International and Area Studies Commons^™

Discussion Of Iran Awakening By Shirin Ebadi, Musselman Library

Iran: Beyond the Headlines

In preparation for our book discussion on Iran Awakening by Shirin Ebadi for our Iran: Beyond the Headlines series, we created some of our own discussion questions about the book. Please feel free to use for your own book discussion!

Muslim Women Political Leaders And Electoral Participation In Muslim-Majority Countries, Abby M. Rolland

What All Americans Should Know About Women in the Muslim World

This paper focuses on Muslim women political leaders and their agency in the modern world. While some Muslim women have a difficult time participating politically, others actively act in policy and government. Culture, identity, location, and political parties are some of the factors leading to different levels of participation from Muslim women in various countries.

Tunisia’S Young Islamists: Religious Or Revolutionary Zealots?, Sawyer French

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Ennahda’s many compromises during Tunisia’s transition have prompted assessments that the party has alienated its base, especially by not taking more traditionally Islamist stances on issues like sharī‘a. This paper draws on interviews with young Tunisian Islamists and assesses how they have responded to Ennahda’s compromises. Although some young Islamists are disappointed that Ennahda did not pursue more hard-line Islamist stances, many actually share the leadership’s progressive position on certain religious issues. Interestingly, young Islamists were far more angered by Ennahda’s compromises on ‘revolutionary’ issues than they were by its compromises on ‘religious’ ones. This paper ultimately argues that …

The Singapore Report: National Landscape, Current Challenges And Opportunities For Growth, Institute For Societal Leadership, Aji Paramartha, Shihui Khee, Regina Unson, Sai Hein

Institute of Societal Leadership Research Collection

Singapore has come a long way, since her beginnings as a sleepy fishing village and a tiny Malay settlement ruled by the Sultan of Johor. Sir Stamford Raffles first arrived in Singapore in 1819 and immediately recognised that its strategic location along the Straits of Malacca would be useful to the British in developing an alternative to challenge Dutch influence and monopoly in the region. During British colonial rule, Singapore developed into an important free port and trade city, an essential trait that continues to feature heavily in Singapore’s economic development to this day.

Storytelling As Self-Empowerment: A Case Study Of Avega Beneficiaries In Post-Genocide Rwanda, Lauren Garretson

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This project is an assessment of the effectiveness of storytelling as a mechanism of self-empowerment in the context of post-genocide Rwanda. It concentrates on the effects of the storytelling that is done by female survivors of the 1994 genocide within one Rwandan organization, AVEGA Agahozo.[1] The research project aim is to understand how these women in contemporary Rwanda try to counter their oppression through the stories they tell others about themselves and reclaim agency over their own lives. I examine the possibilities for, and limitations of, storytelling as a means of self-empowerment for these women to counter the unjust …

The Traumatic State Of Psychology: An Investigation Of The Challenges Psychologists Face When Aiming To Help Trauma Survivors In Post-Apartheid South Africa, Rohan Arcot

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This project will sought to investigate the difficult role that psychologists play in post-apartheid South Africa, particularly when they are trying to create meaningful change for trauma survivors from the apartheid era. Many survivors found the results of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) unsatisfactory, and thus still suffer from trauma (Kagee, Naidoo, & Van Wyk, 2013). There is a clear need in the present society of South Africa for a system which helps these trauma survivors find reconciliation and make peace with the atrocities of the past. Part of this system is the counseling psychologists that focus on the …

Stoning In Iran: A Sexist And Overlooked Practice, Megan R. Haugh

What All Americans Should Know About Women in the Muslim World

This paper seeks to dissect and expose the ancient practice of stoning in Iran, and to analyze the injustices that are built into this punishment.

The Decision To Invade: Stalin In 1950, Elliot Estebo

Ex-Patt Magazine

Examining the past and recently discovered Soviet-Era documents to determine how Stalin came to the decision to invade.

The Effect Of Refugees On Jordanian Identity, Max Yenkin

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Jordan has become known as the home for refugees from the crises that have occurred along its borders. Several waves of large groups of refugees have come to Jordan: 1948, 1967, 1991, 2003, and 2011-present, with copious amounts of refugees coming from different surrounding countries to Jordan. The Hashemite Kingdom is ruled through keeping relations between the Bedouin tribes that have lived in the area from the founding of the country. This has led to the denial of equality for former refugees who obtained citizenship as well as the other refugee populations in areas such as work and education. As …

Iran: Beyond The Headlines, Musselman Library

Other Exhibits & Events

Poster with Spring 2015 events for Iran: Beyond the Headlines series.

Iran: Beyond the Headlines is a learning series that includes book discussions, film screenings, and lecture designed to help us move past today's headlines and explore the history, art, culture, and everyday life of Iranians. Series events are scheduled for September 2014 - April 2015. All events are free and open to the public.

Seato Stumbles: The Failure Of The Nato Model In The Third World, Louis T. Gentilucci

Student Publications

NATO as an alliance has stood the test of time since the early post-war years. Yet similar alliances such as SEATO passed into history long ago. The problem with the NATO model of alliance was its inability to be applied to the Third World. The particular circumstances of Southeast Asia prevented SEATO from becoming a true successor to the NATO alliance system. In addition, the approach of Eisenhower and his administration to Southeast Asia and anti-communist alliances was undermined by their own political needs and personal experiences. Southeast Asia was fit into the mold of the post-war period and the …

Global Hegemon: Chinese Foreign Policy Shifts And Elevated Unpko Involvement, Alex Berge

Political Science Theses and Capstones

A common question being asked in many circles is whether China will emerge as a potential rival to the U.S. as a global superpower? If the answer to this question is “yes” many ask how China will accomplish this. Research suggests that China will obtain superpower status through increased global presence and more cooperation in international organizations, specifically United Nations Peacekeeping Operations (UNPKO). The literature examines Chinese policy changes that allow for more contributions and activity in UNPKOs and also what missions China can now participate in from which it would have formerly abstained. The preliminary results have shown massive …

Witnesses To Revolution, Colleen Cassingham

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

My documentary follows two families 4 years after the Tunisian Revolution. All members in the Daly family from Sidi Bouzid participated in the revolution, and the Laroussi family in La Goulette had two brothers martyred on January 14^th, 2011. The film explores the effects of the revolution – emotional, economic, and social – on all the various family members. As we get glimpses into the daily life of two main characters, we see that reactions to the revolution are diverse, although the notion of the ‘Tunisian exception’ is held up to scrutiny by the overwhelmingly negative reactions to …

A Resistance, Remembered? Remembrance, Commemoration And The Parallel System In Prishtina, Kosovo, Conner Gordon

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Though the 1999 war that liberated Kosovo from Serbian control is over fifteen years in the past, memories of the 1990s still remain in a state of chaos. This paper approaches the development of these collective memories through interviews with Prishtina residents about the memories and legacy of Ibrahim Rugova’s parallel structures in the 1990s. Though they draw from similar narratives as memories of the Kosovo Liberation Army’s armed resistance, memories of the nonviolent resistance play a vastly different and largely underrepresented role in current Kosovar Albanian public discourse. Through competing deployments of resistance memories, disproportionate memorialization of Kosovo’s violent …

Youth Narratives Of The Conflict In Northern Uganda, Ellen Eichelberger

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Narratives are an essential method of communication that create windows into human experiences. Narratives are also responsible for generating the societies in which they are told, or are shaped indelibly by the societies generated by more powerful narratives. In a post-conflict environment where society has been destroyed by decades of violence, the power of narratives to influence society is heightened. Such a postconflict environment is that of northern Uganda, as it emerges from the violence of the war between the LRA and the UPDF. Due to the heightened powers of narratives, it is necessary to give attention to what those …

Transnational Education Systems In Morocco: How Language Of Instruction Shapes Identity, Sarah Robertson

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The North African country of Morocco boasts a rich history of linguistic diversity, which was further compounded with the introduction of the French language under the protectorate in 1912. Through a complicated mix of Fus’ha (Modern Standard Arabic), Darija (Moroccan Dialectical Arabic), French (historically the language of the protectorate), and most recently, the introduction of English, the system of education with respect to linguistic instruction is left in a bind. The divide between the public schools, private schools, traditional Arabic schools, and well-­‐ established French schools only grows, as the Moroccan Education system hurts for change. If language shapes education, …

Driving Away: A Macro And Micro View Of The Prague Car Transit System, Danny Meyers

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The purpose of the this study is to understand the rise in auto traffic in the city center of Prague since the Velvet Revolution and to use this understanding to make my own recommendations for policies I believe the city should enact to limit traffic in the macro and micro scale. The theoretical framework was created through observations of three specific streets and through interviews with urban planning experts. Although there are many different strategies for calming down traffic in Prague, the most important are to execute long term planning and to focus on limiting the numbers of cars in …

Child Marriage: Addressing The Challenges And Obstacles In The Post-2015 Agenda, Valeria Pelayo

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This study explores the progress of child marriage eradication over the last forty years in order to identify the weak points of implementation as well as how these are being incorporated in the post-2015 agenda. An assessment of current rates by geographic region and several other demographic factors is included along with future projections for these affected areas. The shortcomings identified include a lack of program evaluation, negligence towards married children, a shortage of data on sub-national legislation efficacy, and minimal attention paid to child marriage in the context of slavery and human trafficking. The scope of the problem is …

Engaging Non-State Armed Groups (Nsags) In The ‘Fight’ Against Sexual And Gender-Based Violence In Eastern Congo (Drc), Mackenzie Kennedy

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

While the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has managed to achieve a greater level of stability more than a decade after finding itself at the center of “Africa’s World War,” the Eastern region of the country continues to face insecurity developments as poorly controlled domestic and foreign armed groups have undermined attempts to secure peace in the region since the end of the Rwandan genocide. Sexual violence has been used as a tool to humiliate, dominate, terrorize, displace, and control civilian populations. Despite much needed international attention towards assisting SGBV survivors, there remains a lack of effective preventative efforts …

El Futuro Es La Historia: El Pasado Doloroso Y Las Generaciones Futuros En Los Espacios De Memoria En Buenos Aires / The Future Is History: The Painful Past And Future Generations In Memory Sites In Buenos Aires, Leslie Niiro

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Para contar una historia reciente y dolorosa a otros que no vivieron esta historia, con la esperanza de que no ocurra más, nunca puede ser objetivo en un ‘espacio de la memoria’. Casi siempre se lleva una agenda social, una mirada al futuro y para muchos, esta esperanza es en la próxima generación. En esta investigación, miro a la historia de la última junta cívico-militar (1976-1983) y las décadas después para entender de qué forma trabajan los espacios de la memoria para enseñar la historia reciente a estudiantes. Abordada por entrevistas, visitas guiadas, y observaciones participantes en espacios de la …

Rodney Papers At Auc Robert W. Woodruff Library

Groundings

No abstract provided.

Remembrances

Groundings

No abstract provided.

Foundation News

Groundings

Updates from The Walter Rodney Foundations.

How Europe Underdeveloped African At 40, Michael O. West

Groundings

Michael O. West digests the impact of How Europe Underdeveloped Africa 40 years after its publication. He brings to the front the atmosphere that Rodney endured leading up to the publication of his seminal work.

Memorable Moments

Groundings

We highlight some of the memorable moments of that members of the Foundation have experienced since the last issue.

Announcement Of The Walter Rodney Press

Groundings

Introduction to and announcement of The Walter Rodney Press, which recently republished The Groundings with My Brothers.

Advertisement For The 12th Annual Walter Rodney Symposium

Groundings

The poster for the 12th Annual Walter Rodney Symposium to be held March 20th and 21st, 2015.

Notes On Ayotzinapa, Boca Floja

Groundings

Scholar and hip hop artist, Bocafloja, relates the current state of Mexico, specifically what has happened in Ayotzinapa.

2nd Annual Walter Rodney Speakers Series (2014)

Groundings

We take a look at the semester-long project to bring together intellectuals from all backgrounds and educations. Included: A brief synopsis of the Series and a photo narrative

11th Annual Walter Rodney Symposium Wrap Up

Groundings

We take a look at the monumental occasion that was the 11th Annual Walter Rodney Symposium, held on March 21st and 22nd. Included: A brief synopsis of events and a photo narrative.