Near and Middle Eastern Studies Commons^™

Review Of Jerusalem Stands Alone, Shahrzad Khosrowpour

Library Articles and Research

A review of Jerusalem stands alone by Mahmoud Shukair.

Are First Generation Immigrants More Inclined To Participate In Clinical Research?, Aisha Farha

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

The number of immigrants entering the United States has increased dramatically in the past 30 years, but minorities and ethnic groups are underrepresented in research studies. This study examined first- and second-generation Arab American immigrants in Dearborn, Michigan, using a survey from 65 participants to determine the impact of generation on clinical research participation. Fifty-one (78%) of the respondents were first-generation immigrants, and 14 (22%) were second generation. There was no statistical difference between first- and second-generation immigrants in their willingness to participate in clinical research. Further research with a larger and more diverse population is needed to evaluate willingness …

Educator Perspectives On Suggested Changes To The Jordanian Education System As A Result Of The Syrian Refugee Crisis, Sara Sydney Caplan

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The research investigates the question: How do teachers believe the Jordanian education system should change in order to best meet the needs of all students given the recent influx of Syrian refugees? The researcher interviewed seven teachers in Amman and Madaba, Jordan to gather qualitative data on their perspectives on the current Jordanian education system. Educators interviewed represented a vary of different school populations, grade levels, environments, resources and subject areas. Teachers interviewed and material culture demonstrated that the current education system is in need of multifaceted reform. The primary issue raised by many interviewees is enhanced discrimination and inequitable …

Evaluating The Relationship Between Conditionality And Foreign Aid Reliance, Rory Ann O'Neil

Honors Theses and Capstones

No abstract provided.

Protecting The Rights And Interests Of Sukuk Holders From The Risks Of Default/Counterparty, Bankruptcy And Shari'ah Reality, Development And Challenges (Special Attention To Saudi Arabia), Omar Aloudah

Maurer Theses and Dissertations

The Sukuk markets, including the Saudi Arabian market, involve a variety of risks, the most important of which are credit and bankruptcy risks. This relatively new industry should be responsible for protecting the interests of potential Sukuk holders, whether individuals, financial institutions or banks, from credit and bankruptcy risks in order to maintain the reputation of these Islamic investment financial instruments and to increase their pace of growth. This dissertation highlights the negative effects of default on investors in Sukuk and highlights Shari’ah restrictions on various treatment options. We aim to examine the current efforts, with special attention to the …

The Honorary White Population: Fighting For Self-Identification, Reina E. Chehayeb

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The intent of this thesis is to explore the history of classification of Arab-Americans within the United States, showcase how Arab-Americans have encountered systematic racism, and give reasons why Arab-Americans should be able to self-identify. Currently, according to the Census definition, Middle Easterners fall under the "White" category. This is a misrepresentation of Middle Easterners as they should be considered a minority in light of societal treatment and policies set forth by policy makers. Even though much research has been conducted by the Census, they have elected to withhold the Middle Eastern or North African (MENA) category from the 2020 …

Watering The Desert: Azraq, Public Opinion, And Environmental Post-Materialism, Wesley Gerard

Honors Theses

In this thesis, I analyze the physical, political, and societal transformations in Azraq, Jordan, caused by over-exploitation of the town’s aquifer. I also connect the changes I and others have observed in Azraq to two main theories: postmaterialism and its counterarguments, and the tragedy of the commons. In short, postmaterialism argues that societies that have advanced so that citizens do not have to devote their time and money to survival will have larger rates of environmentalism; the tragedy of the commons details the negative consequences of environmental degradation on those living around a common resource. In conducting the study, I …

Effect Of Religious Legislation On Religious Behavior: The Ramadan Fast, Hannah M. Ridge

Political Science Faculty Articles and Research

State laws compelling citizens to comply with elements of religious law – also known as religious legislation – are globally pervasive. Previous research has well documented the incidence of myriad examples of religious legislation. These laws’ practical effect on citizens’ behavior, however, has been less examined. This article looks at the effect of one piece of religious legislation: state laws enforcing the Ramadan fast. It demonstrates that the use of state power to sanction violations of religious law significantly increases citizens’ compliance with this religious law.

Sons Of The Sāqiya: Grassroots Water Politics In Southeastern Morocco, John Chappell

Honors Theses

This study examines the informal institutions that govern the sāqiya and khettāra irrigation system in southeastern Morocco. I frame those institutions using literature concerning politics of irrigation, governing the commons, and North African political culture. While interviewing farmers in agricultural communities near the Morocco-Algeria border, five themes emerged as key aspects of sāqiya and khettāra governance: the definitions of irrigation communities, the methods of water distribution, the institutions for selecting leaders, and those leaders’ authorities and responsibilities. Institutional arrangements and management practices associated with those themes show that sāqiya and khettāra governance is rooted in the democratic values of consensus …

Nationalism And Multi-Dimensional Identities: Ba'ath Propaganda During The Iran-Iraq War, Jennie Matuschak

Honors Theses

In this thesis, I examine the content of and mechanisms of disseminating propaganda originating from Saddam Hussein’s regime during the Iran-Iraq War. This research specifically looks at how and why the regime targeted Iraqi Shi’as during the war, and how that contributed to the ways in which the regime engaged with rhetoric. Moreover, this thesis attempts to make sense of the diverse, and sometimes seemingly opposing, amalgam of the rhetoric’s subject matter and methods of circulation. More broadly, it speaks to the difficulty of fostering an environment that can produce patriotism and lead to the construction of a strong national …

Commodity Fetishism And Performative Identity: Studying The Effects Of Neoliberal Reform On The Work Of Non-Governmental Organizations In Cairo, Cynthia N. Bauer

Honors Theses

This paper explores the economic dimension of identity politics, exemplified in the case study of the NGO Safarni in Cairo, Egypt. In doing so, I argue that neoliberal economic reform has led to an expansion of the capitalist mindset to include new subjectivities, one of which is the categorization of identity. By teaching values of "diversity" and "openness," and getting significant international funding to do so, Safarni is participating in a system that is creating a new type of labor and laborer, and where this labor is one in which the self objectifies itself.

The Holy See And The Syrian Refugee Crisis: A Study Of The Catholic Church's Soft Power, Lauren A. Newman

Honors Theses

The Syrian Migrant and Refugee Crisis has created 5.6 million refugees who have fled outside of Syria and 6.1 million internally displaced peoples within Syria. Undoubtedly, it is one of the largest humanitarian crises of the modern day. The Catholic Church joins governments and NGOs in responding to the conflict, but modern scholarship has not focused heavily on its role. This paper seeks to investigate how the Catholic Church interacts in the secular field of international relations by looking at its response to the Syrian Migrant and Refugee Crisis. In order to analyze the Church’s response, this paper looks at …

Review Of The Perception Of Meaning, Shahrzad Khosrowpour

Library Articles and Research

A review of The Perception of Meaning by Hisham Bustani.

Review Of The Red Hijab, Shahrzad Khosrowpour

Library Articles and Research

A review of The Red Hijab by Bonnie Bolling.

La Modernité Tunisienne Dévoilée : Une Étude Autour De La Femme Célibataire, Madison Wagner

Scripps Senior Theses

This thesis explains recent accounts of discrimination and cutbacks in reproductive health spaces in Tunisia. Complicating dominant analyses, which attribute these events to the post-revolution political atmosphere which has allowed the proliferation of islamic extremism, I interpret these instances as a manifestation of a deeply rooted stigma against sexually active single women. I trace this stigma’s inception to the contradictory way that Habib Bourguiba conceptualized modernity after independence, and the responsibility he assigned to Tunisian women to embody that modernity. This responsibility remains salient today, and is putting Tunisian women in an increasingly untenable and vulnerable position.

After independence, Bourguiba …

Renewables & Refugees: A Solution For Jordan, Lauren Burns

Honors Theses

As the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan continues to host the third largest Syrian refugee population in the world, the state’s infrastructure and its people are taking a toll. Before the war in Syria began, Jordan was already suffering from a weak economy, resource scarcity, and an enormous population boom. Since accepting nearly 2.5 million refugees, these issues have compounded year after year—nearly reaching a breaking point. I propose an unconventional solution to some aspects of the refugee crisis: renewable energy. Renewables are cheaper than fossil fuels, consume less water in electricity generation, emit fewer greenhouse gases, and promote job creation …

A Comparative Analysis On Output Gap - Inflation Relation: The New Keynesian Approach, Oladimeji Tomiwa Shodipe

Masters Theses

The thrust of this research paper is to examine the inflation information that is contained in the output gap using the New Keynesian Phillips Curve framework. As informed by the model, the study also sets to investigate inflation persistence and the influence of forward inertia on the current inflation. This paper follows the Gali and Monacelli (2005) of the small open-economy type of model. However, the current study differs by introducing external factors (trade and real exchange rate) not only on the hybrid model, also on the backward, forward and the hybrid restricted models for time-series data (1971-2017) of all …

Refugees From Syria Caught Between War And Borders: A Journey Towards Protection, Maissaa Almustafa

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This dissertation examines the global crisis of protection through the lens of the Syrian refugee crisis and the particular experiences of refugees’ journeys to Sweden.

In doing so, the dissertation challenges the dominant narratives that represent refugees either as victims who deserve aid in their regions, or as threats when they exert their agency and journey towards the global north. In the same vein, the dissertation problematizes the dominant narrative of the “European crisis of migration” and proposes that the “unauthorized” arrivals of refugees in Europe are reflections of a global crisis of protection, a crisis that develops as a …

Terrorism In The Middle East: Implications On Egyptian Travel And Tourism, Tamer Z.F Mohamed, Tamer S. Elseyoufi

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

This paper attempts to shed the light on challenging issues affecting travel and tourism industry especially in the Middle East such as political, socio-economic and security instability. Due to its geopolitical and historical importance, the paper focuses on the situation in Egypt as a descriptive case study. The methodology relies on historical review and impact assessment to understand the roots and extended branches of instability in the Middle East that led to the Arab Spring, by focusing on the Egyptian case in the last half century. The assessment explains the negative effect of Western and Egyptian policy on extending the …

Islam & Interfaith Dialogue: Innovative Diplomacy Between The United States And Islamic Republic Of Iran, Kristyn Rohrer

Honors Student Research

This meta-communicative study provides an analysis of global interfaith dialogue as it pertains to peace and conflict, with a primary focus on Islam. The Islamic Republic of Iran and United States have a complicated history. Their diplomatic relationship is rife with manipulation, radicalism, and a disregard for human dignity. Currently, the US is imposing hundreds of sanctions and restrictions on Iran, from nuclear energy to medicine, as a result of President Trump’s decision to back out of the Iran Deal. However, other forms of dialogue are affecting positive relations between the two countries. Interfaith dialogue between North American Mennonites and …