Middle East Studies Senior Capstone Research and Class Projects
Capstone Research
Each Middle East Studies major is required to write a capstone research paper to demonstrate the ability to synthesize and apply the skills and knowledge gained from courses across the curriculum. Below are the titles of these projects from the past several years.
2018:
McKinley Knoop: Nationalizing Iran: Secularization and Zoroastrianism under Reza Shah
Marcus Robinson: Madhahib: A Case Study of Gulf Legal Systems
Sarah Sloan: Moroccan Exceptionalism? From secularization to Islamization
2015:
Virginia Cady: American Foreign Policy in the Middle East: Domestic Concerns or Strategic Interests? The Cases of Iraq, Egypt and Saudi Arabia
Jessica Lowenstein: Language Policts and Identity in Morocco
Mu Mu: Jerusalem Besieged
Huy-Liem Nguyen: War and the Environment: The Iraqi Marshlands and the Ma'dan
Katherine Welch: Film in Contemporary Iran
2014:
Chris Barber: Ibadism in Modern Oman
Travis Mable: Al Su Saidi Political Development in Oman and the British Empire
Chase Philpot: Negotiating Pan-Slavism, Hellenism, and Ottomanism: The Emergence of a Modern Bulgarian National Identity, 1820-1878
Douglas Swift: When Costs Outweigh the Benefits: The Negative Effect of the JNF's Blueprint Negev on Israel's Bedouin Population
Zoe Thrumston: Constructed Memories of the Jewish Diaspora in the Middle East and North Africa
2013:
Charlie Carroll: Education in the Arab World fails to unify societies, legitimize national narratives, and create a
national identity
Giancarlo Duffy: Piracy, Slavery, Tribute and War: The Restructure of the Barbary States' Economies and their Downfalls
Alexander D. Egner: The Stability Effects of Religious Minorities: Seven Case Studies on the Middle East
Megan Franco: Palestinian effect on Host States Syria, Lebanon and Jordan, 1948-1994
Sara Markowitz: Shared Water Resources in the Arab-Israeli Conflict
Christopher Patrick: Shiite Politics in Iraq: Part Institutionalization and the 2009 Provincial Elections
Noah Segal: Adaptable Monarchies: Morocco and Jordan
2012:
James Franklin: The Lernaean Hydra: Corruption, Conflict and Crime
Sara Hatch: Jordan and the Arab Spring
Adam Itkoff: New Media and Arab Uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt
Terri Soifer: Iranian Jewish Identity in Relation to the History of Modern Day Iran
Zachary Steinborn: Saving the Sick Man: The Cause of the Crimean War
2011:
Nadia ElFallah: Examination of Libyan Nationalism under Muammar Gaddafi (1969-Present)
Sara Glas: Royalist Islam and the Future of Moroccan Democracy
Monica Grandy: Belly Dance as an American Phenomenon
Jacob Grossman: Maimonides’ Epistle to Yemen: A Reading Employing the Cairo Geniza Documents and Max Weber’s Theory of Legitimacy
Anum Khan: Travel and Tourism to Israel
Emily "Katie" Kiraly: “Gs up along with Muhammad and Jesus”: Images of Islam in American Hip-Hop
Alexander Leese: Nationalism and its Effects on Religious Minorities: A Comparison of the Ahmadis of Pakistan and the Alevis of Turkey
Sean Lyness: Tradition in Transition: The Egyptian Film Industry and the State
Ian Mandell: Zionist Insurgency and the British Withdrawal from Palestine
Max Paschall: Tunisia 1970-2011: State, Media, and Economy in Revolution
Media Arabic Project
Professor Naima Bary's fall 2010 Media Arabic Class 360-01 class produced Aswaatna, a magazine in Arabic. The course exposed students to media in the Arab World, and focused on mastering basic vocabulary commonly used in Arab print and electronic media. The course explored a variety of media, its representations, and its role in shaping Arab thought.
Aswaatna, Media Arabic magazine