Tag Archives: Middle East
Middle East Prospects
A talk about the history behind the headlines in Middle Eastern politics and culture. 707 – Middle East Prospects
The Public Muse
Steven Caton discusses how poetry works as a political force in the Middle East in ways that Americans would not understand. Janet Wondra reads from her work and discusses performance poetry in America. 684 – The Public Muse
An Islamic Primer
Gordon Newby provides an Islamic primer, an overview of politics and culture in the Middle East. 576 – An Islamic Primer
Earth’s Treasures
Robert Connor discusses the importance of the liberal arts in the United States today. Carol and Eric Meyers discuss the Sepphoris Project, an archaeological program they have conducted in Israel since 1970. 468 – Earth’s Treasures
Yemeni Music and Tradition
Philip Schuyler is an ethnomusicologist who has worked for many years in the Middle East. During a fellowship year at the National Humanities Center, he is at work on a study entitled The Politics of Tradition: Music and Musicians in … Continue reading
Moral Judgment in History
According to Hedva Ben-Israel, moral judgment in the writing of modern history nearly disappeared during the second half of the nineteenth century, replaced by an ideal of absolute objectivity. But under the stress of the great political revolutions of the … Continue reading
Multiethnic Societies
The ideal of a harmonious order—as old as Plato’s Republic and as modern as the United Nations—remains elusive, as much in the mid-1980s as ever, with the emergence over the last 200 years of multiethnic societies. These are cultural and … Continue reading
Forgotten Hostages
Jerry Levin and his wife Sis Levin discuss their firsthand experiences with political violence in the Middle East. Jerry Levin served as bureau chief of the Cable News Network in Beirut, where he was kidnapped and held hostage for eleven months, … Continue reading
Lebanon: Emblem of Captivity
The topic at hand is Lebanon and political violence in the Middle East from the standpoint of the mid-1980s. According to Herbert Bodman and Jerry Levin, Lebanon at this time is an emblem of captivity, a country in which Christianity … Continue reading
Commerce and Culture, East and West, Part 1 of 2: Islamic Economics
Shaul Bakhash and Bruce Lawrence discuss the relationship between the religion of Islam and economic ideas in the Middle East, particularly as played out in the 1980s. Bakhash describes Islamic economic practices, which assert cultural and religious identity, as an indigenous … Continue reading