For diasporic communities created through violence or forcible resettlement, home transcends physical boundaries and becomes a blend of past experience and future imagination. Iranians displaced after the 1979 Revolution have imagined home through various cultural mediums, such as, television, film, and literature. Three cultural texts produced by Iranian women, (Persepolis, Shahs of Sunset, and A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night), in particular, offer illuminating glimpses into the diaspora experience. From the perspectives of female protagonists, these works illustrate isolation from the past and present that define the exile condition. I propose to read the aforementioned works more critically to show that despite their portrayal of diverse diaspora life experiences, the diaspora paradigm reduces these experiences to a figurative return to the homeland through constructing their own ‘homes,’ some more romantic, retrospective and segmented than others, that complicate the usefulness of the diaspora paradigm of cultural analysis as a monolithic and homogenous experience. I argue that the diaspora paradigm, by offering a highly romanticized understanding of home and foreign land, flattens the diversity of identity and experience. Furthermore, the diaspora paradigm denies the role of intersection of class and gender on the lived experiences of the actual diaspora population. Through an alternative reading of these texts, I hope to challenge the prevalent paradigm through which Iranian diaspora identity is understood. I focus on autobiographical textual trends as a method of story-telling and self-formation, comparing this narrative structure to the theory of identity as ‘infinitely postponed’ in exile. I specifically highlight crucial interactions of local and global forces that shape diaspora experiences otherwise elided in the existing scholarship, complicating romantic understandings of both home and abroad.

This paper examines Coptic participation the 2011 Egyptian Revolution and how such involvement has impacted their marginalization today. The general discourse of the 2011 Egyptian revolution split society into two camps—revolutionary and proregime, erasing the nuances existing during this complicated time. In focusing on the Coptic community, I challenge this simple bifurcation of society and highlight the role of history and ingrained tradition in shaping political participation. Social movement provides the theoretical framework surrounding Coptic participation in the 18 days of the revolution. Specifically, I look at structural strain, collective active, and resource mobilization paradigms to understand events during the revolution? then, I view the postrevolution period from President Hosni Mubarak’s resignation to 2015 in relation to social and political liberalization. To see the manifestations of such theories, I analyze speeches by Coptic officials, Coptic revolutionaries, and government officials, as well as newsletters distributed by the clergy, data gathered by multiple think tanks, alternative and government supported news outlets, and pieces of legislation. One cannot accurately assess the impact of the revolution on Egypt without addressing the nuances in Egyptian society? for without mentioning these complexities, the research falls into the orientalist trap of homogenizing an entire society. Historically, Copts held a unique position within Egyptian society, and decontextualizing their role in current politics not only erases those experiences, but also prevents honest confrontation of the obstacles in creating a more democratic and inclusive Egypt.

Since 1984, violence between the secessionist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the Turkish state has claimed more than 40,000 lives. In 2016 this violence has significantly worsened, causing the number of Kurdish youth who seek retribution for the destruction of their homes via violent retaliation to skyrocket. Because ceasefires between the PKK and the government continue to fail, it becomes clear that this conflict will not end without a restructuring of the very core of the Kurdish-majority southeast. Political scientist Dawn Brancati shows that decentralization and expanded local governance have facilitated peace and dampened calls for secession in many democracies throughout the world with regionally concentrated ethnic minorities; the historic 12% of votes (fourth overall) won by the pro-decentralization Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP) in the 2015 parliamentary elections demonstrates the increasing support for this solution among Kurdish and non-Kurdish Turks. To this end, my paper examines what federal powers could be decentralized to increase local Kurdish autonomy. To accomplish this I examine case studies of political decentralization in countries with regionally concentrated minorities and secessionist movements like Turkey, including Northern Ireland, Scotland, Indonesia, and Spain. As a way to investigate further mechanisms to facilitate peace, I also explore reforms to Turkey’s education system, focusing on a dual-language Kurdish-Turkish educational program. To do this, I evaluate case studies of countries with similar education systems to Turkey, including India, Spain, and Sri Lanka.

Recent developments in the study of world literature have adopted Wallerstein's world systems theory of “cores” and “peripheries” in an attempt to characterize the movement of and interaction between national literatures across geographical boundaries. Initially proposed by Franco Moretti in his "Conjectures on World Literature", this theory has formed the basis for many arguments involving the dependence of literary interactions on historically grounded power relationships. Though seemingly constructive and all-encompassing, the world systems theory explicitly disregards—and even assumes the absence of—a whole set of literary interactions between nations which are deemed to belong to the “periphery”. This essay examines the assumptions of the world systems theory and questions its validity as an overarching framework for understanding the operation of world literature. By studying the narrative construction and thematic elements of two folk narratives from distinct oral traditions—in particular, the Moro folk story “The Mythology of Mindanao” and The Thousand and One Nights’ orphan tale "The Story of Sinbad the Sailor”—this essay presents a case for the direct historical intersection between the national literatures of the Philippines and the Middle East. The existence of this direct literary interaction between so-called "peripheral" nations renders the core-periphery dichotomy, and hence the world systems theory as a whole, inadequate. In its stead, this essay proposes that the uniqueness of individual national literatures—ones which may be grounded in more universal notions of genre—must be acknowledged, and direct interactions between these literatures should not be deemed completely nonexistent in the face of more dominant literary traditions.

As part of my senior capstone project in 2016-17, I intend to research the history and current state of leftist movements in the Gulf through a case study of the leftist organisation ‘the Kuwaiti Progressive Movement’ (KPM) which was established in 2011. There has been little previous literature in English on leftist movements in the Gulf. I hope to fill some of this gap through a study of KPM, and their position within a history of continuous political struggle in the Gulf since the emergence of nation states in the region. I have received a research grant from NYU Abu Dhabi, and an offer to stay with Centre Français d'Archéologie et de Sciences Sociales in Kuwait, which will allow me to conduct research in Kuwait City throughout July and August. There I will examine the demography and extent of support of leftist movements in Kuwait historically and post 2011, the party’s historical and contemporary relationship with international solidarity movements, and its cooperation with sister organizations across borders. I will moreover study the organization’s intellectual and ideological history by identifying the strands of Marxist ideologies it draws on, and how it conceptualizes its own history in relation to leftist movements in neighboring countries and in a global context. Finally, and focusing on the Arab Spring, I will enquire into how KPM situates itself in relation to the popular protests across the region in 2011, the impact these have had on the party, and on politics in Kuwait since. Throughout my research I will be in direct contact with the KPM, the Kuwait Trade Union Federation and members of leftist movements from the 50s and up until today. I will conduct interviews and ethnographic field research with party members, and follow their publications online. I also hope to access archival material of leftist newspaper publications since the 1950s. Social media and current newspapers will be useful to follow the latest political developments and contestations in the country.

The Syrian Civil War has been characterized by fragmentation, leading to the creation of various institutions and actors. On one level, there is a conglomeration of armed opposition groups vying for territory and control through both military means and governance. On another level, there are different institutions within Syrian Civil Society attempting to provide services and raise awareness for different issues through non-violent means. While these two different actors are both engaging in the same conflict landscape, civil society organizations and armed groups have emerged as different, parallel authorities. This research seeks to explore the dynamic between these two different actors. With both of these actors operating within the same geographic space and political climate, this begs the question of why have civil society organizations and armed opposition groups not coalesced, but rather operated as parallel authorities? This research seeks to understand the agency of these two different oppositional authorities as well as how they have remained separate entities. This paper argues that civil society and armed opposition derive their authority from different factors which provides for legitimacy in different spheres. The research draws on both academic sources, popular literature, and social media to determine differentiating factors between civil society organizations and armed opposition groups such as social bases, sources of support, funding, relations with other oppositional groups, and pre-war networks. This research provides insight into the agency of both civil society and armed groups within the Syrian context as well as how these two different actors interact within the conflict landscape.

In 2009 U.S. Marines trapped Taliban fighters in a residential compound and persuaded the insurgents to allow civilians to leave. Two groups of children and what appeared to be women left and the Marines then entered the compound to find that the insurgents had escaped. The insurgents had taken advantage of Afghani cultural boundaries that prohibited male soldiers from interacting with Afghani women and had escaped wearing burkas. This incident revealed that the U.S. military lacked access to half of the population, a security risk it could not ignore. In response, it created Female Engagement Teams (FETs) that could access and build relationships with the women of Afghanistan. This paper critically evaluates the success and impact of FETs and speculates about their future in light of the recent opening of combat positions to women. It relies on internal Army studies and interviews with key officials to evaluate the program in the context of the Army’s counterinsurgency doctrine. Additionally, this paper makes use of newspaper articles and FET after action reports to determine Afghani reception to FET initiatives. FET results varied greatly by command, region, and specific teams and were used as information collection assets, a significant departure from their original intent. Although military policy forbade FETs from gathering intelligence, some commanders expected them to do just that, a decision that compromised their ability to gain the trust of Afghani women. While some Afghani women were accessed they were not equally impacted. The aim of the Army, to have a valuable presence in the women’s sphere of Afghani society, was not fully actualized. Be that as it may, the Army and some communities recognized that Afghani women have agency, showing tangible results.

Gender is an essential piece of the complicated web of humanitarian action in wartime because war itself is both intricately gendered and has a tangible impact on gender. Although aid agencies, in particular World Food Program (WFP) and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), have included gender and gender equality in their purviews for development, the definitions of gender vary between organizations and such variance causes a lack of accountability for gender in aid programs, institutionalized gendered assumptions about aid recipients, and discrepancies on other terms such as vulnerability, empowerment, and dignity. Therefore, through WFP and UNHCR reports, policies, and evaluations, I aim to analyze how aid organizations definitions of gender have led to gendered assumptions that may ultimately impact Syrian refugees receiving WFP food assistance in Za’atari refugee camp in Jordan.

Many states have responded to the 2011-2015 Syrian refugee crisis by labeling Syrians as security threats, linking refugees with involvement in civil war and threats of terrorism. By approaching refugee crises as a national security issue, states can justify restrictive refugee policies that prevent refugees from accessing aid or basic services. This paper evaluates Jordan as a case study to examine the impacts of securitized refugee policies on aid agencies’ ability to promote human security. In Jordan, a state hosting a high number of refugees relative to its population, INGOs and the UNHCR have a complex role in formulating refugee policy, where state securitization directly intervenes with their work. Responding to literature about conflicting priorities and policy dilemmas for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), this paper identifies specific instances of conflicting norms that arise for UNHCR and other refugee protection INGOs as a result of securitized refugee policies. Based on interviews with UNHCR and INGO policy officials conducted in 2016 and other primary sources, it examines dilemmas in refugee policy with regard to refugees living with Jordan and their rights and access to services. Secondly, this paper evaluates aid agencies’ response and advocacy around the “berm,” Jordan’s border with Syria where thousands of refugees live without access to aid. This paper shows that state securitization of refugees negatively impacts refugee protection and suggests that the resulting human insecurity has consequences for national security and stability. Finally, it argues that a human security approach could allow UNHCR and aid agencies to advocate more effectively, and that refugee protection and security (holistically understood) are complementary rather than conflicting concepts.

How did the theological beliefs of early Arabic philologists shape Arabic linguistic theory in the classical Arabic linguistic tradition? I explore the application of kalam and the usul al-fiqh to Arabic linguistic theory, using Ibn Jinni (d. 392/1002)’s theory of al-ishtiqaq al-kabir as a central case study. Ibn Jinni’s Khasais, which discusses Ibn Jinni’s theory of al-ishtiqaq al-kabir, will be the primary text of this study. The Khasais is one of the most compendious texts in the field of general theory (‘usul) of Arabic language, the study of the special characteristics of Arabic. The non-universalist approach of Arabic grammar and its theological basis lay at the heart of the field of ‘usul, in which Arabic philologists projected their ideas of Divine wisdom onto Arabic linguistic theory. The theological debate surrounding the origin of Arabic language also affected linguistic theory due to the varying philological interpretations of the divine nature of language. The secondary literature of contemporary scholars in the field of Arabic linguistics and its intersection between Islamic theology such as Kees Versteegh, Jonathan Owens, and Bernard Weiss are foundational to the analysis of the primary texts of Ibn Jinni and his contemporaries, many of whom opposed Ibn Jinni’s theory with theological reasoning. Theological concerns were based on the compatibility of Arabic linguistic theory with Divine wisdom, including the application of qiyas and the issue of istinbat (invention). Examining the texts of Ibn Jinni and other early Arabic philologists in the field of ‘usul, I will investigate the application of kalam to Arabic linguistics to explore the “divinity” of Arabic language as seen by early Arabic philologists during the most formative centuries of kalam.

In my research, I was interested in seeing how businesses and visitors make use of social media in distinct neighborhoods of Amman. My research was conducted solely through the Internet. I collected as much relevant information as I could online, which comprised of images, videos, and text. Aspects of interest included the demographics of visitors, menus, reviews, and the language being used in captions. My research suggests that depending upon where one is and the type of establishment being observed, the more different the emphasis is placed on social media usage for informational purposes. With a medium for people to speak about these places online, valuable qualitative information can be gathered about public arenas, which is an important part of Arab culture. I learned about the performance, power and the need for social media for businesses and people alike to communicate in Amman.

This research will look at the UAE Tarbiya Wataniya, or National Social Studies (NSS) K-12 textbooks and curriculum, as a window on the processes the Emirati government employs to create national identity while contributing to developing students’ historical consciousness in a country where citizens are a minority. The NSS program is part of the Ministry of Education (MoE)’s core curriculum and is taught to students, regardless of nationality in both public and private institutions. Since near 90% of UAE residents are non-citizens, the study of the NSS curriculum is key to understanding how the authorities engage with this extraordinary demographic reality. The analysis will contribute to research on governmental efforts to employ pedagogy to spread a normative historical narrative and specific worldview to both Emiratis and non-nationals. The study situates itself within larger debates over collective memory as well as on the processes of national identity formation, multicultural coexistence and heritage preservation across the GCC and in the UAE more specifically. Considering the current public debate on the presence of expatriate communities in the UAE, I will be reviewing K-12 textbooks looking for references to forms of inclusion and exclusion of particular national, linguistic and/or racial communities. In addition to conducting a close reading of the textbooks, I will interview in the early fall 2016 MoE employees involved in the development of the NSS curriculum in parallel to reviewing MoE reports. I will also interview NSS teachers to gain a general understanding of the ways they tailor their teaching and engage with students. Finally, in order to obtain qualitative data on the reception of the NSS curriculum as a form public discourse, I will interview both Emirati and foreign students to discuss their perspective on how the program shaped their individual sense of historical consciousness and nationalist forms of belonging.

Since Islam established a foothold in the entrepôts of Southeast Asia in the early days of the ‘Abb?sid Caliphate, traders, travellers, and envoys from the Middle East have consistently referred to Southeast Asia as the lands ‘Below the Winds’. The region has always been defined in the lexicons of the Arab and the Persian by the monsoon winds that brought prized commodities, from spices to Chinese porcelains, to the central lands of Islam. How, then, did Arabs and Persians think beyond economic terms about their coreligionists in these distant lands? This paper attempts to answer this question by examining sources from the Early Modern Period, or the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries CE, a historical moment marked by the rapid Islamization of Southeast Asia. One might expect for the expanding reach of the umma to be a cause of celebration among Arab and Persian writers. The converse, however, is attested in the scant historical record of non-commercial documents, consisting of Arabic navigational treatises by Shih?b al-D?n A?mad ibn M?jid and Sulaym?n ibn A?mad al-Mahr?, and of a Persian-language Safavid embassy travelogue by Mo?ammad Rabi‘ ebn Mo?ammad Ebr?him entitled Safine-ye Solaym?ni. What becomes apparent through a critical reading of these sources is that even though Southeast Asian Muslims were attempting to engage with broader Islamic conversations that emanated from the west, the Muslims of the heartland rarely integrated their coreligionists into their mental topographies of the umma. While the quantity of primary sources is insufficient to make definitive claims about the reasons for this phenomenon, this paper suggests, given the rivalries between the Sunni Ottoman Empire and the Twelver Sh?‘? ?afavid Empire, that most Muslims of the west were preoccupied with doctrinal difference, and seem unlikely to have had a broader consciousness of the possibilities of a global umma.

This research project looks at how does transnational LGBT+ advocacy from local NGOs in Lebanon, Egypt and Iran translate the global governance mechanisms into their corresponding national legislations. I argue that the pressure from these mechanisms is reflected in coercitive laws of a securitized state that lead LGBT+ activists towards a locally designed advocacy that intersect wider struggles of these queered subjects. The boomerang effect, as understood in transnational advocacy networks theory, has a negative impact on the recognition of LGBT+ rights, but it varies according to each government’s politics on sex and gender nonconformism: total backlash in Iran, a visible coercion in Egypt, and a moderate one in Lebanon. I bring into conversation Transnational, Global and Gender studies with International Relations and Anthropology to produce a thesis on transnational LGBT+ activism in MENA. Notions of transnational advocacy networks that structure my analysis are indebted to Margaret E. Keck y Kathryn Sikkink’s theory of the boomerang effect. They interact with the notion of “activism from the closet”, named by Hassan elMenyawi, as well as Paul Amar’s “humansecurity state”,when referring to governance mechanisms. I extend my study from the Queen Boat incident (2001) until 2015, a year after the Beyond 2014 Plan of Action from the Cairo Conference. In this three levelled analysis I compare 3 countries’ legislations, 3 NGOs and 2 global governance mechanisms, to exemplify my argument, without excluding significant cases from the local, national and international scenarios. I have special interest on Helem, the Egyptian Initiative of Personal Rights and the Iranian Queer Organization. From the global governance system, I refer to the Action Plan from the Cairo Conference and the Universal Periodic Review from the UNHRC. The national legislations I focus on target sexual and gender nonconformism, specially found in the penal codes.

In 2015, the municipality of Dubai announced the initiation of a standardization process for the city’s grocery stores or baqalas, citing the need to modernize the city space. Dubai’s Department of Economic Development stated that the baqalas are no longer suitable for the city’s standards of living. In brief, this plan would involve replacing Dubai’s grocery stores with franchises of the multinational giant 7-eleven. Since no comment has been made about the affects of 7-eleven’s entry to the market on the small grocery stores, my research attempts to look at the potential relationship between these two phenomena. Dotting Dubai’s low and middle-income towns, the baqalas are small stores, usually staffed by Southeast Asian or Persian men. They often cater to residents’ day-to-day needs, creating bonds within these communities. My imminent research hopes to analyze the role of the baqala within these towns, and the potential effects of standardization on the towns’ residents. In an attempt to answer this question, my research uses the lens of urban studies, specifically to understand the roles of these baqalas as a space of public encounters. My methodology involves a combination of historicizing baqalas within the city’s recent history of urban development and conducting ethnographic research of some of these baqalas. I intend to interview city planners to locate the baqala within Dubai’s development plans. In terms of historicizing the baqala as part of the city’s recent urban development, I attempt to locate the baqala in recent historical narratives around Dubai. Conducting ethnographic research in a number of baqalas, I intend to observe the baqala and document its relationship to residential communities. As these baqalas are experiencing significant changes, it is important to archive their histories to further grasp the potential effects of standardization on Dubai’s communities.