CV
Leila Hudson, PhD
Associate Professor, School of Middle Eastern and North African Studies
Affiliate Associate Professor, School of Anthropology, Department of History, Department of Gender and Women’s Studies, Master’s Program in Human Rights, Roshan Program in Persian Studies, Center for Middle Eastern Studies
University of Arizona
Tucson, AZ 85721
520-891-7171
EDUCATION
PhD Anthropology and History Dual Degree, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Dissertation: Cultural Capital: Wealth and Values in Late Ottoman Damascus, co-chaired by Dr. Brinkley Messick (Anthropology) and Dr. Juan Cole (Modern History)
MA Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor BA (cum laude) Anthropology with minor in Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, Yale College, New Haven, CT with Junior Year Abroad, Ludwig-Maximilians Universität, Munich, Germany
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
2022-2024 Elected Chair of the Faculty, University of Arizona
2008- present Associate Professor, School of Middle Eastern and North African Studies (MENAS) University of Arizona
2011-2014 Associate Director, School of MENAS, University of Arizona
2008-2011 Director of Graduate Studies, School of MENAS, University of Arizona
2012-2014 Senior Co-Director, Arizona Arabic Flagship
2010-2015 Director, Southwest Initiative for the Study of Middle East Conflicts, University of Arizona
2001-2008 Assistant Professor, Near Eastern Studies (NES), University of Arizona
1999-2001 Associate Director, Center for Middle Eastern Studies, University of Arizona
1997-1999 Lecturer, Department of Near Eastern Studies, University of Arizona
​
PUBLICATIONS - BOOKS
2022 (in preparation) Lines of Flight and Assemblages of Home: Syrian Women Becoming Refugees
2014 Media Evolution on the Eve of the Arab Spring. Palgrave, New York. co-edited with Adel Iskandar and Mimi Kirk
2010 Middle Eastern Humanities: An Introduction to Cultures of the Middle East. Kendall Hunt, Dubuque, IA
2008 Transforming Damascus: Space and Modernity in an Islamic City. IB Tauris, New York
PUBLICATIONS -ARTICLES AND CHAPTERS
“They Gave Us Cheese Sandwiches: Foodways of War and Flight” for Mashriq and Mahjar: Journal of Middle Eastern and North African Migration Studies, 5(1) 2019.
“Syrian Refugees in Europe: Migration Dynamics and Political Challenges” in New England Journal of Public Policy, 30(2) Special Issue on Migration, ed. Padraig O’Malley, 2018
“The Refugee’s Passage: Liminality, Gendered Habits, the Emergence of Difference in Flight” for Border, Conflict and Gender, ed. S. Sekhawat. New York: Palgrave MacMillan, 2017
“Dynamics of the Syrian Migration” for Pursuing Stability and Shared Development in Euro-Mediterranean Migrations, eds. E. del Re and R. Laremont. Rome: Aracne, 2017.
“Liquidating Syria, Fracking Europe,” Middle East Policy, 22(3) Autumn 2015
“Neopatriarchy in Syrian and Turkish Television Drama: Between the Culture Industry and the Dialect Imagination” in Media Evolution on the Eve of the Arab Spring, eds. Hudson, Iskandar and Kirk. New York: Palgrave MacMillan, 2014.
“Publics, Imaginaries, Soft Power and Epistemologies on the Eve of the Arab Uprisings” in Media Evolution on the Eve of the Arab Spring, eds. Hudson, Iskandar and Kirk. New York: Palgrave MacMillan, 2014. With A. Iskandar.
“Order, Freedom and Chaos: Sovereignties in Syria.” Middle East Policy, 20(2) Summer 2013
"Drone Warfare in Yemen: Fostering Emirates Through Counter-terrorism?” Middle East Policy 19(3) Fall 2012: 142-156. With C. Owens and D. Callen
“Drone Warfare: Blowback from the New American Way of War” in Middle East Policy 18(3) Fall 2011:122-132. With C. Owens and M. Flannes
"Le voile et le portable: l'adolescence sous Bachar al-Assad" in La Syrie au présent: reflets d'une société.” edited by Baudoin Dupret et al. Paris: 2007, Sindbad, Actes Sud
“Late Ottoman Damascus: Investments in Public Space and the Emergence of Popular Sovereignty” in Critique: Critical Middle Eastern Studies, 15 (2) 2006
“Investing by Women or Investing in Women? Money, Merchandise and Marriage in Late Ottoman Damascus” in Comparative Studies in Africa, South Asia and the Middle East, 26 (1) 2006
“The New Ivory Towers: Strategic Studies, Think Tanks and Counter-realism” in Middle East Policy 12(4) Winter 2005: 118-132
"Lessons from Walmart and the Wehrmacht: Team Wolfowitz on Administration in the Information Age." Middle East Policy 11(2) Summer 2004: 25-39
"Reading al-Sha'rani: The Sufi Genealogy of Islamic Modernism in Late Ottoman Damascus." Journal of Islamic Studies 15(1) 2004: 39-68
“Khadija Aw 'Aisha: Anmat Hayat Nisa' Dimashq al-Muslimat min 1880-1920. Al-Nisa al-'Arabiyyat fi al-'Ishrinat: Hudur wa Hawiya. J. S. Makdisi and N. Sheikh. Beirut, 2003 Tajamu' lil Bahithat al-Lubnaniyyat. (“Khadija or Aisha? Trends Among Muslim Women of Damascus 1880-1920” in Arab Women in the 1920s: Presence and Identity)
"Beyond Culture: Teaching Histories of Islam." Radical History Review 86: 2003 175-181
"Historical Research and Resources in Damascus." Middle East Studies Association Bulletin 30(1) 1996: 10-18 With Steven Tamari
“Coming of Age in Occupied Palestine: Engendering the Intifada.” Reconstructing Gender in the Middle East: Tradition, Identity, Power. F. M. Gocek and S. Balaghi. New York, 1994, Columbia University Press
INVITED LECTURES AND KEYNOTES
“The Gulf War Machine in Yemen,” Public Forum on Yemen, Center for Middle Eastern Studies,
University of Arizona, October 1, 2019
“Youth in the Middle East Since the “Arab Spring,” National Endowment for the Humanities Institute on Middle Eastern Millennials, Tucson, AZ, August 6, 2019
“The Syrian Refugee Migration: From Assad’s Syria to Trump’s America,” United Nations Association of Southern Arizona, May 14, 2019
“Syrian Trajectories From Damascus to Euroland: Trans Mediterranean Assemblages,” The Global Mediterranean Program, The Ohio State University, Columbus, April 11, 2019.
“Putin’s Sochi Message: The Weaponization of Migration in the Age of Authoritarianism,” Political Science Department, The Ohio State University, Columbus, April 12, 2019.
“They Gave Us Cheese Sandwiches: Foodways of War and Flight” Food and Middle Eastern Diasporas, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, April 5-7, 2018
“Facts on the Ground: Iran in Syria” Tucson Tikkun Community, February 27, 2017.
“Children Fleeing Syria: How the Quest for Education Has Shaped the Syrian Refugee Crisis”
Keynote Address for “Borders, Migrations, Refugees” Educators’ Workshop, Center for Latin American Studies/ Center for Middle East Studies, University of Arizona, January 27, 2017.
“ISIS and the Weaponization of Sex” LGBT Institute, “Deep Dish” Colloquium, University of Arizona, October 13, 2016.
“Syrian Refugees and a Gauntlet of Frontiers” School of Geography and Development Colloquium, University of Arizona, September 2, 2016.
"Syrian Women Refugees: The Perils and Resilience of Women Fleeing War” WATT Women at the Top Conference Keynote, Tucson, Arizona, July 30, 2016.
“Human Trafficking, Fences, Camps and the Challenge to Humanitarianism” Tucson Tikkun Community, April 25, 2016
“Trapped on the Greek-Macedonian Border: Refugees, Fences, Camps and the Challenge to Humanitarianism” MENA-U Undergraduate Student Organization Annual Lecture, University of Arizona, April 1, 2016
“The Arab Spring Five Years Later: Syria’s Refugee Crisis” Wofford College, Spartanburg, SC, March 3, 2016
“Embodied Terror, Embodied Security: Neopatriarchy in the Age of Assad and Daesh” University of California, Santa Barbara, February 27, 2016
“Liquidating Syria, Fracking Europe” Johannes Gutenberg Universität, Mainz, Germany October 7, 2015
“Fleeing Damascus: One Family’s Story” Johannes Gutenberg Universität, Mainz, Germany, June 10, 2015
“The Civil War in Syria” Benedictine College, Chicago, IL, March 12, 2015
“Media, Social Media and Extremism” Benedictine College Faculty Forum, Chicago, IL March 13, 2015
“America’s New Way of War: Drone Warfare” Middle East Institute, National University of Singapore, June 2013
“A Perfect Storm: The Syrian Revolution” Honors College, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS April, 2013
“The Arab Spring: Teaching History in Real Time” Maricopa Community Colleges Consortium, Phoenix, AZ. November 2011
“The Arab Spring’s Second Wave” Voices of Opposition Lecture Series, Tucson, AZ, April 2011
“Broadcast Capitalism and Turkish Soap Operas in the Arab Imagination” Georgetown University, Washington, DC, March 21, 2010
“Noise and Signal: Sex, Lies and Middle East Policy” Near Eastern Studies Colloquium Series, University of Arizona, October 23, 2009
“Modernity in Damascus: Between the Ottoman City and the Syrian Capital” Institut français du Proche-Orient, Damascus, Syria, June 24, 2009 (in Arabic)
“Arabic Transnational Satellite Television and the Problem of Borders," Social Science Research Council and Dubai School of Government Inter-Asian Connections Conference. Dubai, United Arab Emirates, February 20, 2008
PUBLICATIONS - SHORT ARTICLES AND REVIEWS
“Pleasure and Beauty” for Handbook On Women in the Middle East, Routledge, ed. Suad Joseph (withdrawn)
Review, Abu-Lughod’s Do Muslim Women Need Saving? for American Ethnographer, 2018
Review, Mojaddedi’s Beyond Dogma: Rumi’s Teachings on Friendship with God and Early Sufi Theories for the Journal of Islamic Studies, 2015
Review, Shamir’s Current Flow:The Electrification of Palestine for American Anthropologist, 2015
“Transexuality as a Window and a Metaphor for Contemporary Iran: A Review of Najmabadi’s Professing Selves” for Transgender Quarterly, 2014
“Kiss the Jackboot” Op-Ed Al-Jazeera America, 2014
“The Persistent Fear Base of Authoritarianism” Op-Ed, Al-Jazeera English, 2011 with J. Chacko
“Arab Spring: Anatomy of a Tipping Point” Op-Ed, Al-Jazeera English, 2011 with M. Flannes
“Coalition of the Eager vs. Not So Eager” Op-Ed, Al-Jazeera English, 2011with J. Chacko
“Car Wars: Roadmap to Libya’s Ground Conflict” Op-Ed, Al-Jazeera English, 2011
“The Arab Spring’s Second Wave” Op-Ed, Al-Jazeera English, 2011 with D. Baun
“After Osama: Stop Feeding the Beast” Op-Ed, Al-Jazeera English, 2011with J. Chacko
"Engaging the Muslim World: A Review of Cole’s The War For Muslim Minds" for Middle East Policy, 2010
Review, Chehab’s Inside Hamas: The Untold Story of the Militant Islamic Movement for The Middle East Journal, 2007
“Damascus” for Oxford Encyclopedia of the Modern Islamic World, ed. John Esposito, 2007
“Religious Education of Women in the Ottoman Empire” for Encyclopedia of Women in Islamic Culture Volume III, Leiden. Brill, 2006
“Extending Instructional Use of Blogs to Campus: A Case Study” in Syllabus Conference Proceedings, 2005 with S. Glogoff
Review, Hanna’s In Praise of Books for MIT Electronic Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, 2005
Review, Zach’s Making of A Syrian Identity for MIT Electronic Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, 2005
“Reproduction in the Ottoman Empire” for Encyclopedia of Women in Islamic Culture Volume III, Leiden. Brill, 2005
“Healthcare and Poverty in the Ottoman Empire” for Encyclopedia of Women in Islamic Culture Volume III, Leiden. Brill, 2005
GRANTS, FELLOWSHIPS AND AWARDS
Academic Leadership Institute Fellow, University of Arizona, 2019-20
Inclusive Leadership Certificate Fellow, University of Arizona, 2019-20 (deferred)
Outstanding Graduate Mentor and Teaching Award Nominee, University of Arizona 2012-2013 and 2018-2019
Research Grant, Center for Middle Eastern Studies, University of Arizona, 2017 ($2000)
Horizons 20/20 Managing Migration, European Union Grant with Dr. Emanuela Del Re, 2017 (not funded)
SBSRI Research Grant, University of Arizona, 2015 ($5000)
German Research Foundation, Partnership with Dr. Anton Escher, 2015 (not funded)
Op-Ed Public Voices Project Fellow, 2013-14
Co-Principal Investigator (25%) - Arizona Arabic Flagship Award, 2012 ($660,000)
Graduate Innovation Award, University of Arizona, 2010 ($65,000)
Center for LGBT Studies Curriculum Grant, University of Arizona, 2010 ($9000)
US Institute of Peace, “Eyewitnesses to War: Ethically Engaging Refugee Perspectives on Middle East Conflict” ($117,000 not funded)
Textbook Preparation Grant for Middle East Humanities, Kendall Hunt Publishing, Fall 2009
Provost’s Book Publishing Subvention Fund Award, University of Arizona, Fall 2006
Principal Investigator - Fulbright-Hays Research Grant, December 2001-2002 ($50,000)
Principal Investigator - New Learning Environments Instructional Technology Grant, 2000 ($25,000)
“Teach Turkey!” Fulbright Hays Grant, 2001 ($90,000)
University of Michigan Rackham Pre-Doctoral Fellowship
Fulbright Hays Dissertation Fellowship
Fulbright Department of Education Fellowship (declined)
Hewlett Dissertation Grant, University of Michigan
University of Michigan Anthropology Department Grant
Social Science Research Council International Pre-Dissertation Fellowship
University of Michigan Regents’ Fellowship
University of Chicago Foreign Language and Area Studies Grant (declined)
Center for Arabic Study Abroad Summer Fellowship, Cairo Egypt
Center for Arabic Study Abroad Year Fellowship, Cairo Egypt (declined)
Yale College National Merit Scholar
CONFERENCES AND SYMPOSIA
“Connectivities and Entanglements: Affective Ecologies of Syrian Refugee Women” National Women’s Studies Association Conference, (virtual), November 19, 2021
“Hospitalities in Flight and Engaged Ethnography” Middle East Studies Association Conference, (virtual), October 17, 2020
“The Invisibility Bargain and Patriarchal Bargaining” Discussant for J. Pugh’s Distinguished Lecture on Comparative Borders and Migration, Centers for Latin American Studies, Middle Eastern Studies, University of Arizona, April 20, 2020 (Via Zoom)
“The US and Iran in the Strait of Hormuz,” for Smart Talk with Al Bergeson Radio Show and Podcast, September 28, 2019
“Documentary Filmmaking and the Politics of Commemorating Mass Violence” for Center for Middle Eastern Studies, University of Arizona, Tucson, February 27, 2019
“Gutter Politics: Implications of the Qatar Crisis” at Perspectives on Current Events in the Arabian Peninsula Symposium, Center for Middle Eastern Studies, University of Arizona, Tucson, September 29, 2017
“Humanizing Migration Management” at “Horizon 2020: Managing European Migration” Conference at Université Roma Tre, Rome, Italy, October 9, 2015
Organizer of University of Arizona College of Social and Behavioral Science, College of Agriculture and Life Science, and Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health Symposium on “Arid Lands Agriculture, Food Security and Health.” October 30, 2014.
“Between the Two Rivers: Water Politics of ISIS” at “Arid Lands Agriculture, Food Security and Health” October 20, 2014
Organizer, Symposium “Women, Writing and War,” University of Arizona, March 11, 2015
“The Emergence of ISIS/Daesh in Syria” in “ISIS and the US: Narratives and Meanings,” Global Studies Program, University of Arizona October 14, 2014
Organizer, Symposium “Iran: Charting New Horizons,” University of Arizona, May 2, 2014
“Iran and the War in Syria” in “Iran: Charting New Horizons,” University of Arizona, May 2, 2014
Organizer and Chair, Symposium “Ethics and Methods in Conflict Reporting,” University of Arizona, March 29, 2014
Organizer, Symposium “Afghanistan 2014: Will the US Exit Strategy Work?” October 25, 2013
Organizer and Chair, Conference “Ten Years Later: Lessons from Iraq,” University of Arizona, February 27, 2013
Organizer, Symposium “In the Crucible of Geopolitics: Cutting Through the Fog of War in Syria,” University of Arizona, October 25, 2012
“The Logistics of the Syrian War and Air Power” in “In the Crucible of Geopolitics: Cutting Through the Fog of War in Syria,” University of Arizona, October 25, 2012
Organizer, Symposium “Drones: The Past, Present and Future of the New American Way of War,” University of Arizona, Rogers College of Law March 11, 2012
“The Evolution of Drones: Swarms, Traffic Jams and Belated Regulations” in “Drones: The Past, Present and Future of the New American Way of War,” University of Arizona Rogers College of Law, March 11, 2012
Organizer and Chair, Symposium “Ripple Effects of the Arab Spring” University of Arizona, 2012
“Ten Years After the Attacks of September 11th” in 10th Year Anniversary of September 11th Symposium, College of Social Behavioral Sciences, University of Arizona, September 2011
Organizer, Symposium “The Libyan Revolution” University of Arizona, March 2011
“Rebels, Europe and Libya’s Oil” in the Libyan Revolution, University of Arizona, March 2011
Organizer, “Teach Syria!” Curriculum and Continuing Education Program for K-12 Teachers, Center for Middle Eastern Studies, University of Arizona, March 2011
“The Syrian Revolution and the Social Media” Center for Middle Eastern Studies, “Teach Syria!” University of Arizona, March 2011
Organizer, Symposium “From Dictatorship to Democracy,” University of Arizona, February 2011
“Teaching About the Middle East: Gender and Conflict” K-12 Teachers’ Workshop, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, June 2011
“Surfing the Middle Eastern Blogosphere: Ideological Echo Chamber or New Town Hall” Organizer and Discussant, Center for Middle Eastern Studies Conference on “Obama and the New Global Media,” University of Arizona, January 28, 2009
“Clash of Imaginaries: Al-Jazeera vs. Reality TV,” 9th Annual Conference on Middle Eastern Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara, May 5, 2007
Organizer, “Middle Eastern Public Spheres,” Sponsored Session for the Middle East Section of the American Anthropological Association Annual Meeting, San Jose, CA, Fall 2006
“Violence and the Televisual Imagination,” American Anthropological Association Annual Meeting, San Jose, CA Fall 2006
Organizer and Chair, “Blogging the Middle East: The New Information Economy,” Special Session for the Middle East Studies Association Conference, Boston, MA, Fall 2006
“A Brief History of the Blog” MESA, Boston, Fall 2006
Organizer of Panel on “Ottoman Governmentality,” Middle East Studies Association Conference, Boston, MA, Fall 2006
“Governmentality and Reform in Syria: Mary ‘Ajami’s ‘Arous and the New Syrian Woman”, MESA, Boston, MA, November 2006
“Occidental Corporatism vs. Islamicate Contractualism: Preliminary Discussions” Near Eastern Studies Faculty Seminar, University of Arizona, October 12, 2006.
“Rethinking Culture (Again): Circulation, Topography and Middle East History” Anthropology Department Colloquium Series, University of Arizona, October 4, 2006.
“Comedy and Counter-hegemony: Yasser al-Azmeh and Bashar’s Syria”. Workshop on Arab Entertainment Media, April 17, 2006 Georgetown University
“On Open Source Intelligence on Islamic Extremism: Some Thoughts and Caveats from the Social Sciences” Colloquium Series, Artificial Intelligence Group, Eller School of Management, University of Arizona, March 31, 2006.
“Ottoman Governmentality and the Shaping of Modern Damascus” Great Lakes Ottoman Workshop March 17, 2006 Toronto, Canada.
“Cities, Capital Flows and Modernity: The Case of Damascus” for the Middle East Studies Association Conference, November 2005
“Syrian US Relations: The New Front in the War on Terror” CMES /APJME Colloquium Series, University of Arizona April 28, 2005
“Violence and the Imagination: US versus al-Jazeera” 3rd Annual Cultural Studies Association Conference, Tucson AZ, April 23, 2005.
“The New Ivory Towers: Strategic Studies, Think Tanks and the Rise of Counterrealism” Arab Studies: A Critical Review, Georgetown University Center for Contemporary Arab Studies, Washington DC, April 1, 2005.
“Syrian US Relations in the Wake of the Hariri Assassination” 7th Annual Conference on Middle Eastern Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara, March 19, 2005.
“Al-Jazeera and the Iraq War: Comments on the Film “Control Room” The Loft Cinema, August 27, 2004 (attendance 150)
“Traps and Tactics in Middle East Pedagogy”, Southwest Regional Conference, University of Arizona, Tucson AZ, August 7th 2004
“Rethinking Modernization” Remarks, MENA Graduate Student Forum, University of Arizona, April 14, 2004
“US Global Credibility in the War on Terror” United Nations Association of Southern Arizona, April 10, 2004
“Representing the Iraq War: A Commentary on ‘Virgin Soldiers’” Center for Middle Eastern Studies, University of Arizona, September 19, 2003
“The War in Iraq and Middle East Stability: A Comment on Greenwald’s Film Uncovered” The Loft Cinema, May 15, 2003 (attendance 150)
“Media in Wartime” Center for Middle Eastern Studies, Tucson Arizona, April 14, 2003
“Histories of Television: The Syrian and Lebanese Cases Compared” NES Colloquium Series, University of Arizona April 11, 2003
“Media On the Road to War” Africana Studies, University of Arizona, March 12, 2003
“New Approaches to the Arab Israeli Conflict” Remarks, MENA Graduate Student Forum, University of Arizona, March 7, 2003
“Consequences of a War on Iraq: Pax Americana or Regional Chaos?” University of Arizona Teach In, February 25, 2003 - Invited (attendance 500)
“Iraqi Society Between the Wars” in Iraq: Perspectives and Responses, Center for Middle East Studies, Tucson, AZ, October 14, 2002 - Invited (attendance 500)
“September 11th and After: Views from the “Arab Street”” in A Year Later: Views from the Media and the Street, a public forum sponsored by the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, Tucson, AZ, September 5, 2002 - Invited (attendance 75)
“Teaching Islamic Culture and History Since September 11,” Southwest Regional Conference, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, August 10, 2002 – Invited
“A History of the Arab Street: Public Expression in Damascus in the 20th Century” at the History Department, Yale University, New Haven, CT, November 30, 2001 – Invited
“Cultural and Educational Exchange in the Wake of September 11th” at American Cultural Center, Damascus, Syria, November 15, 2001 (in Arabic)
“Muslim Women of Damascus: Trends from 1880-1920” at Arab Women in the Nineteen Twenties Conference of the Lebanese Women Researchers Group, Beirut, May 22, 2001 - Invited
“Agents, Black Boxes and Networks” Concluding Remarks, Conference on the Effects of New Information Technology in the Middle East, Tucson AZ, April 16, 2000 - Invited
“Domesticating Religion: Syria’s Television Shaykh”, American Anthropological Association Meeting, Invited Session, San Francisco, CA November 16, 2000 - Invited
“Public Safety, Public Space, Public Sphere: Governmentality and the Late Ottoman Modernization of Damascus” Syria Seminar, Georgetown University, March 2, 2000 – Invited
“Sisters, Wives and the Politics of Notables: “Dowry” and Shifting Class Lines in Late Ottoman Damascus” History Department, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ January 2000 - Invited
“Syrian National Culture During World War I: The Effects of Rival European Nationalisms” History Department, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ May 1999 - Invited
“Producing National Populations? Individuals, Families and Sects in Contemporary Syria” American Anthropological Association Meeting, Philadelphia, PA December 1998
“The Islamic Mahr in Late Ottoman Damascus: Bridewealth or Dowry and the Implications for Politics” at Middle East Studies Association Conference, San Francisco, CA November, 1997
“Reading Sha’rani: Sufi Literature and the Genealogy of Modernism in Syria” at Middle East Studies Association Conference, Providence, RI, November, 1996
“Private Libraries in Damascus 1880-1920: Evidence on the Sufi Origins of Arabism?” Middle East Studies Association Conference, Washington DC 1995
“Anthropological Readings of Islamic Legal Texts” comment at Conference on Islamic Legal Studies, University of Michigan, December 1994
“French Urbanism and the Aménagement of Damascus in the French Mandate” Middle East Studies Association Conference, Phoenix, AZ, November 1994
“The Politics of Representation and the Representation of Politics in Contemporary Syria” University of Michigan Comparative Studies in Social Transformations Graduate Student Conference on Representations, April 1994
“Big Men, Consuls, and Cultural Capital: Towards a Practice Theory of Patronage” University of Michigan Program in History and Anthropology Colloquium Series, October 1994 – Invited
“The Académie arabe and the Invention of Arab National Culture 1919-1946” United States Information Service, American Scholars Examine Syrian History Symposium Damascus, Syria, May 1993 – Invited
“The Social Dynamics of the Palestinian Intifada” Jewish Peace Lobby, Ann Arbor MI Branch, Guest Speaker Series, Ann Arbor, MI January 1992 – Invited
“Political Economy, Culture and History: Directions for Middle East Social Sciences” Social Science Research Council International Pre-dissertation Fellows Conference, San Diego, CA December 1991- Invited
“Women are the Makers of Men: Gender and the Palestinian Intifada” University of Michigan Conference on Gender and Society in the Middle East September 1991 – Invited
UNIVERSITY TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Designed and taught courses and supervised Graduate Teaching Assistants in Middle Eastern Humanities, including Honors Sections; Islamic Civilization; Middle East History to the 1600s; Modern Middle East History; Middle East in the 20th Century; History, Culture and Politics of Iraq; Islamic Movements; Middle Eastern Media; Introduction to Graduate Study of the Middle East; Queer Theory and the Middle East; Political Islam; Political Economy of Islamic World; Nationalism, Ethnicity and Islam; Islamic Law and Society; Introduction to the Arab Spring and Its Aftermath; Migration, Refugees and Mobility; Women, Gender, Sexuality in the Middle East; Genealogies of ISIS; Human Rights in the Middle East
Designed degree programs in Critical Middle East Studies (doctoral), Anthropology and Middle Eastern Studies (dual doctoral), Middle Eastern History (doctoral certificate), Middle Eastern Studies and Journalism (dual MA), Middle Eastern Studies and Information Sciences (dual MA), Middle Eastern Studies and Public Policy (dual MA)
Supervised approximately 5 Senior Honors Theses in Middle Eastern Studies since 2008, including 2018 SBS Outstanding Undergraduate Research Award winner, Anthony McGee “Accelerating Radicalism: Contributing Factors to the Disintegration of the Taliban and the Rise of ISIS in Afghanistan.”
Chaired approximately 50 MA committees in Middle East and North African Studies.
Supervised/supervising approximately 15 PhD committees in Middle East Studies since 2010 and served on more including in English, German, History, Anthropology and Political Science departments. My students have won grants and awards from Fulbright IIE, Fulbright Hayes, Wenner Gren, SSRC, the Javits Foundation, the Marshall Foundation, the Bilinski Foundation, the Charlotte Newcombe Foundation, the Woodrow Wilson Foundation, the Association of American University Women, the Association of Slavic Women Scholars, the Qatar Foundation and NASA as well as numerous local University of Arizona fellowships.
Faculty Advisor (past or present) for University of Arizona Cricket Club, Students for Justice in Palestine, Middle East and North Africa Graduate Studies Association, SISMEC Undergraduate Reading Group, Students for Affordable Tuition, Pakistani Student Association.
Doctoral Advisor and Dissertation Chair for:
Dr. Alainna Liloia, “Redefining the ‘Ideal Qatari Woman’ in the 21st Century: The Role of Qatari Women in Nation Building and Branding.” September 2022
Dr. Feras Klenk, Lecturer in Global Studies, North Carolina State University, “Capitalist Transitions: Work, Productivity and Economic Change in Oman.” March 2021
Dr. Abbas Braham, Visiting Assistant Professor of History, University of Louisiana, Lafayette, LA, “Colonizing Shari’a: Religion, Space and Social Order in Colonial Mauritania.” (Co-chair with Dr. Benjamin Lawrance, History Department) July 10, 2020
Dr. Mija Sanders, Program Manager for User Research, Microsoft, Seattle, WA, “Politics of Care, Reverberations of Trauma: Syrian Refugees in Izmir, Turkey.” October 2020
Dr. Tatiana Rabinovich, Postdoctoral Fellow in Global Studies, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, “Laboring on the Margins: Muslim Women, Precarity and Potentiality in Russia” December 2018
Dr. Danielle Adams, Deputy Director, Lowell Observatory, Flagstaff, AZ, “Rain Stars Set, Lunar Stations Rise: Pre-Islamic Arabian Astronomy and the Rise of Hegemonic Order” May 2018
Dr. Lyndall Herman, Senior Risk Analyst, CARE, Atlanta, GA,“Recreating Gaza: International Organizations and the Construction of Identity” 2017
Dr. Gulsum Gurbuz, Assistant Professor, University of North Iowa,“In the Shadow of Secularism: Kurdish Ulema and Religious Nationalism from Sheikh Said to Hizbullah” (Co-chair with Dr. Linda Darling, History Department) 2016
Dr. Dylan Baun, Assistant Professor, University of Alabama, Huntsville, “Winning Lebanon: Popular Organizations an Emergence of Sectarian Violence in the Mid-20th Century” 2015
Dr. David Callen, US Government, “The Diversification of (In)Security in 21st Century UAE and Qatar: Cultivating Capital, Interdependence and Uncertainty” 2015
Dr. Courtney Dorroll, Assistant Professor, Wofford College, Spartanburg, SC, “The Spatial Politics of the Justice and Development Party: On Erdoganian Neo-Ottomanism” (Co-chair with Dr. Amy Newhall, MENAS) 2015
Dr. Hikmet Kocamaner, Assistant Professor, University of North Carolina, Wilmington, “Governing the Family Through Civil Society: State, Islamic Civil Society and the Politics of the Family in Turkey” (Co-chair with Dr. Brian Silverstein, Anthropology) 2014
Dr. Farrah Jafari, Senior Instructional Designer, Google,“Silencing Sexuality: LGBT Refugees and the Public Private Divide in Iran and Turkey” (Co-chair with Dr. Anne Betteridge, MENAS) 2013
Served on Dissertation Committees for:
Dr. James Bowman, Associate Professor of English, St. John Fisher College
Dr. Dilshod Achilov, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Massachusetts
Dr. Ahmad Razi, Lecturer, Persian Literature, University of Kansas
Dr. Julie Ellison-Speight, Associate Director CMES, University of Arizona
Dr. Fevziyeh Johnson, independent scholar, US Army
Dr. Mehrak Kamalisarvestani, Senior Lecturer, Persian, The Ohio State University
Dr. Maria Swanson, Assistant Professor, Arabic and Russian, US Naval Academy
Dr. Felisa Hervey, poet, translator and civil society activist
Dr. Kamilia Rahmouni, Assistant Professor, Virginia Commonwealth University
Dr. Kyle Jones, 2019, semitic phonology, heritage language learning
Dr. Faraj Hattab, 2020, Iraqi poetry of the 1990s
Dr. Brooke Hotez, 2021, Assistant Professor of Rhetoric, Dixie State University, Utah
Dr. Sarah Pekow, 2021, History Department of City University of New York
UNIVERSITY SERVICE
Elected Chair of the Faculty (2022-2024)
Elected Vice Chair of the Committee of Eleven (2021-2023)
Elected to the Strategic Budget and Planning Committee (2021-2023)
Elected to the Committee of Eleven (2021-2023)
Elected to the Shared Governance Review Committee (2020-2022)
Co-Chair, Global Campus Senate Advisory Committee (2020-2021)
University Committee on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (2020-2021)
Elected to the Faculty Senate Executive Committee (2019-2021)
Elected to Dean’s Advisory Council, College of Social and Behavioral Science (2019-2022)
Elected Faculty Senate Representative for College of Social Behavioral Science (2018-2022)
University Student Affairs Policy Committee (2017-2020)
MENAS Graduate Studies Committee (2016-2019)
School of Middle Eastern and North African Studies Director Search (2014-2015)
Transgender Studies Cluster Hire Search (2013-2014)
Chair, School of MENAS Academic Performance Review Committee (2013-2014)
College of Social and Behavioral Sciences Graduate Studies Council (2011-2014) (invitation to chair declined 2013)
Promotion, Tenure and 3rd Year Review for Drs. Lucas, Noorani, Vejdani, Ghosn, Shiri, Nassar
Head or Director Reviews for Drs. Bonine, Wright, Betteridge
School of Middle Eastern and North African Studies Committees on Peer Review (chair 2013), Internal Advisory to Head (2008-2014), Turkish Studies search (chair 2013)
PROFESSIONAL SERVICE
Manuscript, grant, program or promotion and tenure reviewer for Palestinian American Research Center (PARC), National Endowment for the Humantities (NEH), Middle East Journal, the Historian, the City and Society, Journal of Middle East Women’s Studies, Journal of Islamic Studies, American Anthropologist, American Ethnographer, International Journal of Middle East Studies, Cooperation and Conflict, Journal of Anthropological Research, Westview Press, Social Science Research Council, International Journal of Human Rights, Syracuse University Press, Peter Lang Publishers, Middle East Studies Association’s 53rd Annual National Conference, History Department, Michigan State University and Anthropology Department, Virginia Commonwealth University and Haverford College
COMMUNITY OUTREACH
Numerous public talks for Tikkun Tucson, Voices of Opposition, Students for Justice in Palestine, UN Association of Southern Arizona, Yale Club of Southern Arizona, Osher Institute for Lifelong Learning, Retired Physicians of Tucson, American Civil Liberties Union of Southern Arizona, the Loft Cinema, Public Banking Group of Southern Arizona
Media appearances on CNN, NBC, KUAZ Arizona Public Media, KOLD, KVOA, KGUN, KTAR, KXCI, Tucson Public Access Television. Interviewed in numerous local, national and international print media including the Arizona Wildcat, Arizona Republic, NBC News, National Public Radio, Business Insider, the South China Morning Post.
LANGUAGES: proficient in English, Arabic, French, German, novice in Spanish, Turkish