged by faculty at the University of Missouri's school of journalism.

Judges wrote of Encounters: "There is no better way to 'encounter the Middle East' than to join a group of talented, sincere writers on their journeys. They will break stereotypes and open readers' minds with their compassionate, respectful stories of ordinary people. These stories will make you cry as you enter the Church of the Nativity, laugh as you join a woman searching for a toilet on a long bus ride in Turkey and smile as you break Ramadan fast on a ferry crossing the Red Sea."

For formal announcements on this award, see the following link. Scroll down to Category 20 to find our award: http://www.satwf.com/lowellthomas2008winners.aspx

Here's a link to the page where you can click on an audio slide show announcing the award: http://www.satwf.com/videoof2008winners.aspx

Earlier this year, the book received another award:

Winner, Encounters with the Middle East, Current Events Category, Indie Book Award, 2009.

NES Student Moderates Foreign Policy Association Middle East Blog

Susan MacDougall, NES first year M.A. student is the 'Middle East Blogger' for the Foreign Policy Association's Middle East Blog in her 'spare time' between classes and research. The blog is located at www.middleeast.foreignpolicyblogs.com. For her part, she says she tries to shy away from any opinions and to stick to the facts; but that doesn't keep others from putting in their opinions! If people are interested in contributing a piece on anything about contemporary Middle East politics she would be happy to post it. Check it out next time you have a minute. If you have questions you can email Susan at susan.macdougall@gmail.com.