Digital Commons Network^™

Panic At The Library: Origins And Manifestations Of Library And Technology Anxiety In High School Sophomores, Kelly A. Guistwhite

Theses and Dissertations

Constance Mellon formally identified library anxiety in the mid-1980s. Library anxiety can result in students avoiding the library, its resources, and its staff. Students with library anxiety perform worse on academic tasks than their more comfortable peers. Library anxiety causes procrastination on assignments and undermines academic success. Technology anxiety has evolved with library anxiety changing as new information technology becomes available. This exploratory research investigated to what extent library and technology anxiety manifests among sophomore students, the relationship between library anxiety and technology anxiety, and the perception of online services at Maple Bluff and Scarlett Woods High Schools. This study …

Identifying The Challenges That Hinder Research Productivity In Academia: Evidence From Somaliland And The Way Forward., Khalid Jama

Theses and Dissertations

In any nation, research is the primary force behind innovation and progress. It contributes to the Economic growth, global competence, and social progress. Research productivity is highly valued in the scientific community. Scientific community research is regarded as the key factor determining academic recognition, financial support, and academic recognition. Nonetheless, the output of research faces difficulties in many sub-Saharan African nations. This study aims to understand what limits the research publication in Somaliland. The study adopt a mixed methods approach to understand and analyze the main reason behind the research and publication limitations in Somaliland’s higher education. Individuals from various …

Emergent Leadership, L2 Oral Proficiency, And Social Networks During Study Abroad, Nicole C. Whitby

Theses and Dissertations

Research shows that study abroad (SA) provides a unique, yet varied outcome for students seeking to improve their target language oral proficiency during study abroad SA (Freed et al., 2004). Contemporary work in second language acquisition (SLA) during SA has looked beyond individual behaviors of sojourners to analyze social networks as a structure with significant influence on outcomes, yet emergent leadership has not been addressed within social network analysis in SA. To address this gap the current study employed a computational social network approach. This mixed methods study analyzes the social networks of 30 SA sojourners from a large private …

Imām Al-Baghawī (D. 516/1123): Tafsīr And Sunnism During The 11th-12th Centuries In Khurāsān, Nourhan Hassanein

Theses and Dissertations

A number of recent studies have focused on the intellectual trends and debates surrounding the formation of Sunnism in the 11-12th centuries. Academics have explored various currents within the intellectual and social context of Sunni Islam during the 11th-12th centuries. George Makdisi, Richard Bulliet, Jonathan Brown, Daphna Ephrat, Mohamed Eissa, and Ahmad Khan studied topics related to the educational system, the scholarly community, heresy and Sunni orthodoxy, legal studies, ḥadīth, and theology. However, the status of scholarship on works of tafsīr differs significantly. There are few studies concentrated on the classical period, such as works on the commentaries of al-Thaʿlabī …

From Crypto-Muslim To Muslim Polemicist: The Self-Writing Of Aḥmad Ibn Qāsim Al-Ḥajarī, Paige Gibson

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the self-writing of the Morisco writer Aḥmad ibn Qāsim al-Ḥajarī (b. 1569–1570) who fled his homeland in Spain for the Maghreb where he could live safely as a Muslim. While it may seem that the Moriscos were one static, monocultural group, studying them as individuals reveals the group’s diversity and complexity. Al-Ḥajarī is an excellent example of one Morisco writer who identifies more with the greater Muslim community than with the Iberian Moriscos. His most well-known work, Kitāb Nāṣir al-dīn, combines Arabic literary genres in order to create this self-portrait. Other Moriscos fought for their right to …

Picturing Consumer Culture, Cultural Hybridity, And Womanhood: Farah Al Qasimi’S Photographs From 2012 To 2020, Minji Lee

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines Farah Al Qasimi’s 2012-2020 color photographs, arguing that this work presents a distinctive and salient critique of domesticity, material culture, and womanhood in the UAE. Through her lens as a woman and a culturally hybrid subject, Al Qasimi explores the tensions of modernization, globalization, consumerism, and gender.

Student Perceptions Of Icc Development And The Reasons For It During Casa@Auc, Stephen Wright

Theses and Dissertations

Research has described how studying abroad has become a major goal in the Arabic world, focusing on understanding the ideas and way of life of another culture and people. Study abroad programs increase students' “Intercultural communicative competence” as indicated by researchers like Maharaja (2018) and Lee and Song (2019). The current study is a case study involving three participants. It focuses on students' perceptions of the influence of the CASA@AUC study abroad program on their intercultural communicative competence (ICC) as reflected by ACTFL performance indicators they are capable of executing. Results of the study indicate that they have reached advanced …

Codeswitching In The Egyptian Arabic Movies: How Do Social Variables Trigger Codeswitching?, Randa Hassan

Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

This is a qualitative study designed to examine the growing linguistic practice of codeswitching in a sociolinguistic context. For this purpose, 7 Egyptian Arabic films were purposefully selected to investigate what social variables and contexts can be associated with codeswitching. Data was sampled in 43 experts from the 7 films. The data was analyzed in terms of the social variables of education, social class, identity, stance, and age, within the theoretical framework of the critical discourse analysis, the accommodation theory, and the social arena theory. Although the study started with these social variables in mind, data analysis revealed two …

The Utilitarian Islamic Modernity Of Ḥasan Al-ʿAṭṭār (1766–1835), Ian Greer

Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis, I describe and analyze the manifestations of modern thought in the life and works of Ḥasan al-ʿAṭṭār (d. 1835), an Egyptian Islamic scholar who served as Shaykh al-Azhar in the 1830s, in concert with Muḥammad ʿAlī Pasha. These manifestations were significantly influenced by the writings and ideas of Ottoman ʿulamāʿ and political elites which al-ʿAṭṭār would have encountered during his 10-year journey across the Empire. The thesis will also explore the content of al-ʿAṭṭār’s political, legal and social thought, which was guided by a unique form of ‘Islamic utilitarianism’ which reaches across his writings and the reforms …

Scattered Fragments: Art, Architecture, And Archives In Revolutionary Urban Cairo, Mounira M. Makar

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis analyzes how revolutions impact urban Cairo and its communities, specifically within artistic, architectural and archival practice while acknowledging the central role of public spaces in giving way to such revolutionary practices. Fundamentally, this paper highlights the foundational nature of such practices in developing urban communities.

The School Of SharīʿA Judges: SharīʿA Courts’ Reform And Legal Modernization In Egypt (1907-1927), Yamen Nouh

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis studied the history of the school of sharīʿa judges (1907-1927) as an essential episode of the reform of Sharīʿa courts in Egypt in the early 20th century. The thesis studied the school in connection with the broader context of legal modernization of the Egyptian legal system. The study explored the institutional, pedagogical, and legal aspects of the reform that the school advocated. The study analyzed the impact of the school’s pedagogy on the practice of the Islamic judiciary and the theoretical conception of Sharīʿa. The study used a significant yet understudied historical source: the judicial press. A comparative …

Navigating Complexity Of Serving Displaced Communities: A Study Of Yemeni Community-Based Organizations In Egypt, Alya Mohammed Al-Mahdi

Theses and Dissertations

Forced displacement is a global crisis that poses challenges for nations like Egypt. Despite international NGO support, escalating displaced individuals have overwhelmed existing capacities. Refugee Community-Based Organizations (CBOs) have emerged as a natural response from the communities themselves to bridge the gap between the state and NGOs and the refugee community. However, CBOs in Egypt face challenges that impact their operation and continuity. Through qualitative research, this study aims to explore the experience of the Yemeni CBOs. Through interviews with seven people from six CBOs conducted through field visits and online calls, this research uncovers the dynamics of Yemeni CBOs …

Afl Students’ Perception Of Using Mnemonics As A Strategy To Enhance Their Vocabulary Acquisition And Retention, Elsayed Elsisi

Theses and Dissertations

Research in the field of language teaching and learning reveals that mnemonics is one of the most effective language learning strategies for vocabulary. Researchers like Rasiban, et al. (2019); Levin (1993); Zulfa (2019); Kayaaltu (2018) suggest that using mnemonics to learn new vocabulary has a positive effect on vocabulary retention and retrieval. Research also shows however that students’ perceptions may encourage or inhibit the usage of any learning strategy depending on their perceptions of its effectiveness. Hence the importance of detecting learner perception about any learning or teaching device. Despite the above there is limited research about students’ perceptions about …

Palestine Without Borders: A Study Of Arab And Western Voices In Theater, Bassem Mohsen Ahmed El-Sayed Ahmed Ibrahim

Theses and Dissertations

Theater has always been perceived as a way to link different cultures together and bring them under one large domain. Regardless, the genre does not give the needed attention to works written in certain regions that may otherwise fall outside the consensus. One good example is Palestine and any works that deal with it as a setting. The first thing that comes to mind whenever the word “Palestine” is brought up is almost always of a political nature, having to do with the Palestinians’ national conflict with Israel. This thesis undertakes to amend this by probing into plays written by …

An Analysis Of Speech Acts In Egyptian Billboard Advertising, Wissam Abdelkareem

Theses and Dissertations

The present study explores the realization of speech acts in 80 Egyptian billboard advertisements from five different locations in Greater Cairo, in an attempt to identify the most dominant types of speech acts utilized in such billboard advertising. Further examination of the linguistic elements in advertisements is conducted to identify the most salient syntactic structures constructing them. The study starts with a quantitative approach and ends with a qualitative content analysis based on framework of Searle’s (1969) Speech Act Theory. The findings of the study reveal that the most frequently employed speech act types are representatives, directives, commissives, and expressives …

Language Borrowing Among Syrians Speaking Arabic In The United States: Arabization Of English Words, Joanne Stephen

Theses and Dissertations

Immigration to the United States from different Arab countries have been occurring for the past couple of centuries. Arabs from many countries are still migrating to different States in America. Getting adapted to a whole new place, new culture, and especially a new language could be difficult. Cultural and language contact in some cases causes what is called “language borrowing”. This study identified and examined different words that Syrian Arabic speakers in the United States of America borrow from the English language and arabize them. This study investigated the different approaches that native Arabic speakers follow in order to adapt …

The Influence Of Bolded Keywords In Online News Texts On Reading Speed And Comprehension For Heritage+ Learners Of Arabic, Marwah Khost Aljarkas

Theses and Dissertations

Learners and readers of Arabic, especially Heritage Language Learners, suffer more than ever from the lack of focus while reading online texts. This becomes a challenge that negatively impacts their overall learning process. This paper explores the influence of one salience feature - bolded keywords - over reading speed and comprehension amongst Heritage+ Learners of Arabic. Heritage+ refers to Arabs living in the Arab world, but who have minimum exposure to the language. Thirty-two students, who are Heritage+ Learners of Arabic, currently studying at the American University in Cairo and belong to Generation Z (18-25 years), participated in the study. …

The World Of Ibn Taymiyya: An Analysis Of The Historical Context Of Ibn Taymiyya’S Anti-Mongol Fatwas, Jarod Devoogd

Theses and Dissertations

Studies into Ibn Taymiyya’s fatwas against the Mongols are relatively new, despite the increasing frequency with which they are cited by modern extremist groups. Detailed explorations into the Mamluk-Ilkhanid War of the late thirteenth and early fourteenth century are also relatively new. Ibn Taymiyya, the early Mamluk Sultanate, and the Mamluk-Ilkhanid War are intricately connected, yet they are often not studied in synthesis. Generally, works that give overviews of the history of this period lack intricate details, studies dedicated to in-depth analysis of specific events are not focused on a connection to Ibn Taymiyya’s writings, and biographies on Ibn Taymiyya …

Interpretatio Islamica And The Unraveling Of The Ancient Sabian Mysteries, Maurice Hines

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis makes some bold claims about the identity of the Qur’anic Sabians (Ṣābi’ūn) and their symbiotic relationship with various Near Eastern religions including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Thrice mentioned in the Qur’an, they clung to an ancient religion - or perhaps the most ancient – that spanned the entire Eastern hemisphere and provided not only the structural foundations of human civilizations, but also their religious, philosophical, and intellectual foundations. However, their creed had undergone a variety of changes over time including a shift in the conception of God from a personal to a transcendent deity, the worship …

Abū ʿAmr Ibn Al-ʿAlāʾ (D. 154/770) And Qur’Anic Philology In The Second/Eighth Century, Ali Abdel Latif

Theses and Dissertations

The present study examines Abū ʿAmr ibn al-ʿAlāʾ (d. 154/770), an important scholar whose life coincided with the rise of the various disciplines of Qur’anic philology. I examine his contribution to the field Qur’anic philology, focusing on three distinct yet overlapping genres: Qur’anic chronology, Qur’anic counting, and variant readings. Because these genres were still in development during his time, the material examined in this thesis allows us to examine their state before they reached full development. As we do not have a written corpus by Abū ʿAmr, we will analyse material that was transmitted by his students and preserved in …

A Universe Of Mirrors: The Mirror Metaphor In Ibn ʿArabī’S Thought In Relation To Ontology, Knowledge, And Perfection, Basma Eletreby

Theses and Dissertations

The mirror metaphor is ubiquitous in sufi texts. It operates uniquely in Ibn ʿArabī’s thought and writings as a representation of his conception of the cosmos. Being, knowledge, and perfection are among the seminal themes of al-Shaykh al-Akbar’s thought, and the mirror metaphor is employed in revealing their reality in his writings. As opposed to Unity of Being, a term that Ibn ʿArabī does not employ, the mirror embodies the pillars of Ibn ʿArabī’s conception of Being through representing the quintessential huwa lā huwa, the configuration of oneness and manyness, and most importantly, the definition of the relation between God …

An Analysis Of The Ash’Ari-Mu’Tazilite Conflict In The Ḥāshiya Of Ibn Al- Munayyir In Al-Kashshāf By Al-Zamakhsharī, Nabil Haskanbancha

Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis, I analyze the Sunni Ash’ari response to the Mu’tazilite Qurʾan commentary al- Kashshāf written by al-Zamakhsharī (d.538/1144), and the significant role of the gloss commentary (hashiyā) in highlighting the theological debates between Ash’ari and Mu’tazilite scholars. Alongside the main commentary, this thesis demonstrates the pivotal role of the hashiyā in Islamic studies through its intersection with theology and philology, uncovering active debates on the critical interpretations of the text by exegetes. Al-Kashshāf is the most commented text in the tafsir genre despite its Mu’tazilite influence, mostly receiving criticisms from conservative Sunni scholars. The first Ash’ari scholar to …

Adhkār And Aḥzāb In Islamic Thought And Practice: Invocation And Devotion In Egypt Thirteenth-Fifteenth Centuries, Mariam Ghorab

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines discourses around duʿāʾ in the disciplines of ḥadīth, Islamic Law, and Sufism during the thirteenth to fifteenth century Egypt. I argue that duʿāʾ shaped Muslim daily life and solidified a community of prayer. Invocations generated a discursive tradition and social organization that allows us to document the experience of this praying public. Prayer was at the heart of daily life, and its significance to Muslim devotion made it the subject of commentaries that analysed its language and its embodiment. Works of ḥadīth archived the plethora of duʿāʾ’s material. Its various manifestations warranted a thorough legal investigation in …

Assessing L2 Egyptian Colloquial Arabic (Eca) Learners’ Intercultural Communicative Competence, Ahmed Said Mohammed Elgebaly

Theses and Dissertations

This study assesses L2 Egyptian Colloquial Arabic (ECA) Learners' Intercultural Communicative Competence (ICC). The study participants were 19 L2 (ECA) learners who completed one semester at least in Egypt. The participants were only from two proficiency levels; the advanced and high-intermediate levels. The current study used a mixed methodological approach for data collection, beginning with an ICC test and concluding with a series of follow-up semi-structured interviews with ten participants. The ICC test employed in the current study was created based on a model that includes ten features of the ICC. The current study's findings revealed that although high-intermediate learners …

Zinā In The Criminal Legislation Act (1999-2000): An Evaluation Of The Implication For Muslim Women's Right In Nigeria, Paul Orerhime Akpomie

Theses and Dissertations

The research engages in an exploration of human rights in Islam. Human rights issues are then contrasted with international law positions. The data gotten is then used for investigating women’s human rights issues in Shariʾa penal tradition regarding zinā (adultery) in Nigeria. The re-emergence of Sharia penal codes adopted by 12 Northern states in Nigeria in 1999 as an operative Islamic law has sparked concerns about rulings amounting to stoning to death in several cases of zinā. These events raised concerns about Shariʾa penal traditions’ legality and relationship with other legal traditions operational in Nigeria, a secular political space. …

Reinterpreting Medieval Islamic Autobiography: The Case Of Al-SakhāWī’S Irshād (1428/831 Ah - 1497/902 Ah), Maha Shawki

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis research aims to contribute to the study of medieval Arabic autobiographies by examining the autobiography of one of fifteenth-century Mamluk scholars, Muḥammad Ibn ʿabd al-Raḥmān al-Sakhāwī (1428/831 AH - 1497/902 AH).

The objective of this research is to understand more about the art of writing an autobiography during the late Mamluk period and how it relates to broader Islamic tradition. This will be done by considering al-Sakhāwī’s autobiography in the context of other similar concurrent texts written during the late Mamluk period to detect possible links and investigate how a medieval autobiography can be shaped by the character …

The Immutability Of Personal Status Law, Leena Soliman

Theses and Dissertations

Personal Status laws in Egypt were first coded in 1920 and were slightly amended throughout time. They were based on religious texts, and hence, are treated as words and teachings of God. Thus, the amendments that were developed throughout history were a result of different interpretations. Throughout the twentieth century, personal status laws in Egypt were enacted by the Egyptian state to build marriage as a more permanent bond as intended by traditional Islamic jurisprudence. Providing women with more marital rights, including more grounds for judicial divorce, was believed to strengthen the marital bond. This paper will trace the insight …

Printing Devotion: Sufi Books And Their Transregional Networks In An Age Of Print, Mariam Elashmawy

Theses and Dissertations

The production of printed books in the Muslim world is a story that encompasses an array of actors, spanning centuries, and taking place in remote, yet connected locales. This thesis provides an intellectual history of Ṣūfī print production of Islamicate mystical works in the nineteenth-twentieth centuries by examining three overlapping genres: poetry, Ṣūfī histories (hagiography), and litanies (aḥzāb). Texts such as the Dīwān of devotional poetry by Ibn al-Fāriḍ (d. 632/1234), the litany of Abū al-Ḥasan al-Shādhilī (d. 656/1258), Ḥizb al-baḥr, and Rashaḥāt ʿayn al-ḥayāt, a history of the Naqshbandiyya order by Fakhr …

Legal Construction Of Nationalism And National Identity In The Hashemite Kingdom Of Jordan, Zaina Siyam

Theses and Dissertations

Nationalism is an ideology that is not unique to one nation or one area, but it is a concept unique in the way it is defined. How it is defined and what it really is depends on where the definition is coming from. It is most important to post-colonial nations that relied and still rely on the creation of national identity and construction of an imagined community, in order to reach their liberation. Nations are imagined communities constructed through shared history, beliefs, traditions, and experiences that happen over different periods in time, between individuals that do not necessarily know each …

The Motivation And Attitude Of Arab Heritage Children And Their Parents’ Perspectives Toward Learning Arabic, Nada Naji

Theses and Dissertations

Due to the unstable circumstances in the Middle East in the last decade, a large number of immigrants from Arab origins immigrated to non-Arab countries. This immigration created a new generation of Arab heritage learners who want to learn the Arabic language as a heritage language for different reasons. This study investigates the motivation and attitude of Arab heritage children between 10 and 16 years of age and their parents’ perspectives toward learning Arabic as a heritage language in host countries. 143 participants (92 parents, 51 children) living in 17 different non-Arab countries have participated in this study. The method …