Amr Leheta
Ph.D. Candidate
Education
- M.A., 2014, The University of Chicago, Middle Eastern Studies
- B.S., 2012, Georgetown University, Foreign Service, Regional & Comparative Studies
The Department of Near Eastern Studies offers courses in the archaeology, history, languages and cultures of the Middle East, a region which has influenced the development of civilization and continues to play a vital role in today's world. Covering the ancient through modern periods, classes emphasize interdisciplinary analysis of the written and material records of the entire region. Some examples of Near Eastern studies include: Egyptian Civilization, Biblical Studies, Islamic Studies, and the Arab-Israeli Conflict.
The department excels in ancient and modern language instruction, especially Akkadian, Arabic, Biblical and modern Hebrew, Persian, Sumerian, and Turkish. Cornell’s world-class library has several collections dedicated to Near Eastern research—the Middle East and Islamic Studies Collection, the Jewish Studies Collection, among others—and students may partake of a wide range of Near Eastern lectures, colloquia, conferences, film screenings, concerts, dinners, and other events on campus.
Department website
Begüm Adalet
Assistant Professor
Publications
2024 “An Insurgent Mood: Politics of Home in Lorraine Hansberry’s Writings,” American Political Science Review https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003055424000157
2024 “An Empire of Development: American Political Thought in Transnational Perspective” American Political Science Review https://doi.org/10.1017/S000305542400025X
Forthcoming, “Towards a Radical International Thought: An Introduction,” with Alina Sajed, South Atlantic Quarterly
Forthcoming, “Empire and Radical International Thought,” co-edited with Alina Sajed, Special Issue of South Atlantic Quarterly
- “W. E. B. Du Bois and transnationalism: a conversation” International Politics. Roundtable Discussion on Inés Valdez’s Transnational Cosmopolitanism: Kant, Du Bois, and Justice as a Political Craft, (with Charisse Burden-Stelly, Adam Dahl, Katrin Flikschuh, Inés Valdez), 2023
- “Erupting Out of the ‘Zone of Non-Being’: The Cunning of Solidarity.” Journal of French and Francophone Philosophy 30(1): 79-81. Symposium on Geo Maher’s Anticolonial Eruptions: Racial Hubris and the Cunning of Resistance (with responses from Henry Aoki, Kevin Bruyneel, Geo Maher, Althea Sircar, Anna Terwiel), 2022
- "Infrastructures of Decolonization: Frantz Fanon and Scales of Worldmaking” Political Theory, 2022
- “Agricultural Infrastructures: Race, Land, and Statecraft in Turkey,” Environment and Planning D: Society and Space, 2022
- “Mediating the Kennedy Presidency: James Baldwin’s Decade in Turkey,” Globalizing the U.S. Presidency: Postcolonial Views of John F. Kennedy, ed. Cyrus Schayegh, Bloomsbury Series “New Approaches to International History,” 2020
- “James Baldwin, Here and Elsewhere” (Review of Eddie Glaude’s Begin Again) Public Books, 2020
- “Tensions, terrors, tenderness: James Baldwin’s Politics of Comparison,” Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East 38 (3), December, 2018
- Hotels and Highways: The Construction of Modernization Theory in Cold War Turkey, Stanford University Press, 2018
- “It’s not yours if you can’t get there”: Mobility and State-making in Turkey. The Funambulist Magazine: Politics of Space and Bodies, 17, May-June issue on Weaponized Infrastructure, 2018
Departments and programs
Banu Ozer-Griffin
Senior-Lecturer, Turkish language
Education
Master of Arts, Turkish Languages and Literatures, Yildiz Technical University
Departments and programs
Links
Munther A. Younes
Reis Senior Lecturer of Arabic Language and Linguistics
Publications
Books
- RiHla ilaa Bilaad al-‘Arab: A Comprehensive Introductory Course for Arabic Heritage Speakers. Routledge 2021.
- Arabiyyat al-Naas fii MaSr, Part I, with Makda Weatherspoon, Elizabeth Huntley and Jonathan Featherstone, Routledge 2020. (A first-year Arabic textbook with an audio and video component.)
- Kalila wa Dimna for Students of Arabic, Second Edition, Routledge 2020.
- Charging Steeds or Maidens Performing Good Deeds: In Search of the Original Qur’an. Routledge, 2019.
- The Integrated Approach to Arabic Instruction, Routledge 2015.
- Arabiyyat al-Naas, Part III, (for third-year Arabic), with Yomna Chami, Routledge 2014.
- Arabiyyat al-Naas, Part II, (for second-year Arabic), with Hanada al-Masri, Routledge, 2013.
- Arabiyyat al-Naas, Part I (for first-year Arabic), with Makda Weatherspoon and Maha Saliba Foster, Routledge 2013.
- The Routledge Introduction to Qur’anic Arabic, Routledge 2013.
Articles
- “Entering the House through the Front Door: The Integrated Approach to Arabic Instruction”, to appear in Relating Arabic L2 Teaching to CEFR Guidelines: Principles, Approaches, and Practices (Proceedings of the conference “Mastering Arabic Variation” held at the University of Genoa, Italy in September 2018.
- “Solving the Arabic Language Dilemma: First Steps”. In Revisiting Levels of Contemporary Arabic in Egypt: Essays on Arabic Varieties in Memory of El-Said Badawi, edited by Zeinab Taha. The American University in Cairo Press, 2020.
- (With Elizabeth Huntley) “From an MSA-Only to a Fully Integrated AFL Curriculum”. In The Routledge Handbook of Arabic Linguistics. Edited by Enam El-Wer and Uri Horesh. Routledge, 2019.
- “To Separate or to Integrate, That Is the Question”. In Arabic Integration. Edited by Mahmoud al-Batal. Georgetown University Press, 2018.
- “Blessing, Clinging, Familiarity, Custom -- or Ship: A New Reading of the Word Īlāf in Q 106”, Journal of Semitic Studies LXII/1 Spring 2017.
- “Angels, Death, the Soul, Stars, Bows--or Women?: The Opening Verses of Qur’an 79.” New Perspectives on the Qur’aan: The Qur’an in Its Historical Context 2”. Edited by Gabriel Said Reynolds. London and New York: Routledge 2011.
- “In Suffering or in Honor: A Reinterpretation of Q 90 (al-Balad)”, Die Entstehung einer Weltreligion I. Edited by Markus Groß and Karl-Heinz Ohlig. Berlin/Tübingen: Verlag Hans Schiller 2010.
- “The Case for Integration” The NECTFL Review. Fall-Winter 2009.
- “Ingrate or Honorable: A reexamination of the word kanuud in Qur’an:100 (Al-‘Aadiyaat)”, Arabica 56, 2009.
- “Charging Steeds or Maidens Doing Good Deeds: A Re-Interpretation Of Qur’an 100 (Al-‘Aadiyaat)”, Arabica 55, 2008.
- “On ’I‘raab, Power, and Language Reform in the Arab World”, Al-‘Arabiyya 40-41, 2008.
- “Bringing Hamza under Control: A Proposal for Simplifying Hamza-Writing Rules in Arabic”. Al-'Arabiyya 38-40, 2008.
- “Integrating the Colloquial with Fusha in the Arabic-as-a-Foreign-Language Classroom”, in Handbook for Arabic language teaching professionals in the 21st century (edited by Kassem M. Wahba, Zeinab A. Taha, Liz England).Mahwah, N.J. : Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2006.
- “Redundancy and productivity in Palestinian Arabic verb derivation”, in Proceedings of the Third International Conference of AIDA (Association Internationale de Dialectologie Arabe), 2000.
- "An Integrated Curriculum for Teaching Elementary Arabic," The Teaching of Arabic in the 1990’s: Directions and Issues, 1995.
- "On Vowel Shortening in Palestinian Arabic," Perspectives on Arabic Linguistics VII: Papers from the Seventh Annual Symposium on Arabic Linguistics, 1995.
- "On Emphasis and /r/ in Arabic," Perspectives on Arabic Linguistics VI: Papers from the Sixth Annual Symposium on Arabic Linguistics, 1994.
- "Emphasis Spread in Two Arabic Dialects," Perspectives on Arabic Linguistics V: Papers from the Fifth Annual Symposium on Arabic Linguistics, 1993.
- "An Integrated Approach to Teaching Arabic as a Foreign Language," Al-‘Arabiyya 23, 1990.
- "The Stressing of Superheavy Syllables by Saudi Learners of English: Implications for the Contrastive Analysis Hypothesis," Proceedings of the Third Annual Yarmouk University Linguistics Conference, Irbid, Jordan, 1984.
- "Emphasis and the Low Vowels in Palestinian Arabic”, Texas Linguistics Forum 23, 1984.
Education
- Ph.D. Department of Linguistics, The University of Texas at Austin, 1982.
- Diploma, 1975, University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan (English as a second language)
- B.A., 1974 University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan (English Language and Literature)
Departments and programs
Makda Weatherspoon
Senior Lecturer, Arabic language
Publications
Arabiyyat al-Naas (Part Two): An Introductory Course in Arabic, with Munther Younes, Hanada al-Masri, Jonathan Featherstone, and Lizz Huntley (Routledge, January 2023)
Arabiyyat al-Naas fii Bilaad al-Shaam (Part One): An Introductory Course in Arabic, with Munther Younes and Maha Foster (forthcoming 2023)
Weatherspoon, M. (2021). "Laughing and Learning: Utilizing Humor in the Arabic as a Foreign Language Classroom". In Vaidya, K. (Ed.), Teach Arabic with a Sense of Humor: Why (and how to) be a Funnier and more Effective Arabic Teacher and Laugh all the Way to your Classroom ISBN 978-1-925128-04-8.
Arabiyyat al-Naas fii MaSr (Part One): An Introductory Course in Arabic, with Munther Younes, Jonathan Featherstone, and Lizz Huntley (Routledge, 2019)
Arabiyyat al-Naas (Part One): An Introductory Course in Arabic, with Munther Younes and Maha Foster (Routledge, 2013)
News
- Makda Weatherspoon receives the "Sophie Washburn French Instructorship" award in recognition of excellence in language teaching. This award is given to only two A&S faculty members each year.
- Students of Arabic serving as TA's at Auburn Prison
- Arabic classes offered through Cornell's Prison Education Program
Departments and programs
Eric Tagliacozzo
John Stambaugh Professor of History
Publications
Books:
-
(author), In Asian Waters: Oceanic Worlds from Yemen to Yokohama (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2022).
- (co-editor), The Hajj: Pilgrimage in Islam (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2016).
- (co-editor), Asia Inside Out: Changing Times (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2015).
- (co-editor), Asia Inside Out: Connected Places (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2015).
- (co-editor), Asia Inside Out: Itinerant People (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2019).
- (co-editor), Burmese Lives: Ordinary Life Stories Under the Burmese Regime (New York: Oxford University Press, 2014).
- (editor), Producing Indonesia: The State of the Field of Indonesian Studies (Cornell: SEAP Publications, 2014).
- (author) The Longest Journey: Southeast Asians and the Pilgrimage to Mecca (New York: Oxford University Press, 2013). 368 pp.
- (co-editor) Chinese Circulations: Capital, Commodities and Networks in Southeast Asia (Durham: Duke University Press, 2011).
- (co-editor) Clio/Anthropos: Exploring the Boundaries Between History and Anthropology (Palo Alto: Stanford University Press, 2009).
- (co-editor), The Indonesia Reader: History, Culture, Politics (Durham: Duke University Press, 2009).
- (editor), Southeast Asia and the Middle East: Islam, Movement, and the Longue Duree (Palo Alto: Stanford University Press, 2009).
- (author) Secret Trades, Porous Borders: Smuggling and States Along a Southeast Asian Frontier, 1865-1915 (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2005). 437 pp.** Winner of the Harry J. Benda Prize from the Association of Asian Studies, 2007
Links to All Books Mentioned Above
Course Rotation:
• HIST 1700: “The History of Exploration”
• HIST 1402: “Global Islam”
• HIST 4515: “The Pacific Horizon”
• HIST 1750: “Routes: Global Histories”
• HIST 4922: “Ocean: The Sea in Global History”
• HIST 2430: “The History of Things”
• HIST 4100: “Archipelago: Worlds of Indonesia”
• HIST 2280: “The Indian Ocean World”
• HIST 3950: “Monsoon Kingdoms Pre-modern SE Asia to the 18th Century”
• HIST 3960: “Transnational Local: History of Modern Southeast Asia”
• HIST 4490: “Peddlers, Pirates, Prostitutes: Subaltern Histories of SE Asia”
• HIST 2840: "Southeast Asia in the World System, 1500-Present"
• HIST 4510: "Crime and Diaspora in Southeast Asia 1750-1950"
• HIST 1910: “The History of Modern Asia”
• HIST 4000: “Honors Undergraduate Historiography Seminar”
• HIST 7090: “Pro-Seminar for Graduate Historiography”
Education
- PhD History, Yale University, 1999
- BA History, Haverford College, 1989
Departments and programs
Links
Deborah A. Starr
Professor
Publications
Books
Togo Mizrahi and the Making of Egyptian Cinema. (University of California Press, 2020). Open Access: www.ucpress.edu/9780520366206
Mongrels or Marvels: The Levantine Writings of Jacqueline Shohet Kahanoff.
Co-edited with Sasson Somekh. (Stanford University Press, 2011).
Remembering Cosmopolitan Egypt: Literature, Culture and Empire. (Routledge, 2009).
Published Articles
“Reading, Writing, and Remembering: Ronit Matalon and the Literature of Egyptian Jewish Memory” (In Hebrew) Mikan: A Journal of Israeli and Jewish Literature and Culture. 18 (September 2018), 141-154.
“Chalom and cAbdu Get Married: Jewishness and Egyptianness in the Films of Togo Mizrahi.” The Jewish Quarterly Review. 107, no.2 (2017): 209-230. doi: 10.1353/jqr.2017.0007.
“In Bed Together: Coexistence in Togo Mizrahi’s Alexandria Films,” in Post-Ottoman Co-Existence: Sharing Space in the Shadow of Conflict, edited by Rebecca Bryant, 129-156. Oxford: Berghahn Books, 2016. Open access: http://www.berghahnbooks.com/downloads/OpenAccess/BryantPost-Ottoman/9781785333750_OA.pdf.
“Masquerade and the Performance of National Imaginaries: Levantine Ethics, Aesthetics, and Identities in Egyptian Cinema,” Journal of Levantine Studies 1, no.2 (2011): 31-57.
“Sensing the City: Representations of Cairo’s Harat al-Yahud,” Prooftexts, 26, no. 1-2 (2006): 138-162. doi: 10.1353/ptx.2007.0010
“Drinking, Gambling, and Making Merry: Waguih Ghali’s Search for Cosmopolitan Agency,”
Middle Eastern Literatures 9, no. 3 (2006): 271-285. doi: 10.1080/14752620600999896
Revised and updated version printed in The Edinburgh Companion to the Arab Novel in English, edited by Nouri Gana (University of Edinburgh Press, 2013).
“Recuperating Cosmopolitan Alexandria: Circulation of Narratives and Narratives of Circulation,” Cities. 22, no.3 (2005): 217-228. doi: 10.1016/j.cities.2005.03.009
“Reterritorializing the Dream: Orly Castel-Bloom’s Remapping of Israeli Identity,” in Mapping Jewish Identities, edited by Laurence J. Silberstein (NYU Press, 2000).
“Egyptian Representation of Israeli Culture: Normalizing Propaganda or Propagandizing Normalization?” in Review Essays in Israel Studies, Books on Israel 5, edited by Laura Eisenberg and Neil Caplan. (SUNY Press, 2000).
Open Access Digital Archive
“Waguih Ghali Unpublished Papers: Diaries (1964-1968) and Manuscript Fragments” [http://ghali.library.cornell.edu].
Selected Short Essays
“Writing about Writing about Alexandria,” Politics/Letters. 13 (September 2018).
Interview with Diana Athill, The Diaries of Waguih Ghali: An Egyptian Manic Depressive in the Swinging Sixties, edited by May Hawas. Vol. 1 (American University in Cairo Press, 2017).
Interview with Samir Basta, The Diaries of Waguih Ghali: An Egyptian Manic Depressive in the Swinging Sixties, edited by May Hawas. Vol. 2 (American University in Cairo Press, 2017).
Departments and programs
Shalom Shoer
Senior Lecturer, Hebrew language
Publications
"Shalom 1, Beginners Comprehensive Course in Modern Hebrew," Createspace Independent Publishing
"Shalom 2, Intermediate Comprehensive Course in Modern Hebrew," Createspace Independent Publishing
"Shalom 3, Advanced Intermediate Comprehensive Course in Modern Hebrew," Createspace Independent Publishing
Departments and programs
Links
Nava Scharf
Retired Senior Lecturer
Cynthia Robinson
Mary Donlon Alger Professor
Publications
- academic articles
- Arthur in the Alhambra? Stories, Pictures and Nasrid Royal Self-Fashioning in the Ceiling Paintings of the Sala de Justicia. Medieval Encounters. 14:164-198. 2008
- Introduction to special issue: "Courting The Alhambra: Cross-Disciplinary Approaches to the Hall of Justice Ceilings". Medieval Encounters. 14:153-163. 2008
- Preaching to the Converted: Valladolid’s ‘Cristianos Nuevos’ and the ‘Retablo de Don Sancho de Rojas (1415 A.D.). Speculum. 83. 2008
- Toward a Poetics of Ornament in Granada's Alhambra: Allegorizing Metaphor. uqarnas XXV. 185-214. 2008
- books
- Imagining the Passion in a Multi-Confessional Castile: The Virgin, Christ, Devotions, and Images in the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries. Penn State University Press. 2013
- Three Ladies and A Lover: Mediterranean Courtly Culture through the Text and Images of the “Hadîth Bayâd wa Riyâd. Routledge. 2006
- Under the Influence: Questioning the Comparative in Medieval Iberia. Brill. 2005
- In Praise of Song: the Making of Courtly Culture in al-Andalus and Provence, 1065-1135 A.D.2002
- Islamic Art and Literature
- chapters
- Genre Switching: The Hadith Bayad wa Riyad and Mediterranean Courtly Narrative in the 13th Century. Medieval Arabic Story-Telling: Transmission and Receptivity. Ed. Bauden, Frédéric. Liège, Belgium. 2008
- Trees of Love, Trees of Knowledge: Toward the Definition of a Cross-Confessional Current in Late-Medieval Iberian Spirituality. Interrogating Iberian Frontiers: A Cross-Disciplinary Approaches to Mudéjar History, Religion, Art and Literature. Ed. Feliciano, María. 2006
Education
Ph.D. University of Pennsylvania
Departments and programs
- History of Art and Visual Studies
- Medieval Studies Program
- Near Eastern Studies
- Religious Studies Program