Faculty News

Associate Professor Fida Adely published a peer-reviewed article with three undergraduate research assistants: BSFS Scholars Ankushi Mitra and Menatalla Mohamed, and Mortara Fellow Adam Shaham. The article, “Poor education, unemployment and the promise of skills: The hegemony of the “skills mismatch” discourse,” appeared in the April issue of the International Journal of Educational Development.

In December, Associate Professor Marwa Daoudy published a report with the Century Foundation titled “Syria’s Human Security is Inseparable from Its Environmental Security.” In April, she moderated the event “MENA Forum: The Syrian Uprising, 10 Years Later: A Decade of Resilience” in conversation with Omar Alshogre, who was formerly detained and tortured in Syria and is currently a Georgetown student. This semester Dr. Daoudy gave talks on her book The Origins of the Syrian Conflict: Climate Change and Human Security (Cambridge University Press, 2020) at Princeton University and at the Department of Political Science and International Relations, State University of New York. Her book was a co-winner of the 2021 Harold and Margaret Sprout Award, which is awarded annually by the International Studies Association’s Environmental Studies Section for the best book in environmental politics.

Associate Professor Rochelle Davis taught two classes this spring. The first was a new course, “Cultural Heritage and Conflict in the Middle East and North Africa,” and featured three alumni guest speakers, who joined the class via Zoom. The second was “Introduction to the Study of the Arab World,” a requirement for first-year MAAS students, which she co-taught with Dr. Fida Adely. Due to a lack of access to library resources, Davis and Adely pioneered a new

Left: Dr. Daoudy being honored at the virtual ceremony for the Harold and Margaret Sprout Book Award; Above: Professors Adely and Davis with students from their class “Introduction to the Study of the Arab World”

assignment for students to write biographies and comparison papers examining intellectuals from or living in the Arab world. Dr. Davis also continued her work with the International Organization for Migration on a longitudinal study of 3,852 Iraqi families displaced by ISIS. The interview accounts of these Iraqi families who have endured displacement and political corruption, and are now enduring COVID-related illnesses, deaths, and economic devastation (again) are painful and heartbreaking. The team is preparing a website to share five rounds of data and other materials that will launch this spring.

During the spring semester, Adjunct Associate Professor Noureddine Jebnoun taught the new course “Contentions Politics and Activism in the Arab World,” which focused on human agency, bottom-up politics, and non-institutionalized forces and spaces under the level of the state. Dr. Jebnoun is currently working on projects related to the impact of U.S. security assistance on democratizing Tunisia and to the reliance of some Arab states on private military, including non-citizen soldiers, military/security contractors, and mercenaries.

This spring, Professor and CCAS Director Joseph Sassoon gave talks at Brandeis University, Georgetown’s History Faculty, and Georgetown’s Center for Jewish Civilization on research conducted for his forthcoming book The Global Merchants. He also taught a new course this year for students of the new undergraduate degree in International Business, which is a joint venture of the School of Foreign Service and the Business School. The course, “A History of Family Businesses,” dealt with ten global dynasties and the factors behind the rise or demise of these dynasties. In early June, Prof. Sassoon spoke at the Wilson Center panel “Challenging the Norms of Warfare: Historical Perspectives from Yemen and Iraq.” MAAS alum Michael Brill was also a speaker at the event. ◆

STAFF NEWS

CCAS Education Outreach Director Honored by School Board

Congratulations to CCAS Education Outreach Director and MAAS alum Dr. Susan Douglass, who is a recipient of Montgomery County Board of Education’s 24th Annual Award for Distinguished Service to Public Education. The awards are given by the Board of Education to recognize and show appreciation for exemplary contributions to public education. Dr. Douglass organizes and leads teacher workshops and professional development programs for educators in the public school systems of the greater Washington DC metro area, including Montgomery County, Maryland, and beyond. She graduated from the MAAS program in 1993.