NME Alumni
The UW Interdisciplinary Ph.D. Program in Near & Middle Eastern Studies, established in 1993, has achieved extraordinary success in recruiting, training and placing students. Following is a list of all the graduates of the program.
Alumni
2019
Esra Bakkalbasioglu Dissertation Title: Negotiating Illegality: Bypassed Minorities’ Access to Infrastructure in Middle Eastern Democracies Chairs: Kasaba, R. & Migdal, J Position: Microsoft User Researcher, Microsoft
Marwa Maziad Dissertation Title: Middle East Militaries: In and Out of politics and economies. A Dynamic Regional Order Approach to civil-military relations Comparative cases of Turkey, Egypt, and Israel Chairs: Kasaba, R. & Migdal, J Position: Visiting Assistant Professor of political communication and public speaking, Seattle University, Department of Communication; and Visiting Scholar, University of Washington, Jackson School of International Studies academia.edu link
2018
Oscar Aguirre Mandujano Dissertation Title: Poetics of Empire: Literature and Political Culture at the Early Modern Ottoman Court Chair: Kuru, S. Position: Assistant Professor of History, University of Pennsylvania
Jeanene Mitchell Dissertation Title: At the Confluence of Transnational and Local: Transboundary River Management in the Kura River Basin Chairs: Kasaba, R. & Migdal, J. Position: Transboundary Stakeholder Engagement Expert for the UNDP-Global Environment Facility Kura II Project: Advancing Integrated Water Resources Management across the Kura River Basin
Michael Degerald Dissertation Title: The Legibility of Power and Culture: Ba‘thist Iraq from 1968-1991 Chair: Bet-Shlimon, A. Position: Visiting Researcher, Lund University, Center for Middle Eastern Studies academia.edu link
K. Mehmet Kentel Dissertation Title: Assembling ‘Cosmopolitan’ Pera: An Infrastructural History of Late Ottoman Istanbul Chair: Kasaba, R Position: Research Projects Manager, Istanbul Research Institute academia.edu link
2017
Albana Dwonch Dissertation Title: Networks of Great Expectations: Palestinian Youth Movements in the Internet Age Chair: Migdal, J. Position: International Consultant & Researcher for Mercy Corps, Jerusalem
Zeynep Kasli Dissertation Title: (Re)bordering Territory and Citizenship on the Greek-Turkish Borderland Chairs: Migdal, J. & Kasaba, R.
Position: Assistant Professor, Erasmus University Rotterdam
Elizabeth Nolte Dissertation Title:The Self and the State: Bureaucracy and the Ethics of Identity in the Twentieth Century Turkish Novel Chair: Kuru, S. Position: Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Warwick, England
2015
Jipar Duishembieva Dissertation Title: Visions of Community: Literary Culture and Social Change Among the Northern Kyrgyz, 1856-1924 Chair: Campbell, E. Position: Lecturer, Evergreen State College
Matthew Goldman Dissertation Title: Domestic Conquest: Land Reform in the Middle East Chair: Kasaba, R. Position: Lecturer, New York University DC
Sevim Kebeli Dissertation Title: Ottoman Reflections on Gender, Class and Race in Victorian England: Abdülhak Hamid Tarhan’s Finten Chair: Kuru, S. Position: Assistant Professor, Ankara Sosyal Bilimler Üniversitesi
Zeynep Seviner Dissertation Title: Blue Dreams, Black Disillusions: Literary Market and Modern Authorship in the Late Ottoman Empire Chair: Kuru, S. Position: Assistant Professor, Dept. of Turkish Literature, Bilkent University
2014
Evrim Gormus Dissertation Title: The Invisible Hand of Islam: Islamic Business and the State Relations in Turkey and Egypt Chairs: Migdal, J. & Kasaba, R. Position: Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science & International Relations, MEF University, Istanbul
Joakim Parslow Dissertation Title: Lawyers on the Barricades: The Politics of Exceptional Law in Turkey, 1930-1980 Chair: Migdal, J. Position: Associate Professor, Middle East Studies, University of Oslo
Russell Powell Dissertation Title: Shari’a in the Secular State: Evolving Perceptions of Law and Religion in Turkey Chair: Lombardi, C. Position: Associate Provost for Global Engagement & Professor of Law, Seattle University
Muge Salmaner Dissertation Title: Taste of the Past: Reading Food in Armenian Literature in Turkish Chair: Kuru, S.
2012
Kristian Petersen Dissertation Title: The Great Transformation: Contours of the Sino-Islamic Intellectual Chair: Walker, J. Position: Assistant Professor, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA
Murat Inan Dissertation Title: Writing a Grammatical Commentary on Hafiz of Shiraz: A Sixteenth-century Ottoman Scholar on the Divan of Hafiz Chair: Kuru, S. Position(s): Assistant Professor, Ankara Sosyal Bilimler Üniversitesi & Ahmanson-Getty Post-Doctoral fellow at the UCLA Center for 17th and 18th Century Studies
2011
Zeynep Akbulut Dissertation Title: Banning Headscarves and Muslim Women’s Subjectivity in Turkey Chair: Kasaba, R. Position: Lecturer, Religious Studies, University of San Diego
Saad Bugaighis Dissertation Title: The Italian Invasion of Libya in 1911 and the Nineteen Years of Libyan Resistance. Chairs: Heer, N. & Mayerfeld, J.
2010
Mamoun Sakkal Dissertation Title: Square Kufic Calligraphy in Modern Arts of the Middle East: Transmission and Transformation. Chair: DeYoung, T. Position: Architect/Designer, Sakkal Design
2009
Karam Dana Dissertation Title: Before Their Nakba: Palestinian Society and Politics, 1920—and 1940 Chair: Kasaba, R. Position: Assistant Professor of Middle East & Global Studies, School of Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences, UW Bothell
Denis Basic Dissertation Title: The Roots of Religious, Ethnic, and National Identity of the Bosnian-Herzegovinan Muslims Chair: Meeker, M. Position: Extension Lecturer, University of Washington
2008
Senem Aslan Dissertation Title: Governing Areas of Dissidence: Nation-Building and Ethnic Movements in Turkey and Morocco Chair: Migdal, J. Position: Associate Professor, Politics, Bates College
Maha El-Taji Dissertation Title: Arab Local Authorities in Israel: Hamulas, Nationalism, and Dilemmas of Social Change Chair: Migdal, J. Position: Resident Director, Council on International Educational Exchange & University of Haifa International School
Didem Havlioglu Dissertation Title: And the Beloved Speaks: Mihri’s Hatun’s Voice in Early Modern Ottoman Literature Chair: Kuru, S. Position: Assistant Professor, Istanbul Sehir Universitesi & Lecturing Fellow, Asian & Middle Eastern Studies, Duke University
Jennifer Petzen Dissertation Title: Gender Politics in the New Europe: ‘Civilizing’ Muslim Sexualities Chair: Kasaba, R. Position: Faculty Member, Alice Salomon Hochschule Berlin
2007
Elmira Kuchumkulova Dissertation Title: Kyrgyz Nomadic Customs and the Impact of re-Islamization after the Independence Chair: Harrell, S. Position: Head & Senior Research Fellow, Cultural Heritage & Humanities Unit, University of Central Asia, Aga Kahn
Gary Martin Dissertation Title: Textual Histories of Early Jewish Writings: Multivalences vs. the Quest for “The Original” Chair: Noegel, S. Position: Senior Lecturer, Near Eastern Languages & Civilization (NELC), University of Washington
Elliott Ohannes Dissertation Title: William Mitchell Ramsay: An Intellectual Biography Chair: Williams, M. Position: Director of Information Resources and Faculty Member, Trinity Lutheran College
2006
Magid Shihade Dissertation Title: The History of an Incident and its Lessons: Communal Violence Among Arabs in Israel Chair: Chirot, D. Position: Faculty member, Birzeit University, Abu Lughod Institute for International Studies
Mary St. Germain Dissertation Title: Al-Azdi’s Hikayat Abi al-Qasim al-Baghdadi: Placing an Anomalous Text within the Literary Developments of its Time Chair: DeYoung, T. Position: Head, Near East Section, Libraries, University of Washington
2003
Erdag Goknar Dissertation Title: Between Ottoman and Turk: Literary Narrative and the Transition from Empire to Republic Chair: Kasaba, R. Position: Associate Professor, Dept. of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, Duke University
Karen Winslow Dissertation Title: Framing Zipporah: Early Jewish and Christian Memories of Moses’ Wife Chair: Williams, M. Position: Professor and Chair, Department of Biblical Studies, Azusa Pacific Seminary, Azusa, CA
2002
Ahmed Souaiaia Dissertation Title: The Sociology of Inheritance: Privileged Parlance and Unearned Rights Chair: Wheeler, B. Position: Associate Professor, Religious Studies, University of Iowa
2001
Nicole Watts Dissertation Title: Routes to Ethnic Resistance: Virtual Kurdistan West and the Transformation of Kurdish Politics in Turkey Chair: Kasaba, R. Position: Professor, Political Science, San Francisco State University
Patricia Woods Dissertation Title: Courting the Court: Social Visions, State Authority, and the Religious Law Conflict in Israel Chair: Migdal, J. Position: Associate Professor, Political Science, University of Florida
2000
Hurriyet Gokdayi Dissertation Title: Desire for Sohbet: An Ethnography of Communication in Turkey Chair: Kasaba, R. Position: Associate Professor, Mersin Universitesi, Turkey
1999
Kagan Arik Dissertation Title: Shamanism, Culture and the Xinjiang Kazak: A Narrative of Identity Chair: Cirtautas, I. Position: Ayasli Lecturer, University of Chicago, Near Eastern languages & Civilization
William Clark Dissertation Title: Convergence or Divergence: Uighur Family Change in Urumqi Chair: Harrell, S. Position: Research Associate, Almaty, Kazakhstan, Intimak