Near and Middle Eastern Studies Commons^™

Mcrage Against The Machine: Cultural Expansion And Anti-State Demonstrations In The Mena Region, Joel R. Deere

Student Theses and Dissertations

Globalization has been argued by scholars to be a facilitating force for development and economic growth. Others point to how globalization may lead to demobilization and atomization. In an ever-increasing globalized world, formerly closed off societies are now coming into contact with ideas, beliefs, customs, and products like no other time in History. I seek to examine the clash of centuries old-traditional cultures within the Middle East and North Africa and the encroaching dominance of Western Consumer-Culture spurred by the Globalization process. Particularly in how it relates to political unrest in the form of Anti-State Demonstrations. I find that the …

Young Brazilian Catholics Reaffiliating: A Case Study In The City Of Campos, Rj, Brazil, Cecilia L. Mariz, Wânia Amélia Belchior Mesquita, Michelle Piraciaba Araújo

Journal of Global Catholicism

Through a case study in Campos, a northern city of Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil, this article analyzes reports from young people who state that they have undergone a process of revival or reactivation of their Catholic faith. They all declared to have participated in the “St Andrew’s School of Evangelization.” They also mentioned having experienced an "encounter with God." Their narratives were similar to conversion accounts reported by practitioners of other religious traditions. The interviewees describe faith as a personal choice, and emphasize the need for religious study and the value of religious knowledge. To what extent these values …

Becoming Diaspora: A Comparative Analysis Of Palestinian Diaspora Groups In New Jersey And Lebanon, Reem Zidan Farhat

Senior Theses

This study analyses the relationship of members of the Palestinian diaspora with their host countries and how these conditions affect their relationship to their Palestinian identity. The two case studies chosen are Palestinian communities in New Jersey suburbs and the Palestinian refugees living in Lebanon. In the case of Palestinians in Lebanon, their longing for return is shaped by the fact that they are essentially foreigners in Lebanon. Despite being the third or fourth generation of Palestinians born in Lebanon, these refugees are excluded socially, economically, and politically. Thus, their connection to Palestine is tied directly to their status as …

The Great Yemeni Chess Game, John Frederick Mueller

Senior Theses

Since the establishment of a unified and internationally recognized country in 1990, Yemen and its people have struggled to reconcile their differences, leading to numerous civil wars. The most recent civil war, which officially started in 2014, has decimated the nation and its people as it continues unabated. Yemen’s geo-strategic location as well as the political and religious nature of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Iran’s rivalry has led them to back opposing sides in Yemen’s civil war. Both parties' involvement in the conflict has intensified and prolonged the fighting. As a result, Yemen’s key infrastructures, such as their …

What Does It Mean To Be Palestinian? Understanding Palestinian Identity Through Narrative: Memories And Reflections From The Diaspora, Nidalia Nazzal

Master's Theses

This research will examine narratives of Palestinian identity throughout the diaspora and how such narratives are expressed, portrayed, and remembered. Out of 103 narratives included in the book, Being Palestinian: Personal Reflections on Palestinian Identity in the Diaspora (2016), edited by Yasir Suleiman, four narratives were selected for analysis, in order to examine common themes such as: diaspora, displacement, identity, erasure, and stigmatization. The four narratives selected are written by Palestinians of various ages and professions who have been exiled to other countries; these narrative speakers, two men and two women, share their personal experiences as Palestinians and what those …

Why Did The Camel Cross The Road?: The Use Of Camel Racing And Military Pageantry In Unifying Oman Through Nationalism Racing, Elizabeth Williams

Honors Theses

In 1970, Sultan Qaboos bin Said seized power from his father Sultan Said bin Taimur in a bloodless coup with backing from the British. Prior to this, bin Taimur led with policies that left Oman open to foreign involvement and internal divisions between the interior and exterior of the country. After coming to power, Qaboos undertook several progressive policies to modernize and unite the country. This paper examines how two cultural symbols- camel racing and military pageantry- were used to develop ethnic nationalism into civic nationalism.

A City Divided: A Gis-Informed Study Of Urban Planning In Amman, Jordan, Ella Lawson

Honors Theses

Amman, the capital of Jordan, faces an impending infrastructure crisis. The city is plagued by water shortages, a lack of affordable housing, extreme traffic congestion, and dwindling open space. Over the past seventy-five years, several urban planning commissions have attempted to address these issues through policy change and other municipal directives. These plans help illustrate the different forces at play in constructing the city—whether they be the residents themselves, city officials, or international consultants. All the plans use neighborhoods as a primary metric for measuring need and organizing development. Likewise, all the plans focus on the importance of green and …

Water Elites’ Perceptions Of Water Security In The Middle East And North Africa Region, Ghaleb Akari

Dissertations

The Middle East and North African region continues to face significant water security challenges. The purpose of this dissertation is to gain a deeper understanding of water elites’ perceptions of water security in the MENA region. It is not meant to generalize the findings. Instead, the intention for the research is to identify, explain, and analyze by national elites' contrasting perceptions in Jordan, Iraq, Egypt, and Tunisia.

The study examines water elites’ perceptions in four areas: current knowledge level of water security, water resource management, water service delivery, and water-related risk mitigation. These elites’ perceptions of water security will help …

Diverging Identities: The Juxtaposition Of Palestinians In Israel And The Occupied Territories, Micah Russell

Sigma: Journal of Political and International Studies

No abstract provided.

Arabic-Speaking Students' Responses To Children's Literature About The Middle East, Amal Aldaej

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This dissertation explores a group of first and second grade (rising second and third grade) Arabic-speaking students’ responses to literature about the Middle East in an elementary public school in the northeast of the United States. It examines the students’ engagement throughout multiple contexts (grade-level classroom, English as a New Language classroom, and culturally sustaining context) across 14 months. The study’s theoretical framework included transactional theories of response (Rosenblatt, 1978), culturally sustaining pedagogy (Paris, 2012), and translanguaging (García, 2009). Through the methodology of practitioner research (Cochran-Smith & Lytle, 2009), I adopted a critical inquiry stance through being close to my …

Spatial Assessment Of Urban Growth In Cities Of The Decapolis; And The Implications For Modern Cities, Wade A. Pierson

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Levant’s Decapolis was a network of ten cities in Greco-Roman Israel, Jordan, and Syria that established a thriving economic community. The Decapolis was home to ancient and modern cities like Damascus (Dammásq) and Amman (Philadelphia). Despite the various origins of these cities, Roman administration and their city planners oversaw the implementation of idealized Roman city form throughout the region. Three Decapolis cities represent intriguing examples of the larger confederation. Philadelphia (Amman), Gerasa (Jerash), and Gadara (Umm Qais) represent cities of common original urban form which developed drastically diverse urban morphologies over time.

Spatial analyses of these cities required working …

Envisioning A New Pakistani Home: Gender, Class, And Identity In Women’S Urdu Journals, 1947-1960, Mehreen Jamal

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The women’s journals published in Urdu during the first decades of Pakistan were vital to understanding the middle-class aspirations for a new national identity, since independence raised concerns among the dutiful citizens for the reformation of the new society, particularly concerning private lives. The writers and readers of these journals belonged to a generation whose lives and ideas had been formed by the Muslim reform literature of late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. From the independence of Pakistan in 1947 to roughly the 1960s, writers in women’s journals engaged in refashioning the ideas of a new Pakistani middle-class respectability, foreseeing …

The United States And Its Coercive Democratization Attempts In Japan And Iraq, Noah Shepardson

College Honors Program

The United States engaged in coercive democratization (bringing democracy to a country via coercive measures such as occupation) endeavors in both Japan and Iraq, achieving drastically different results. The democratization of Japan is typically regarded as the gold standard of coercive democratization due to Japan’s rapid social and economic development following the United States’ occupation of the country in the years after World War II. The United States’ democratization effort in Iraq, on the other hand, has failed to create such prosperous conditions and has arguably made Iraq more unstable. This thesis seeks to identify why coercive democratization worked in …

Power Brokers: Three Revolutionaries Who Shaped Post-Revolutionary Egypt And Tunisia, Dan Harker

Sigma: Journal of Political and International Studies

No abstract provided.

Gender Equality And Democratization: How Greater Gender Equality Helps Explain Tunisian Success In The Arab Spring, Hannah Miller

Sigma: Journal of Political and International Studies

No abstract provided.

The Role Of The Kurds In U.S. Foreign Policy, Davis Mccool Iii

Honors Theses

The Kurdish people in the Middle East have played a valuable role in furthering U.S. policy interests in the region. The U.S. has aligned itself with various Kurdish groups in a series of strategic partnerships dating back to the early 1970s, yet has never considered the Kurdish nation an ally. As such, the U.S. has reneged on multiple different pacts with the Kurds and opened the door for state-sponsored conflict against a supposed ally, despite mutual interests between both groups. This thesis aimed to assign a formal role to the Kurds within U.S. foreign policy, and to analyze the function …

Honor Crimes: A Question Of Honor, Culture, And Humanity, Nadia N. Almusleh

Master's Theses

Honor crimes, femicide, domestic abuse and violence are widely prevalent in patriarchal societies. Middle Eastern cultures deeply value protecting the chastity and honor of women. The traditional images of women and the notions of honor and shame are consistently used as justifications for violence and killings. This is not attributable to a single culture or religion. It is rather a manifestation of societal norms around gender-based violence. Feminist activism against honor crimes in the Middle East within the last decade has increasingly received social media attention. However, the impact of this social media activism on government intervention has yet to …

Empowering Action Against Femicide: A Case Study Of Turkey An Integrated Literature Review, Ashley Simon

Thinking Matters Symposium

The primary purpose of this integrative literature review is to explore the relationship between culture and femicide within Turkey to empower action against femicide. Femicides within Turkey are on the rise, as a study done by Sage Journals in 2009 reported that 42% of Turkish women between the ages of 15 and 60 experienced some form of physical or sexual abuse from their husband or partner. Currently, there has been an onslaught of articles released that more and more women are being abused throughout the country during the COVID-19 pandemic. The research will explore cultural aspects that allow for women’s …

Israel's Ethnic Cleansing Of Palestinians, Bria Riepe

Showcase of Osprey Advancements in Research and Scholarship (SOARS)

The carving of Palestine to create a ‘Jewish State’, Israel, has imposed upon the Israeli and Palestinian people the necessity of separation on highly unequal terms and qualities of human existence. Since Israel’s creation, millions of Palestinians have been forcibly removed from their homes, displaced, rendered refugees, and continue to exist under severe Israeli military occupation. According to Israeli immigration laws, displaced Palestinians are prohibited from returning to their homes, joining their families in Israel or the occupied territories, and even from entering the ever-expanding borders of Israel. This has occurred alongside a high immigration rate through Israel’s Law of …

Makeshift Memory: Nostalgia As Collective Solidarity In The Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood And Post-Imperial England, Catherine White

Senior Theses

It is a deeply human experience to long for times, people, and places of the past, even pasts we ourselves did not experience. This feeling, which we most often call nostalgia (but has earned many names throughout history) has profound influence especially in how we perceive our collective histories and use these histories to guide us forward. This experience of nostalgia is the underpinning for many of our sources of solidarity (or who we feel loyal or obligated to). However, when we feel these profound connections to the distant past, we often lose the reality of that past in the …