Middle East and Muslim World Studies
Middle East and Muslim World Studies News
Merrill among those who amaze Saudi literati (Saudi Gazette, April 22)
A cultural evening hosting an American cultural delegation organized by the Ministry of Culture and Information was held at the Jeddah Literary Club in Al-Shati district on Sunday. The delegation consisted of poets, authors, novelists and writers who came to Jeddah as a part of their Middle East Reading and Lecture Tour. The evening was an opportunity for the speakers to read some of their works. Christopher Merrill, director of the International Writing Program at the University of Iowa, recited two of his poems, titled "A Boy Juggling a Soccer Ball" and "Because."
Read the complete article (Saudi Gazette, April 22)
About Middle East and Muslim World Studies
The Middle East and Muslim World Studies scholarly group is located within International Programs at the University of Iowa. The group was formed in response to a need for expanded curricular offerings and extended research about these critically important regions of the world. Within the last few years, new tenure-track faculty positions have been created in Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies and the University Libraries have endeavored to strengthen collections in these areas, including acquiring materials in Arabic.
The Middle East and Muslim World Studies scholarly group is devoted to developing new courses for the University of Iowa and to increasing community awareness and understanding of the cultures, histories, economies, and politics of the Middle East, the Arab world and Islamic societies. The group sponsors a colloquia series, guest lectures, and workshops, and facilitates new and ongoing research in the area.
Long-term faculty members here at the University of Iowa, who are involved in organizing a campus community of scholars devoted to Middle East and Muslim World Studies, include Saba Ali (College of Education), Mèriam Belli (History - CLAS), Pamela Creedon (School of Journalism and Mass Communication - CLAS), Anny Curtius (French and Italian - CLAS), Denise Filios (Spanish and Portuguese - CLAS), Paul Greenough (History - CLAS), Vicki Hesli (Political Science - CLAS), Rex Honey (Geography - CLAS), Priya Kumar (English - CLAS), Michel Laronde (French and Italian - CLAS), Paula Michaels (History - CLAS), John Reitz (College of Law), Ana Rodríguez Rodríguez (Spanish & Portuguese – CLAS), Rosemarie Scullion (French and Italian - CLAS), Jennifer Sessions (History - CLAS), Fred Smith (Religion/Asian Languages and Literature - CLAS), Ahmed Souaiaia (Religious Studies - CLAS), Elke Stockreiter (History – CLAS), Katherine Tachau (History - CLAS), Downing Thomas (Associate Provost, International Programs; French and Italian - CLAS), Russell Valentino (Russian/Cinema and Comparative Literature - CLAS), Rahima Wade (College of Education), and Adrien Wing (College of Law).
The most recent addition to our faculty whose teaching or research interests intersect with Middle East, Arabic and Islamic Studies is Denes Gazi (Arabic - CLAS).