Spring 20t0

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MAAS Alumna Becomes First Lebanese Womanto Open BankAccountfor ChildrenRobert Duffiey

Jn December 2009, Barbara Shahin Batlouni, a 1983 MAASIalumna, became the first Lebanese woman allowed to open abank account for her two underage sons.

"I feel great to be part of history in the making," Batlouni toldLebanon's Daily Star.

Currently the Lebanon Country Director for AMIDEAST, anon-profit that aims to increase ties between the people of theUnited States and the Middle East, Batlouni first encounteredLebanon's discriminatory bank policy on a visit to a Beirut bankwith her sons 10 years ago.

"Since my parents had opened a bank account for me when Iwas young, and I had benefited from that experience of having anaccount, making deposits and withdrawals, and watching interestgrow, I really wanted to do that for my boys," Batlouni wrote inan e-mail.

After filling out the required paperwork, however, Batlouni wasturned down on the grounds that only male guardians of minorswere allowed to open bank accounts in their names.

"It was a bit of a shock," she wrote. "When I pointed out that itwas my cash, and also my kids, it didn't matter. So we left ratherdisappointed, and it was my first real taste of the lack of equalityin legal rights faced by Lebanese women."

The bank issue took a backseat in Batlouni's mind for severalyears, until she met activist Wafa Abed, president of Lebanon'sInstitute of Progressive Women (IPW). Because of her seniorposition in a bank, Abed had heard numerous complaints aboutthe discriminatory law and decided to tackle it.

With the help of an AMlDEAST-administered Transparencyand Accountability Grant, Abed and IPW launched a nationalgrassroots campaign in March 2009 that, as Batlouni describesit, "mobilized thousands of people to write letters and lobby thepowers that be to change this rule and allow for mothers to openaccounts for minor children."

On December 18, 2009, the Bank of Beirut welcomed Batlounito its headquarters, where, surrounded by the media, she becamethe first Lebanese woman to open a bank account for her childrenwithout their father's explicit legal consent.

Batlouni calls the old policy "symptomatic of a larger legal issue:the absence of civil law for personal status issues," but expressesconfidence that this change and others in the works "have donemuch to raise public awareness and mobilize citizens to insist onremoving obstacles to women's full participation in society." *

Barbara Batlouni (MAAS'83) with her sons the day she becamethe first Lebanese woman to open a bank account for her children.

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Center News

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Barbara Stowasser Named New Sultanate of Oman Chairlvlirli l(irk

he Center is pleased to announcethat CCAS Executive Committeemember and former Director Dr.

Barbara Stowasser has been named thenew holder of the Sultanate of OmanChair in Arabic and Islamic Literature.The previous holder was Dr. IrfanShahid, who was appointed to the Chairin 1982 and retired in 2008.

Dr. Stowasser holds an M.A. inNear East Studies from UCLA and aPh.D. in Comparative Semitics andIslamic Studies from the University ofMi.inster, Germany. Her publicationsinclude Islamic Law and the Challenges

Duffe1'

CAS welcomes three visitingscholars for the 2010 springsemester. Established to

accommodate scholars who wish to useGeorgetown University's facilities andfaculty resources, the CCAS VisitingScholars Program invites thinkers withspecific areas of expertise in the Arabworld to undertake research at theCenter. This semester, Dr. Fatima Badry,Dr. Nadia Najjab, and Dr. RadwanZiadehjoin CCAS in this capacity.

From the American University ofSharjah, Dr. Fatima Badry studiesissues of "Arabness"-the development,elements ol and manifestationsof Arab identity. During her timeat CCAS, Dr. Badry is looking at

of Modernity, co-edited with YvonneHaddad (AltaMira Press, 2004), a book-length study on Women in the Qur'an,Traditions and Interpretation (OxfordUniversity Press, 1994, translatedinto Danish and published by theCarsten Niebuhr Institute, Universityof Copenhagen, in their "ModernClassics" series, 2008), an edited volumeentitled The Islamic Impulse (CCAS,1987, reprinted 1989), articles publishedin American, German, Arabic, andTurkish journals and periodicals, andbook chapters in collected volumes. Dr.Stowasser was president of the Middle

East StudiesAssociat ionfrom 1998 to1999.

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ii;rFMthe topic of Dr. Barbara SrowasserIslam and Timein the fall of 2010. Please keep an eyeout for details next semester! *

CCAS Welcomes Spring 2010 Vsiting Scholars

Ianguage and educational developmentin educational institutions in theUAE, including colleges and branchesof universities from North America,Europe, Australia, and Southeast Asia.Her research specifically investigatesthe impact of language-in-educationpolicies adopted by the UAE on thedevelopment of Arabic languageliteracy and on Arab identity, andaddresses the social and culturaltransformations that are likely toresult from the "Englishization" of theeducational sector.

Dr. Nadia Najjab comes to CCASthrough the Palestinian FacultyDevelopment Program, an extendedpartnership between the Open

Society Institute/Soros FoundationsNetwork, USAID, and AMIDEAST.Her research focuses on Arab womenusing Arab female sources for theorieson gender and feminism, and she iscurrently working on issues relatedto the suffering of Palestinian women,using real cases. At CCAS, Dr. Najjabis developing an outline and syllabusfor the course "Contemporary ArabWomen."

Dr. Radwan Ziadeh is foundingdirector of the Damascus Center forHuman Rights Studies and executivedirector of the Syrian Center forPolit ical and Strategic Studies. Dr.Ziadeh has been a visiting scholar atthe Center for the Study of HumanRights at Columbia University and atthe Carr Center for Human Rights atHarvard University. He is the authorof numerous publications, including,most recently, Power and Policy inSyria: Intelligence Services, ForeignRelations and Democracy in the ModernMiddle East (forthcoming in 2010). AtCCAS, Dr. Ziadeh is continuing hisexamination of democracy promotionduring the "third wave" in an effortto develop an effective model fordemocratization in the Middle East. *Dr. Nadia NajjabDn Fatima Badry Dr. Radwan Ziadeh

CCAS News Spring 2OlO

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An Interview with the Honorable Roscoe"Roaky"Suddarthr Chairman of the CCAS BoardMimi Kirk

CAS recently decided to featurean interviewwith one ofits boardmembers in each newsletter issue.

To kick offthis new tradition, the HonorableRoscoe ("Roclcy") Suddarth ki"dly agreedto speak to CCAS editor Mimi Kirk abouthis remarkable diplomatic career.

Ambassador SuddarthNashville, Tennessee, and

up inB.A. in

history from Yale University, an M.A. inhistory from Oxford University, an M.A. insystems analysis from the MassachusettsInstitute of Technology, and an M.A. inmusic (at age 72) from the University ofMaryland. He joined the Foreign Service in1961 and served in Mali, Lebanon, Yemen,Libya, fordan, and Saudi Arabia. He wasDeputy Chief of Mission (DCM) in |ordanftom 1975 to 1979; Executive Assistant tothe Under Secretary of State for PoliticalAffairs from 1979 to 1981 and DCM from1982 to 1985, both in Saudi Arabia; DeputyAssistant Secretary of State for Near Easternand South Asian Affairs from 1985 to 1987;and United States Ambassador to |ordanfrom 1987 to 1990. He retired from theForeign Service with the rank of CareerMinister in 1995.

Aside from his diplomatic worhAmbassador Suddarth was head of theMiddle East Institute for six years, and wasalso an independent director for MerrillLynch and BlackRock Mutual Funds foreight years. He has a daughter, Anne, and ason, Marh with his wife of 47 years, Michele.Ambassador Suddarth has been Chairmanof the CCAS Board since 2002.

How did you first become interested intheArabworld?

Two events sparked my interest in theregion. During my senior year atYale, I hada professor who pointed out that two-thirdsof the world's oil resources were in theMiddle East and that the United States wasrunning out of oil. Then, during my firstmonth at Oxford, in 1956, the Suez atrairoccurred. Suddenly the United States wasopposing Britain, France, and Israel. Andas a loyal American, I felt I had to defendmy country. So I started reading about theMiddle East.

CCAS News 'i' Spring }OLO

grewhas a

Ambassador Suddarth: A valued member ofthe CCAS communiry.

Do you have a favorite place you werestationed?

I have two favorites-]ordan and SaudiArabia. I worked a lot on the Arab-Israeliproblem while in |ordan, and Saudi Arabiahas, of course, an immensely importantrelationship with the United States.

Who are some interesting people youmet duringyour career?

Well, King Hussein had great charismaand integrity, along with humility. Duringmy eight and a half years in fordan I got toknow him very well. We were the same ageand had children the same age. King Idrisin Libya was a saintly figure who would geton the mat in his statelyvilla and pour yourtea at the end of a diplomatic conversation.Also, [Yitzhak] Rabin and [Shimon] Pereswere both impressive figures I dealt withwhile working on Arab-Israeli affairs. Thetop Saudi royal family, including King Fahd,Crown Prince Abdullah, Prince Sultan,Prince Saud, Prince Tirrki, and PrinceBandar were an extremely effective team,and I had great professional satisfactiondealing with them.

What would you call the highlight ofyourcareer?

I had several highlights. One was n L967in Yemen, when I spent three weeks i" juilprotecting the rights of turo Americans whowere erroneously accused of trying to starta coup d'dtat.I shared their jail cell to showthe United States was interested. Otherhighlights included the Kissinger mediation

in the Yom Kippur War and,later, the Cu-pDavid Accords. I was also very involved inworking with the Under Secretary of Stateduring the Iran hostage negotiations.

What was the biggest challenge of yourcareer?

Spending those three weeks in jail. Andthen the frustration of dealingwith the Iranhostage situation, because there were manyfalse starts. Of course, the biggest challengewas pursuing a peace agreement, with itsups and downs, over the years, between theArabs and Israelis both in fordan and SaudiArabia and in tours in the State Department.

What advice do you have for studentslooking to have a career in Middle Eastdiplomacy?

One ofthe most fortunate features of mycareer was learning Arabic. My wife and Iwere sent to Beirut for intensive Arabic fortwo years in the mid-1960s, and I was thensent to Yemen, where I interpreted betweenthe head of our embassy and the Yemenileaders. I then went to Libya, where I wasthe interpreter for the ambassador withKing Idris. Having a strongbackground inthe language enabled me as a young officerto see some fairly important things at theambassadorial level that I would not haveotherwise.

The Middle East is such a key area ofthe world. I'm delighted there's a placelike CCAS to turn out people who haveboth the language and the area studies.In my view, you can't be a fully effectiverepresentative overseas if you don't havesensitivity to the total atmosphere-boththe language and the society.

Could you talk about your later-in-lifeMaster's degree in music?

I started as a freshman at the Universityof Maryland with the 18-year-olds, takingtwo courses a term. After six years, Ihad achieved all the undergraduaterequirements and all the M.A.requirements, including comprehensives.I wrote a thesis on French perspectives onjazzandspent several weeks in Paris gettingto know the French jazz community. AndI just came from a course on Bach. So Istill take courses. .!

Publications News

Dort't Miss the New CCAS WebsiteCCAS unveiled its new website earLy this semester,after six months of redesigning, reor ganizing, and

revamping i ts web content. You' l l f ind i t user-ftiendly and sleek, with new features such as a

video archive of our events, l inks to our Facebookpage and Twitter feed, and constantly rotating

features. We're getting twice the number of hits ason our old site; add yourself to this growing group!

Check i t out at http: / lccas.georgetown.edu.

nETAIs'

CCAS Publishes Three Occasional Papers in20O9-2OLOltobcrr I)ul i lc1.

ver the course of the 2009-2010 academic year, CCASreleased three new Occasional

Papers. Written by resident facultyand guest speakers from past CCASevents, CCAS Occasional Papers seek toaddress subjects related to the modernArab world about which there is eitheran absence of reliable informationand analysis or a lack of up-to-datescholarship. By exploring a wide rangeof topics, the papers seek to share thebreadth and range of topics prevalent inArab culture. This year's papers exploreArab poetry politics, and music.

The first paper was "Contexts of Lan-guage in Mahmoud Darwish," by Dr.Ibrahim Muhawi of the Universitv of

Oregon. The paper, which emerged fromDr. Muhawi's fanuary 2009lecture at theCenter's commemoration of the life andwork of Mahmoud Darwish, exploresthree contexts of language in Darwish'spoetry. The first is Darwish's performa-tive use oflanguage. "Essentially, Darwishpresents language metaphorically as hav-ing materialiry and the homeland takes itsform from that body," Dr. Muhawi writes.

"A kind of incarnation seems to arise fromthis poetic performance." The secondcontext deals with reading Darwish as aresistance poet, and the third is Darwish'sdeath, which Dr. Muhawi interprets as apart of Darwish's language.

CCAS then published "Obama's First150 Days: Perspectives from an Arab

American Writer," by CCAS adjunct in-structor Gregory Orfalea. An author ofeight books, including The Arab Ameri-cans: A History (Interlink Press, 2006), Mr.Orfalea details measures Obama has takento reach out to the Arab world and ana-lyzes his ability to effect positive changein the region. Starting with Obama's firstday in office, Mr. Orfalea traces waysin which the Obama administration'sMiddle East policies have differed fromthose of its predecessors, examiningsuch topics as Obama's |une 4 speech inCairo, his plans for the Iraq War, and hisresolution to make progress vis-i-vis theIsraeli-Palestinian conflict. Mr. Orfaleaconcludes that the president is in a uniqueposition to effect change because of hisunderstanding of and respect for Arabconcerns. But it remains to be seen, hewarns, whether Obama will succeed. Ifhe doesn't, writes Mr. Orfalea, "more thana presidency will be stillborn. And ouragony will grow."

The newest Occasional Paper is Dr. A.].Racy's "Art and Ecstasy in Arab Music,"which is based on his 2009 KareemaKhoury Distinguished Lecture at CCAS.Professor of Ethnomusicology at theUniversity of California, Los Angeles, Dr.Racy is an expert performer and a masterof many traditional Middle Eastern in-struments. In the paper, Dr. Racy exploresthe idea of tarab, or musical ecstasy, inArab music. "The word tarab refers to boththe ecstatic state evoked by traditionalArab music and the music itself," he writes."[This is] a clear testimony to the close as-sociation the culture has made betweenthe music and emotional transformation."He discusses the unique bond formedbetween the master performer and hismost dedicated listeners (the sammiah),and the specific musical qualities that helpproduce the state of trance-like ecstasy. Dr.Racy addresses the potential of Western-style music in the Middle East to weakentarab, but he also expresses confidence in

"music's power to cross geographical, andoften cultural and political, boundaries."

To read the papers in full, visit http://ccas. georgetown.edu/research/papers/. .r

CCAS News Spring }OLO

Science, Time, and Islam Examined in Fall WorkshopCatherine Parker

he National Resource Center onthe Middle East (NRC-ME) andCCAS sponsored a workshop for

both K- 12 educators and the general publicon November 5,2009 entitled "WhatTimeIs It? Islam, Time, and the Astrolabe." Thisworkshop examined the relationship be-tween Islam and scientific developmentsthroughout history with a particular focuson the measurement oftime and astronomy.

Dr. Barbara Stowasser, Sultanate ofOman Chair in Arabic and Islamic Litera-ture at Georgetown University, discussedthe religious concerns surrounding themeasurement of time, especially in deter-mining prayer times and calendars. She

explained the development of local timemeasurements for prayers and how this re-lates to the system oftime zones in use today.

Dr. George Saliba, Professor of Arabicand Islamic Science at Columbia University,then discussed Islamic astronomy from theninth century CE. Dr. Saliba addressed theimportance of accurately measuring timeto Muslims and the resulting developmentsin astronomy. He also juxtaposed thesedevelopments with those that occurredin Europe and explained the relationshipbetween Islamic and European advancesin astronomy.

Mr. |ames Morrison, a retired engineerand author of The Astrolabe (fanus, 2007),

introduced the audience to the history ofthis astronomical instrument. He dem-onstrated how to use the astrolabe, andshowcased a computerized astrolabe ofhis invention as well as a simple, personalastrolabe.

Susan Douglass, Educational Consul-tant for the Prince Alwaleed bin TalalCenter for Muslim-Christian Understand-ing at Georgetown University, conducteda special session for K-12 educators at theend of the workshop. Ms. Douglass elabo-rated on the connection between Islamicand European science and provided theeducators with materials on these topicsfor use in their classrooms. *

MAAS Students Bring Expertise to Childrert's MuseumRobert Duffey

l-Fl hree MAAS students took a break

I from the rigors of academia inI- fanuary 2010 and volunteered

at the National Children's Museum's"Taste of Nablus" event. Also sponsored byTomorrow's Youth Organization (TYO),which provides enrichment programs fordisadvantaged children in Palestine, theevent invited American children to explorePalestinian culture through food, images,and narratives ofchildren's lives in Nablus.

In total, 148 adults and 128 childrenattended the program, which included aperformance by George Mason Universi-ty's ASA Dabka Dance Troupe, traditionalPalestinian crafts, anda spread ofhummus,pita, stuffed grape leaves, baklawa, andpita with olive oil and za'tar. Photos ofNablus children aided by TYO were alsofeature4 along with descriptions of theird"ily lives; visitors were given the oppor-tunityto writepostcards to them. CCAS'sBen Stevenson, Sam Dolbee, and AmandaRoosendahl spent the day writing visitors'names in Arabic, helpi"g with a Palestin-ian embroidery craft station, and facilitat-ing activities that showcased Palestinianfoods and spices.

"fhe event generally encouraged chil-dren to be curious about different placesand cultures," Dolbee said. "More im-

CCAS News * Spring 2OLO

portantly, it promoted recognition of thehumanity of all people."

Lisa Hersh ey Zurer,the Museum's Man-ager of Cultural Programs, agrees, notingthat the event was dedicated to "exploringour commonalities and respecting ourdifferences in order to teach children tobe tolerant and compassionate toward ourneighbors."

CCAS Director of Educational Out-reach Zeina Seikaly, who recruited theMAAS student volunteers and attendedthe event, added that the progftrm indeed

offered a unique teachable moment. "It'sreally important for American childrento learn about Palestinians beyond whatthey see on TV and in the movies," shesaid. "Programs such as this one go along way toward informing them thatthe Palestinians are real people, just likethem, and have very similar needs, hopes,and dreams."

The future may see more beneficial ex-changes between MAAS students and theMuseum. Says HersheyZrxer:"We hope toworkwith CCAS and its students again!"*

MAAS student Ben Stevenson makes a good impression on the Museum's visitors.

Outreach News

Teachers Learn about Environmental Sustainability,Youth, and Education in the Middle East

pproximately 20 educatorsgathered at Georgetown onFebruary 24 to attend a day-long

outreach workshop entitled "Environmentand Development in the Middle East."Bashar Zeitoon, Program Director ofthe Arab Forum for Environment andDevelopment, kicked offthe workshop witha presentation on "Economic Developmentand Environmental Sustainability: Framingthe Debate in the Arab World." Heexamined the various sectors that shouldbe targeted to "start the conversation"about environment and development inthe region; these include the transportation,waste, power and water, tourism, and oiland gas sectors. He said that what drives thedebate is the convergence ofmanyprocessessuch as urban development, populationgrowth, industrialization, globalization,the youth bulge, unemploynent, foodand water security, desertification, andthe expansion of trade and tourism. Mr.Zeitoon showed several photographs oftraditional architecture in the Arab world,which worked harmoniously with naturein its treatment of water and wind, lightand shade, and nature and geometry; heconcluded that Arabs would do well totake lessons from their own past in orderto achieve a sustainable balance betweennafure and human needs.

Dr. Fida Adely, holder of the Clovisand Hala Salaam Maksoud Chair inArab Studies at Georgetown, addressed"Education in the Middle East and NorthAfrica." After World War II, she noted,education and development became linkedin the region, and education was perceivedas fundamental to state-building in thepostcolonial era. There iue many challengesin the field ofeducation at present, includinghow to handle language minorities, ruralpoverty, poor infrastructure, genderinequalities, and the quality of educationin the region. Dr. Adely also talked aboutforeign aid for educational initiatives,which has been low until very recently, andatleasthalfofwhich is earmarked for highereducation. She mentioned the contentious

6

politics around educational reforms andthe many questions in the region aboutauthenticity ("Do we emulate the West?")and how to assess development (literacyrates? the number of computers? math andscience programs?). There are many in theArab world working to address these issues,and Dr. Adely stated that more resourcesneed to be invested in schools of education,which are crucial to education reform.

"Including 100 Million Youth in theMiddle East: Challenges and Opportunities"was the title of the presentation by Iean-Louis Sarbib, Nonresident Senior Fellow atthe Wolfensohn Center for Developmentat the Brookings Institution. The highnumber of young people between the agesof 15 and 29 is the result of many factors,including heavy investment in humancapital in the 1960s and l970s,lower infantmortality in the region, and better access tohealth facilities. The problems associatedwith the youth bulge are unemployment(which is higher for women) and heavystrains on the health and education sectors.Mr. Sarbib talked about the phenomenonof "waithood," where young collegegraduates wait for important life events likejobs, marriage, and housing; all this servesto make them feel helpless, alienated, andexcluded from society.

"Environmental degradation andcontamination pose such severerisks to inhabitants and nations ofthe Middle East that theywill soontrump all other issues affectingsurvival," asserted Gury PaulNabhan, Research Social Scientistat the Southwest Center, Universityof Arizona. As an example, hecited the mountain aquifer thatserves as the source of drinkingwater for Israelis and Palestinians;this water has been found tocontain high concentrations ofpesticides and antibiotic-resistantmicrobes, causing gastrointestinalproblems and long-term medicalissues, such as low sperm countsthat will affect reproduction. Dr.

Nabhan opined that such shared risks mayforce new cooperation between Israel andits neighbors and increase the importanceof nongovernmental organizations andcommunity-based grassroots initiatives,which can offer innovative ideas andsolutions. Like Mr. Zeitoon, he thoughtthat there already exist principles in Islamichistory which support conservation,such as the concept of hima, or protectedreserves that are free of contamination.

After a Middle Eastern lunch, workshopparticipants watched a new f:Jm, GarbageDreams, by producer, director, andcinematographer Mai Iskandar. It examinesthe lives of the zabbaleen (garbage sortersand recyclers) in a poor neighborhoodin Cairo (see http://www.garbagedreams.com). The film addressed many of the ideasand questions that were raised throughoutthe duy, especially how economicdevelopment is linked to poverty, wastemanagement, recycling, urban life, anddevelopment strategies promulgated bygovernments. Everyone received a resourcepacket containing background articles andsuggested resources for further reading.The resource list will soon be availableon the CCAS website, under the K-12Educational Outreach section. r:

Mr. Jean-Louis Sarbib emphasizes a point about the

Middle East's youth bulge.

CCAS News Spring 2010

Public Events

Dr. Dimitri Gutas of Yale University Delivers the Kareema Khoury

Annual Distinguished Lecture,"Tre Arabic Background of WesternPhilosophy and Sciencer Medieval Translations and Modern Politics"lvl:rrgaret Dahcr

CCAS hosted a renowned colleague fromYale University, Dr. Dimitri Gutas, as fiisyear's Kareema Khoury Annual Distinguished Lecturer on February 25.Dr.Gutas's talkhighlighted fie intersection of Arabic schools of fiought and the development ofWesternphilosophy and science, and addressed this confluence in the contexc of fie modern polidcallandscapa Dr. Gutas is Professor of Classical Arabic studies and Graeco-Arabic studiesin the Department of Near Eastem Languages and Civilizations atYale University. Hecompleted his undergraduate and graduate studies at Yale (Ph.D. 7974) in classics, history ofreligions, andArabic and Islamic studies. He has worked extensively on fie formation anddevelopment of fie medieval Islamic intellecnral radidon, wifi parricular emphasis on itslinguistic social, and ideological aspects. Dr. Gutas wrote about the transmission of Greeksciendfic and philosophical works into fie Islamic world through the momentous Graeco-Arabic translation movement in Baghdad from fie eighth to the tenth centuries in GreekTbought, Arabic Culture (Roudedge, 1998), which has been translated inro seven languagesand won the2002 Greek Special Honorary Award for fie Study of Civfuzaaon. He is alsoan aufiority on fie Arabic philosophical tradidon, in particular its greatesr exponent, IbnSina (Avicenna), about whom he wrote in Avicenna and tbe Arktotelian Tradition: Introduction to kading Avicenna's PbilosophicalWorks(B"ll, 1988). Dr. Gutas has recendy published an edidon, translacion, and commentary of both fie Greek text and fie medieval Arabictranslations of Theophrastus's On First Princtples (known ashis Metapbysics) (Btill, 20L0),a double editorial proJect accomplished forthe 6rst time in contemporary scholarship by a single aufior. A collecdon of his arricles can be found in Greek Philosophers in tbe ArabicTradition (Aldershot, 2000). He also continues to edit, with G. Endress of Bochum Universicy, A Greek and Arabic Lexicon (B.ill, L992tr),He is currendy working on critical edidons of Arabic ransladons of ancient Greek works, a translation of Ibn Sinds works on fie soul,and a general work on the transmission of knowledge, firough transladons, from antiquity to the Renaissance

Public EventsA Country Called AmreekaNovember 3

Author and civil rights lawyer AliaMalek discussed her new book, ACountry Called Amreeka (Free Press,2009). The book chronicles over 40 yearsof American history, with each chapterconsisting of an American historicalevent narrated from the point of view ofan Arab American.

Democracy and Human Rights inEgFptNovember 4

Dr. Fathi Sorour, President of theEgyptian People's Assembly, spokeabout the current state of democracyand human rights in Egypt. Dr. Sorourhas held several influential posts in the

CCAS News Spring 20LO

Egyptian administration, includingMinister of Education and President ofthe Supreme Council of Universities, aswell as several high-level administrativepositions at Cairo University.

War as a Vehicle of ModernityNovember l1

Dr. Salim Tamari, Director of theInstitute of ferusalem Studies anda professor of sociology at BirzeitUniversity, spoke about the experiencesof Arabs during World War I and thewar's effect on the Middle East.

From Cofiee to Manhood: AnAnthropological Inquiry into Tunisia's"Social Economy"November 17

Dr. Rodney W. Collins, the 2009-2010 CCAS Qatar Post-Doctoral Fellow,

lectured about the political and economiclinks between the coffee trade, the publiccoffeehouse (qahwa sha'abiya), andmanhood in Tunis, Tunisia. The researchfor Dr. Collins's lecture entailed two yearsof fieldwork in Tirnis and was compiledinto a historical ethnography entitled

"From Coffee to Manhood: Grounds forExchange in the Tirnisian Coffeehouse,ca.1898-2008."

Saudi Arabia TodayNovember 18

His Royal Highness Prince TirrkiAl-Faisal served as the Ambassador ofthe Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to theUnited States from 2005 until 2007. Headdressed an audience about the currentstate of Saudi Arabia vis-i-vis education,political and economic development inthe Middle East, recent foreign policy

initiatives, and other topics.

Shop Floor Culture and Politics in EgyptNovember 19

CCAS Assistant Professor Dr. SamerShehata discussed his new book, ShopFloor Culture and Politics in Egypt(SUNY Press, 2009), which provides anethnographic portrait of life in two largetextile factories in Alexandria, EgFPt.Dr. Shehata worked for nearly a year asa "winding machine operator," whichprovided him with unprecedentedaccess to workers. He argues that thesocial organization of production inthe factories-including company rulesand procedures, hierarchy, and relationsof authority-and shop floor cultureprofoundly shape what it means tobe a "worker" and how this identity isunderstood.

European Perceptions of Islam andAmericaNovember 23

Shaykh Yusuf Talal Delorenzo, ChiefShariah Officer at Shariah Capital, isa scholar of Islamic transactional lawwhose 30-year career was featured in anAugust 2007 front page story in The WaIlStreet lournal. He led a discussion aboutthe historical development of modern

'Islamic finance, the factors that led tothe expansion of the Islamic financialservices industry, and the significance ofshared enterprise for society and for therevival of serious inquiry into the shari'a.

8

Soccer Wars: Contested Nationalismsbetween Egypt and AlgeriaDecember 7

CCAS hosted an assessment of thefallout from the Egypt-Algeria saga thatunfolded during the matches betweenthe two countries during the WorldCup qualifiers. Dr. Tamim al-Barghoutiof Georgetown University, Mr. AdelIskandar of Georgetown University,and Dr. Azzedine Layachi of St. |ohn'sUniversity spoke about the variousdimensions of the tension between thetwo countries.

The Dubai Debt Crisis: Bankruptcy orBluff?December 9

News of the financial crisis in Dubailast November rocked local, regional, andglobal financial and political circles. Apanel of experts discussed the economicand political implications of the situation.Speakers included Mr. Peter Baumbusch,Gibson Dunn & Crutcher; Mr. KevinCarey, The World Bank; Dr. Jean-Frangois Seznec, Georgetown University;and Dr. Kristin Smith Diwan, AmericanUniversity.

Emerging Leaders for DemocracyRoundtable Discussionlanuary 19

Four emerging leaders workingin the Middle East discussed therecommendations formed at Proiect

on Middle East Democracy (POMED)conferences, and shared their ownexperiences and thoughts on politicalchange in the region. Kenneth WollachPresident of the National DemocraticInstitute (NDI), responded to theircomments. Participants includedMohammad Mahmoud Ahmad Alazraq,Amman, fordan; Karim Bayoud, Beirut,Lebanon; David Edward Linfield, Amman,Jordan; and Bassem Samir Awad Michael,Cairo, Egypt.

Why History Maffers: InternationalLaw and the Arab-Israeli ConflictFebruary 16

Victor Kattan, a Teaching Fellow atthe Centre for International Studiesand Diplomacy at the School ofOriental and African Studies at theUniversity of London and author ofThe Palestine Question in InternationalLaw (British Institute of Internationaland Comparative Law, 2008), spokeon his recently completed book, FromCoexistence to Conquest: InternationalLaw and the Origins of the Arab-IsraeliConflict 1 89 1 - 1949 (Pluto Press, 2009).

Traffic fam: Gender, Labor, Migration,and Trafficking in DubaiFebruary 18

Dr. Pardis Mahdavi, Assistant Professorof Anthropology at Pomona College,spoke about issues of labor, gender,migration, and statehood through thelens of Dubai's unskilled foreign migrantworkers. Her research findings show thatDubai is characterized by a unique lackof civil society, and that the Emirate'srapid emergence onto the internationalscene has made it an attractive venuefor migrant labor and the trafficking ofwomen. Her work explores the conflationof discourses on trafficking, migration,and sex work through the narratives ofwomen.

Theological Jihad in Osama Bin Laden'sAudiotape LibraryMarch 3

Flagg Miller, an associate professorof religious studies at the Universityof California, Davis, spoke about theroles of language ideology and poetryin contemporary Muslim reform in

Dr. Pardis Mahdavi of Pomona College addresses gender and labor in Dubai.

CCAS News * Spring 2010

the Middle East as well as the Islamictheology behind Osama Bin Laden'saudio releases.

Poetry Recital by Dr. Tamim al-BarghoutiMarch 2i

Georgetown professor and renownedPalestinian poet Tamim al-Barghouti

is known for drawing the attention ofthousands from various age groups tohis readings, both from the Arab worldand beyond. On March 23,he attracted alarge crowd in Georgetown University'sCopley Hall, where he recited a numberof his poems in both Modern StandardArabic and the Egyptian and Palestiniandialects.

Academic News

MAASAIum

Academic News

Intellectuals and Civil Society in theMiddle EastApril T

Dr. Mohammed Bamyeh of theUniversity of Pittsburgh gave a previewof the foundations of his forthcomingvolume, Intellectuals and Civil Society inthe Middle East,which will be released byI.B. Tauris in 2011.': i

Jerusalem Fund Displays Photos by Najib Joe Hakim,

n October 2006, photographerand 1982 MAAS graduate Najib[oe Hakim visited his birthplace of

Beirut, Lebanon. Though less than threemonths had passed since the latest war withIsrael, Hakim did not go with the purposeof documenting the destruction. "Lebanonwas the bridge my parents crossed to bringus to the United States from Palestine," heexplains in an e-mail. "Through this project,I returned across that bridge 50 yearslater and tried to engage with some of thedemons of my history."

The result of Hakim's engagementwith his past is a photography exhibitentitled "Born Among Mirrors," whichwill run at the |erusalem Fund inWashington, D.C. from May 14 throughfune 25, 2010. According to Hakim, theexhibit seeks to address the gap in timebetween his departure from Lebanon in

1956 and the country today. Illustratingthis contrast, the exhibit will also featureblack and white photographs taken byHakim's father that document his familyembarking on their journey to America.

While Hakim is thus interested indocumenting a personal journey, he isalso keen on educating the public throughhis images. "I hope to provide some levelof insight for American viewers regardingLebanon...that goes beyond what theyread in the news," he says.

After graduating from MAAS, Hakimworked as an applications consultant fora software company in California. Whilehe always loved photography, Hakimonly decided to dedicate his life to it in1991 after seeing an exhibition of PaulStrand's photographs in San Francisco. In1994, he traveled to Havana, Cuba, usingphotography as a means of approaching

the local people.Describing the

difference betweenthe experience ofphotographing Beirutand Havana, Hakimnotes that, unlike inCuba, he knows thelanguage and cultureof Lebanon. Yet, hesays, he still-atleast to a degree-feels like an outsiderthere. But this canbe a plus, he notes.

"That distance or

A self portrait by NajibJoe Hakim, MAAS'82.

alienation allows at least some necessarylevel of objectivity in a profoundlysubjective context."

Despite that distance-or perhapsbecause of it-the exhibit showsHakim's profound link to his birthplace.His favorite image, for example,provides an excellent illustration of thislink A graffiti message on an old wallsurrounding the Hotel Dieu, a Frenchhospital in the Maronite neighborhoodof Ashrafiyeh, portrays a flying dovecarrying the Lebanese cedar in itsheart and the words "Love, Forgiveness,Respect" written in Arabic. "While theartist meant his message for everyone,"says Hakim, "I personally appreciatedhis offer of Love, Forgiveness, andRespect for the accidental fire I startedlas a child] with a lighted sparkler,which nearly destroyed that part of thehospital!"

To find out more about "Born AmongMirrors" and the Jerusalem Fund, pleasevisit www.thejerusalemfund.org. *Mr. Hakim's favorite image in the exhibit is this gralfiti message.

CCAS News Spring 2OLO

Academic News

CCAS SnapshotOnJanuary 26,Margaret Braswell (MAAS'86) and

her husband, WilliamJordan, Deputy Chief of Missionat the U.S. Embassy in Algiers, hosted a reception attheir residence in honor of Algerian high school studentsselected by the Embassy's Office of Public Diplomacy toparticipate in the Model United Nations Conference atGeorgetown's School of Foreign Service in Qatar. Hail-ing from difFerent parts of Algeria, the students met forthe first time in their country's capital for a full day oftraining with Public Diplomacy staffbefore departing forthe conference, where they represented the UAE and Sin-gapore. The photo features Margaret (third on the right),her husband William (third on the left), U.S. Embassy-Algiers Public Diplomacy stafi, and Algerian students andteachers.

Faculq NewsFida Adely attended a workshopin Beirut in fanuary convened by theSocial Science Research Council on

"University Governance and Autonomyin the Changing Landscape of HigherEducation in the Arab World." Shepresented a paper entitled "The Situationof Student Rights and Autonomy in|ordanian Higher Education: The Caseof the National Campaign for DefendingStudents' Rights: Thabahtoona. " Dr. Adelyalso presented a paper on Women andEducation in the Middle East and NorthAfrica in March at Kutztown University'sannual International Studies Conference.In April, she presented a paper atSwarthmore College entitled "CompetingVisions of Desirable Womanhood: RoyalWomen, TV Personas, Feminists andGood Muslims."

John Duke Anthonyattended the Annual GCC Ministerialand Heads of State Summit in Kuwaiton December 14 and 15 and providedC-SPAN an hour and a half briefing onthe result of the summit a week later. Overthe past few months, he has also givenmany lectures: "The Changing Natureof American Interests in the MiddleEast: Implications for U.S. Policies" at

10

Christopher Newport University inNewport News, Virginia (November6); "The United States and the IslamicWorld: Going Where?" at the BaltimoreCouncil on Foreign Affairs, after whichthe lecture was aired three times onMaryland Public Television (fanuary27); "Arabian Peninsula in Regionaland International Affairs" to Americanarmed forces defense attach6s and U.S.Central Command personnel (fanuary29); "Ihe Gulf Cooperation Council" tothe Advanced Arabian Peninsula StudiesSeminar at the U.S. Department of State(March 9); "Oman: Dynamics of Historyand Evolution" and "Oman and RegionalDynamics: Points of Convergence andDivergence" to a delegation of U.S.Central Command officers en route toOman (March 10 and 11); "LeadershipDevelopment and the World of ForeignAffairs Practitioners: The Skills Required"to the National University Model ArabLeague at Georgetown University(March 28); "The Coming U.S. ForceNull in Iraq: Concerns of Iraq's ArabNeighbors" at the RAND Corporation(April 2); "Yemen: Current Realities andFuture Prospects" at the GeorgetownUniversity School of Foreign Service'sMiddle East and North Africa Forum

(April 15); "The United Arab Emirates:The Dynamics of State Formation" toa delegation of U.S. Military Academycadets and faculty (April 16); and "TheDynamics of Saudi Arabia's Bilateral,Regional, and Global Positions and Roles"to members of the Middle East Class of2010 at the National War College (May5). Dr. Anthony also presided over manymeetings and conferences, including at asession in the Rayburn Office Buildingof the U.S. House of Representativeson "Yemen Headlined: ContemporaryMyths and Empirical Realities" forMembers of Congress, congressionalstaff, the international diplomatic corps,media representatives, and the broaderforeign affairs community (December13), and at "A Conversation withfordanian Ambassador Zeid Radd ZeidAl Hussein, The Hashemite Kingdomof |ordan's Ambassador to the UnitedStates," at the Ronald Reagan Buildingthat was aired by C-SPAN (March31). Dr. Anthony briefed U.S. MajorGeneral Hank Morrow (USAF), the U.S.Defense Department Representative tothe UAE, on the topic of "The UnitedArab Emirates: Its Founding, Evolution,and Role in Regional and InternationalAffairs" (|anuary 4). Additionally, he was

CCAS News " Spring 20lO

interviewed on "TtIe Iranian Disputeand Arab-Israeli Developments" forSaudi Arabian Television Channel TWo's

"Political Agenda" program (|anuary13). Dr. Anthony also published essayson "Oman" and "Qatar" for the annualedition of the Encyclopedia Britannica infanuary 2010, among other activities.

Rodney Collins was therecipient of the |eanne feffers MradMemorial Award presented by theAmerican Institute for Maghrib Studiesin the fall of 2009. He delivered paperson his current research in several venuesover the course of the fall semester:In October, he was invited to presenta paper entitled "City-as-Citizen:Commodities, Coffeehouses, and the'Common Man' in Contemporary Tunis"at the Library of Congress in the )ohnW. Kluge Center. In November, hepresented a paper entitled "Making Air& Killing Time: Transfiguration and theSocio-spatial Imagination in Tunisia"at the Middle East Studies AssociationAnnual Meetings in Boston. He alsogave a public lecture at GeorgetownUniversity on November 11 titled "FromCoffee to Manhood: An AnthropologicalInquiry into Tirnisia's Social Economy."In December, he presented a paPerentitled "Changing Rhythms: TheTransfigurative Imagination in UrbanTunis" at the annual meetings of theAmerican Anthropological Association

in Philadelphia. In addition, he chairedthe Gender & Sexuality Public AdvisoryBoard for the lournal "f

CulturalAnthropology, bringing together scholarsof the Middle East, Pakistan, India, andEast Asia for a roundtable to discussthe latest challenges to collaborativescholarship. He is also coordinatingthe "Cities & Urbanism Initiative" atthe lournal of Cultural Anthropologyin collaboration with scholars fromGeorgetown University, Universityof Wisconsin-Madison, and StanfordUniversity. In Spring 2010, Dr. Collinspiloted a seminar at GeorgetownUniversity titled "The Politics of NorthAfrican Masculinities." In conjunctionwith this course, he curated a weeklypublic film series entitled "Al-Rujulah:Mediating Masculinities of North Africa."

Rochelle Davis's book,Palestinian Village Histories: Geographiesof the Displaced, has been acceptedfor publication by Stanford UniversityPress and is forthcoming in November2010. Dr. Davis received a GU GraduateSchool Summer Grant to continue herwork on the U.S. military's conceptionof culture, and how U.S. servicemen andwomen and Iraqis interpret, understand,and react to the conception of culturalknowledge and its importance inthe war in Iraq. A book chapter sheauthored with MAAS graduates DahliaElzein and Dena Takruri on this topic

appeared in Anthropology and GlobalCounterinsurgency (University ofChicago Press, 2010) in March. Duringthe spring semester, she taught twoclasses: "Refugees in the Arab World,"which focused on refugees from anddisplaced populations in Sudan, Somalia,Western Sahara, Palestine, and Iraq; and"Anthropology of War," which exploredhow people normalizewar and its impacton lives.

Bassam Haddod *u, in Beirutfor the spring semester, doing research onEgFpt with the Carnegie Endowment as aVisiting Scholar and teaching a graduateseminar at the American University ofBeirut. Stanford University Press willpublish his book on Syria's politicaleconomy in 2011, so he is also using thetime to make revisions. He writes: "Lotsof work between Egypt trips, research,and writing, but what better place thanBeirut to do all this from! And my wifeNoura [Erakat] found a fantastic job hereand is loving the city."

Jean-Frangois Sezn€c gavea number of lectures in the fall and springsemesters, including two presentationson the UAE at Georgetown University'sMcDonough School of Business for itsExecutive MBA Programs on November6 and November 20; a paper on GCCsovereign wealth funds at the Centerfor International and Regional Studies(CIRS) in Doha, Qatar in |anuary; a talkon the Dubai financial crisis at the MiddleEast Seminar at Columbia Universityon )anuary 20; a lecture on the GCC'senergy future at Chatham House inLondon on February 2; a presentation tothe National Union of Kuwaiti Studentsvisiting Washington, D.C. on February5; and a lecture entitled "IndustrialDiversification in Saudi Arabia" at theRAND Corporation on March 26. He alsotraveled to the Gulf to advise a large U.S.company on a major industrial project inSaudi Arabia in December 2009. Duringthe spring semester, Dr. Seznec taught aclass on "Project Finance in the Gulf" andcontinued as Interim Director for theMaster of Arts in Arab Studies (MAAS)program in Dr. Judith Tucker's absence.In this role, he served on the admissionsCCAS's Dr. Fida Adely formulates her argument at a recent Center event.

CCAS News * Spring 2OlO

Continuedfro^ page 11

committee for MAAS. Dr. Seznec continues to be an activeboard member of the Stimson Center, the Oasis Foundation,and the American Bahraini Friendship Society. As for mediaappearances, he was a guest on Canadian TV's "The Agenda" onDecember 18, and he also gave numerous interviews to RadioCanada's "L'Heure des Comptes." Bloomberg, the AssociatedPress, and MEED recently interviewed him on various Gulfissues as well. Other recent activities include participation inthe working group "In Pursuit of Democracy and Securrty inthe Middle East" as well as the Gulf Roundtable on Yemen at theUnited States Institute of Peace. Last, but not least, Dr. Seznecreports that he and his wife Thackray have been taking care oftheir two granddaughters as well as their farm in Annapolis andtheir border collies-though he admits they "actually take careof us."

Samer Shehatf presented a paper at the MiddleEast Studies Association conference in Boston in Novemberand lectured at Stanford University's Center for Democracy,Development and the Rule of Law on March 30, 2010. TheAmerican University in Cairo (AUC) Press published a MiddleEast edition of his recent book, Shop Floor Culture and Politicsin Egypt (2009), in March 2010. The AUC Press edition includeda new 6,000-word chapter analyzing the recent strike wave inEgypt. Dr. Shehata also gave a number of media interviewsduring this period for Al lazeera English,Time, and other mediaoutlets. *