Research

Arab Studies students are frequently publishing articles, book reviews, translations, and conducting research. Here are some recent examples (listed alphabetically by student last name).

Recently Published Students & Alumni

Sophia Nissler '21

• "Escape to Germany in Syrian Television Drama: From Cross-Cultural Gender Constructions to Transnational Tropes of Masculinity and Homeland" by Rebecca Joubin and Sophia Nissler in The Middle East Journal

Hayden Bates '17

• "Growing Up in Wartime: Images of Refugee Children's Education in Syrian Television Drama" by Hayden Bates and Rebecca Joubin in Middle East Report 278 (Spring 2016)

Noah Bricker '14

• "Searching for Home" a review of Spared by Angele Ellis, in Al Jadid
• "Women of Letters Key Players in Iran's Social Revolution," a review of Words, Not Swords by Farzaneh Milani, in Al Jadid

Catherine Cartier '20

• "Locals lobby to keep their valley green in South Lebanon" in Al-Monitor
• "The Copper Castle" in Syria Untold
• "The Storytellers of Syria: Displaced women keep tradition and history alive with folktales" in The New Arab
• "Psychologically healing people with art': Lebanese artist Bilal al-Zain hopes to spread positivity with calligraphy" in The New Arab
• "After civil war and economic chaos, Tajikistan’s young innovators are rebuilding their cultural legacy" in The Calvert Journal
• "The Art of Speaking: Oral Storytelling Among Syrians in Jordan" in Al Noor

Zakiyyah Chism '18

• "Uber Faces New Challenges Across Global Markets" in U.S. News & World Report

Beau Clark '13

• "Book Examines Petro-Dollar Paradox" -  a review of The Violence of Petro-Dollar Regimes: Algeria, Iraq, and Libya by Luis Marinez, in Al Jadid
• "Interview with David Fedele on his film on Sub-Saharan migrants in Morocco" in Morocco World News
• "Using Popular Media to Narrate the History of Africa" in Morocco World News
• "Yassine Jarram presents Moroccans of the World" in Morocco World News

Paige Donnelly '14

• “Un-dividing West and East” - a review of So That the Poem Remains by B Youssef Abdul Samad, in Al Jadid
• "The Legacy of a Martyr" in Al Jadid
• "Faces, Conversations, and Comaraderie in the Egyptian Revolution" in Al Jadid
• Tashriqa "Prayers for Homs" by Faraj Bayrakdar in Al Jadid
• Tashriqa: Prayer for Homs (PDF) by Faraj Bayrakdar in Syria Speaks: Art and Culture from the Frontline, edited by Malu Halasa, Zaher Omareen & Nawara Mahfoud

Alexandra Francis '12

• "South Korea's Search for Nuclear Sovereignty" reviewed by Alexandra Francis and Toby Dalton in Asia Policy 19 (January 2015)
• "Jordan's Refugee Crisis (PDF)" in Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (September 2015)

Austin Gray '16

• "Pop Culture and Political Critique in Syria (PDF)" in The Boston College Undergraduate Middle Eastern Studies Journal,Volume 10, Issue 1, Fall 2016.

Anna Van Hollen '12

• Awarded prize by Society of Professional Journalists for outstanding reporting
• "The Green Intifada: How Palestinians Resist Occupation by Planting Trees" in The Atlantic

Anmar Jerjees '18

• "The Reality of Oppression: Working with Syrian and Iraqi Refugees in Bulgaria" in Change-Magazine

Stephen James Kalin '09

• "Survivors say Iraqi forces watched as Shi'ite militias executed 72 Sunnis" for Reuters, Jan. 28, 2015
• "A trench in Iraq exacerbates Sunni fears of sectarian partition" for Reuters, Feb. 18, 2015

Lauren Khater '12

• "'Temporal Template': Tool for Western Hegemony" - a review of The Clash of Modernities by Khaldoun Samman, in Al Jadid
• "Anthony Shadid's 'House of Stone' or the Return to the Roots" by Elie Haddad (translation) in Al Jadid
• "Fragments of Love and Loneliness: Adania Shibli's New Novel" - a review of We Are All Equally Far From Love by Adania Shibli, in Al Jadid
• "Is Geography Destiny?" - a review of The Revenge of Geography by Robert D. Kaplan, in Al Jadid

Kate LeGrand '15

• "Marbrook's Poetry Drawn by Homeland, Loss, Alienation" - a review of Far From Algiers by Djelloul Marbrook, in Al Jadid

Tim Louthan '15

• "The Power of History: Reappropriating Syria's Past" in Al Jadid
• "Patrick Seale (1930-2014): Renowned Historian/Journalist, Lover of All Things Syrian...Even the Assad Regime" in Al Jadid

Aman Madan '19

• "For Syrian Refugees Living in Jordan, Journalism Offers Hope and Opportunity to Rebuild Their Homeland" in Global Voices (July 2017)
• "Oppression's Child: How Hatred Imbedded Itself in Syria's Soul" a review of In Praise of Hatred by Khaled Khalifa in Al Jadid

AJ Naddaff '19

• "Syria's teen documentarian" in the Columbia Journalism Review (2019)
• "Sorrow and Despair in Kosovo: Portraits of Kosovo-Albanians Connected to Jihad" in the Pulitzer Center website (2018)
• "Kosovo, home to many ISIS recruits, is struggling to stamp out its homegrown terrorism problem" in The Washington Post (2018)
• Interview: experiences with cultural immersion in Jordan and studying intensive Arabic (2017)
• "Photographing the House of Assad" in Syria Deeply (2017)
• "Akram Al-Halabi: Pursuing Harmony Between Nature and Humanity" in Syria Untold (2017)
• "Dance or Die: Refugee Camp to the Dutch National Ballet" in The New Arab (2017)
• "Diala Brisly, The Guardian Artist of Syria's Children" in The New Arab (2017)
• "Do Syrian Artists Lose Their Identity Abroad?" in Syria Untold (2017)
• "Hanging By a Thread: Dissident Puppeteers in Assad's Syria" in Al Noor (Spring 2017)
• "Khaled Khalifa Speaks His Mind on Books and Drama under Syrian Censorship" (co-authored by Rebecca Joubin) in Al Jadid
• "Hope and Struggle in the Hashemite Kingdom" in The Boston College Undergraduate Middle Eastern Studies Journal, Volume 10, Issue 1, Fall 2016.

Sophia Nissler '21

• "Escape to Germany in Syrian Television Drama: From Cross-Cultural Gender Constructions to Transnational Tropes of Masculinity and Homeland" by Rebecca Joubin and Sophia Nissler in The Middle East Journal

Aric Reviere '15

• "Quick Bread" (translation) in Al Jadid 

Joseph Sills '12

• "Prison: Geography of Despotism" in Al Jadid
• "The Children's Revolution" in Al Jadid
• "Syria/Guernica:The Art of Youssef Abdelke" (translation) in Al Jadid
• "Fatima's Head" (translation) in Al Jadid
• "The Sword of Amin Maalouf" (translation) in Al Jadid
• "Creating New Narrative Space in Traditional Arab Tales" in Al Jadid
• "Resisting State Co-Option of Language and Poetry" a review of ClockWork by Zaid Shlah, in Al Jadid

Alex Soltany '18

• "Yasar Kemal: Champion of Anatolian Literature and Social Justice" in Al Jadid

Hampton Stall '15

• "Sowing Seeds of Social Media Destruction: ISIS as Disruptor and Political Weapon" in The Davidson International
• "Rushing Reconciliation: The Day After Project" in The Davidson International
• "Lebanon: Left Out of Discussion, Issues to Come" in The Davidson International
• "The Shallow End of Egypt's Deep State: A Single Toe at a Time" in The Davidson International
• "Why the Afghan Elections Matter so Much" in The Davidson International

Alex Taylor '13

• "Thirst" by Ghassan Kanafani (introduction and translation) in Al Jadid