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• 

  Pilfered with joy: The Game of Tenure

  Because PhD Comics never fail to raise spirits: Also, a social science version of this ingenious database over at Brandeis is much-needed: the Paper Rejection Repository: Nobody likes to receive a letter... Posted Apr 12 2013, 04:00 AM by Caledoniyya Filed under: Arts, academia, higher education, journals, social science, Brandeis, Academic publishing

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  Post-PhD Life: The Darkened Road

  Taking a break from the frivolous, the following article is sobering, saddening and addresses a dimension of academic life that few discuss enough: An academic jumped off scaffolding to his death when... Posted Apr 05 2013, 05:19 AM by Caledoniyya Filed under: society, education, University, academia, higher education, PhD

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  Frustration

  …is searching for the article on Otherness, but returning with a semi-relevant clutch of papers, plus an interesting (but very irrelevant to the current research) one on vampire subculture. Which... Posted Jan 29 2013, 06:50 AM by Caledoniyya Filed under: Writing, academia, Frivolities & Miscellaeny

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  Writer’s Regrets

  The moment you re-read an article, two months after submission: Fact: no matter how genius it appears at the time, a period of absence will always reveal a bunch of missed opportunities. Read More... Posted Jan 09 2013, 02:40 AM by Caledoniyya Filed under: Writing, academia

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  Research proposals: vision vs. reality

  Yes, this. I don’t think I’ve ever laughed as long at an online satire as I am now. So true Read More... Posted Nov 10 2012, 11:38 AM by Caledoniyya Filed under: Humor, academia, Best of the Rest, Frivolities & Miscellaeny

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  Daily Snap: Class

  The next two days are dedicated to conflict analyses, as the students deliver their first presentations of the course. And they have been inspiring thus far, with one even claiming the best Lebanon-in... Posted Nov 07 2012, 05:55 AM by Caledoniyya Filed under: Imagery, academia, Daily Snap

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  The Art of Disconnecting

  There is a rather accurate graph doing the rounds that reflects the manic obsession academics have with e-mail while on vacation. It is endemically depressing and to those who can leave the Blackberry... Posted Jun 20 2012, 05:06 AM by Caledoniyya Filed under: academia, Frivolities & Miscellaeny

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  The Art of Rejection

  For an academic, rejection is as common as wasps in summer. Initially a mortal slight, it quickly retires to a … Continue reading » Read More... Posted Jan 31 2012, 04:25 PM by Caledoniyya Filed under: academia, Americas, Frivolities & Miscellaeny, witticisms

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  The Procrastinator’s Tale

  Posted by a friend in response to a status update on my shameless procrastination, this is eeriely accurate. I can’t … Continue reading » Read More... Posted Jan 20 2012, 03:31 PM by Caledoniyya Filed under: academia, Frivolities & Miscellaeny, fun stuff

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  So, It’s Been A While…

  … and I duly writhe with guilt as I tweet away. Since last posting I have teetered into middle age … Continue reading » Read More... Posted Nov 30 2011, 05:56 AM by Caledoniyya Filed under: Life, academia, Layla

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  Introduction to the Israel Lobby

  Edited by Debbie Menon The Israel Lobby is one of the most powerful and pervasive special interest groups in the United States. t consists of a multitude of institutions, many of them extremely well-funded... Posted Nov 13 2011, 06:13 AM by Intifada Palestine Filed under: Palestine, middle east, media, Israel, Palestinians, Activism, Featured, Israeli occupation, academia, Jerusalem, Zionisim, Israeli settlements, Israeli lobby, aipac, U.S. Congress, U.S. foreign policy, World News, Pro-Israeli Lobby, Arab-Israeli conflict, Neoconservatives, Anti-Defamation League (AdL), U.S.A, News/Politics, U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East, American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), Introduction to the Israel Lobby, American Israel Education foundation (AIEF), Hillels, Hadassahs, Jewish Federations, Washington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP), American Publice, Evangelical Christians, Jewish Community Relations Councils, religious institutions

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  Wasta and British Academia

  (I wish I could commence this post with ‘It started;’ alas, it commenced long before my time.) Last Monday I was summoned to a job interview at a British university that tickled my interest... Posted Aug 10 2011, 06:33 AM by Caledoniyya Filed under: politics, education, academia, higher education, Colleges and Universities

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  Swartz and the MIT Heist

  When too much knowledge becomes too much knowledge download: As best as we can tell, Aaron Swartz is being charged with allegedly downloading too many journal articles from the Web. The government contends... Posted Jul 20 2011, 02:46 AM by Caledoniyya Filed under: education, MIT, academia, Americas, aaronswartz, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

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  Study at SOAS?

  There are so many things to love about this ingenuous short: in 4 minutes it blasts the romanticism associated with the study of languages and cultures, decimates the tendency to become enamoured with... Posted May 21 2011, 11:46 AM by Caledoniyya Filed under: middle east, politics, Europe, academia, Frivolities & Miscellaeny, MiddleEast, NorthAfrica, SOAS

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  Researching Terror and Other Dangers

  As an M.Litt. student in 2003 I wondered about the material we downloaded for our essays. Comprising seminars on political Islam and the ideologies of organizations such as Al Qaeda, we were directed to... Posted May 06 2011, 02:18 AM by Caledoniyya Filed under: society, middle east, Islam, politics, Religion, Terrorism, faith, Censorship, academia, Nottingham

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  تعليقا على المقابلات لمطور برمجيات آي فون

  اجريت اكثر من 20 مقابلة مع حديثي التخرج لشغل منصب مطور برامج للآي فون (iPhone developer) و لم اتوقع صراحة ان أجد احدهم قد عمل على مشروع على الآي فون خلال دراسته، و أرجو ان اكون مخطئا في ذلك و الحظ لم يحالفني... Posted Mar 17 2011, 02:53 AM by Khaled Gharaibeh's Blog-مدونة خالد غرايبة Filed under: الاردن, academia, مقابلة, iPhone developer, إدارة المشاريع, Technology- تكنولوجيا, النظام التعليمي, مطور, آي فون

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  Qaddafi’s Western Academic Stooges

  Synonymous though Sundays are with tranquillity and kindness (doesn’t the world seem a kinder place with church bells clanging and Labradors gambolling with small children feeding the ducks?), I... Posted Mar 06 2011, 02:56 AM by Caledoniyya Filed under: Culture, politics, africa, Europe, Iran, Britain, Libya, academia, Americas, Muammar al-Gaddafi, Muammar Qaddafi, Monitor Group, London School of Economics

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  The Revolution of the Youth

  Or is it? Although today’s workshop ‘Arab Youth Politics: Challenges and Aspirations’ primarily aimed to gage the involvement of the youth in the media and political structures of the... Posted Mar 04 2011, 09:33 AM by Caledoniyya Filed under: Egypt, Palestine, Jordan, middle east, media, Islam, Culture, politics, Religion, Lebanon, Tunisia, Pop Culture, note-to-self, academia, Mass media, Layla, El-Ghad Party, popculture, Jan25, #SidiBouzid, Muammar al-Gaddafi, March11, University of Edinburgh

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  War, Thy Name Is Terror… Or Is It?

  Last year I posted on a seminar in which the students grappled with the application of the term ‘genocide‘. That is, when is a massacre a genocide, and when is it solely a massacre? Today and... Posted Feb 07 2011, 08:48 AM by Caledoniyya Filed under: Palestine, middle east, Israel, Islam, politics, Religion, Iraq, war, Conflict Zones, conflict, academia, Terror

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  Hello Wasta, It’s Been A While

  Whether it is the relentless passage of time, the inexorable progress of age or merely the corrosive rot of cynicism, but I am finding rejection easier to take. Which is a good thing, since a career in... Posted Jan 22 2011, 05:18 AM by Caledoniyya Filed under: middle east, Life, Culture, Europe, academia, Americas, Frivolities & Miscellaeny, Layla

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  Creation of Israel or Partition of Palestine?

  As much as the snow has descended, so too have the deadlines; and likewise the snow, just as one batch melts, a new morning brings its subsequent deluge. This week it has been marking and the current paper... Posted Dec 26 2010, 10:51 AM by Caledoniyya Filed under: Palestine, middle east, Israel, politics, Conflict Zones, academia

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  Video: Love/Hate Relationship with FACEBOOK

  Charlene Shovic is Master’s student in Anthropology, and for her Linguistics class, she decided that creating a video would be MUCH more entertaining than writing a 20-page paper. And there might... Posted Aug 09 2010, 10:24 PM by Sara Anthro Blog Filed under: media, Video, Documentary, Facebook, academia, anthropology, Linguistics Anthropology, Facebook Anthropology, love/hate relationship with FACEBOOK, Contradicting Facebook: A Discourse Analysis, Charlene Shovic

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  Interview with Norman Finkelstein

  You can read a current interesting interview with Norman Finkelstein conducted by Nael Shama here Below is one of the popular youtube videos of Finkelstein. It is the one in which he responded to a question... Posted Aug 04 2010, 02:34 AM by Sara Anthro Blog Filed under: Video, Holocaust, academia, Norman Finkelstein

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  On Writing Dissertations

  In the below interesting interview, Alan Macfarlane discusses writing dissertations. He taught at the Department of Social Anthropology Cambridge University. As an anthropologist and historian he worked... Posted Jun 15 2010, 01:25 AM by Sara Anthro Blog Filed under: Video, Writing, academia, anthropology, Thesis Writing, writing sociology, writing anthropology, Writing Social Science, writing dissertations, academic writing, Alan Macfarlane, Sociology

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  Anthropologists and Argumentalists

  Confronted with a gaggle of anthropology students baying for academic blood on Monday, something decidedly irreverent is in order. And as it has been too long since – what I wholeheartedly believe... Posted Feb 04 2010, 09:28 AM by Caledoniyya Filed under: Life, Culture, COMEDY, academia, Frivolities & Miscellaeny

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  Some historical events in the BDS campaign

  BRICUP reports: Rachel Giora, one of the founders of BOYCOTT! – the Israeli campaign for boycott from within – has written a history of the struggle to build Iraeli support for the Academic... Posted Jan 27 2010, 12:21 AM by Filasteen Filed under: Human Rights, Palestine, Israel, Gaza, Occupation, Humanity, academia, boycott, BDS Israel

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  The Bells of Moral Ambiguity

  There are certain questions that no number of PhDs nor years ensconced between the leaves of books can sate. Today my best tutorial group was in pensive mode and as the post-presentation activity languished... Posted Dec 11 2009, 04:47 AM by Caledoniyya Filed under: Palestine, middle east, Israel, politics, academia, Layla

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  Needed: Lapdancing Researcher

  I love it when these jobs emerge from time to time in academia – there was a similar instance a few years ago when a US scholar completed his PhD on an analysis of the economy and Playboy centerfolds... Posted Dec 04 2009, 03:06 AM by Caledoniyya Filed under: society, Women, Culture, Europe, Pop Culture, academia, Frivolities & Miscellaeny

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  Allah, the Universe, and Everything

  There’s always one: A London university union has cancelled a talk by an Islamic preacher who allegedly endorses killing homosexuals. Abu Usamah, recorded by Channel 4 saying gay people should be... Posted Nov 25 2009, 12:51 PM by Caledoniyya Filed under: Islam, Religion, Europe, Science, faith, academia

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  Read, Type, Fly, Breathe

  This week is one long series of deadlines and to say I am stretched would be an understatement. On Wednesday I leave for Poland for the second time this year, this time to give a lecture on evangelism... Posted Nov 14 2009, 08:14 AM by Caledoniyya Filed under: Life, Religion, Travel, Europe, Poland, academia, Layla

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  Middle Eastisms, Pt. 3

  Following on from yesterday, part 3 in the series of Perceptions of the Middle East: And because this image not only comprises shocking writing but also devastatingly diabolical cameraship, a breakdown... Posted Nov 11 2009, 12:38 AM by Caledoniyya Filed under: society, middle east, Culture, politics, Religion, academia, Frivolities & Miscellaeny

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  Middle Eastisms, Pt. 2

  Belated, but as promised, the second instalment in the experimental Perceptions of the Middle East: My writing is quite heinous, so in sum: Middle East Ottoman Empire, Aladdin, falafal, shisha, Persia... Posted Nov 10 2009, 12:00 AM by Caledoniyya Filed under: middle east, Culture, politics, Pop Culture, academia

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  Israel: An Invented Nation?

  The soon-to-be release of the English language edition of The Invention of the Jewish People by Professor Shlomo Sands is tremendously exciting, questioning as it does the very connection between the Jewish... Posted Oct 31 2009, 01:00 AM by Caledoniyya Filed under: middle east, Israel, Religion, academia, Judaism, theology, Bookwormery, Israeli history

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  Middle Eastisms, Pt. 1

  This morning I commenced an experiment upon my unwitting students. With each group of ten students – there are five groups in total – I am opening the tutorial with the question: What does... Posted Oct 16 2009, 04:17 AM by Caledoniyya Filed under: middle east, Culture, academia, Frivolities & Miscellaeny, Layla

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  Academic Lewdness 101

  My initial reaction to Professor Terence Kealey’s expostulations in the Times Higher Education Magazine was ‘ugh’. Articulation gained, it became ‘oh no, no, no, noooo…’... Posted Sep 24 2009, 01:05 AM by Caledoniyya Filed under: Women, Europe, Britain, academia, Frivolities & Miscellaeny

• 

  Carleton U charges almost $5K for “openness & transparency”

  From Canpalnet Ottawa OTTAWA, Sept 16, 2009 – Sixty four Carleton Professors have called on University President Roseann Runte to waive the fees demanded from a student for his information request to investigate... Posted Sep 17 2009, 09:19 PM by Filasteen Filed under: Palestine, Israel, Occupation, Canada, academia

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  Call for Feminist Mothers

  Continuing in the vein of eschewing misconceptions of feminism: Mindy Erchull and Miriam Liss, two researchers at the University of Mary Washington, are looking for feminist mothers to participate in a... Posted Sep 13 2009, 10:29 AM by Caledoniyya Filed under: Women, Culture, feminism, academia, Americas, Womyn

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  The True Beauty of Jihad

  Twitter is slowly eroding my blog – it has been five days since I last posted and while I could easily attribute this absence to the recent conference and lack of Internet as I moved house, somehow... Posted Sep 10 2009, 03:02 PM by Caledoniyya Filed under: middle east, Islam, Religion, academia, Frivolities & Miscellaeny, scotland, Jihad, Layla, Edinburgh

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  Reasons to Learn Arabic: #1,926

  Quite aside from the obvious reasons (beautiful language, expansive and refined literary heritage…), in academic terms the comprehension of Arabic is simply a must: There is a war–or at least... Posted Aug 14 2009, 02:12 AM by Caledoniyya Filed under: middle east, Culture, Arabic, africa, academia

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  The Last, Great Taboo: Sexual Identities in the Middle East

  I’m currently in the painstaking throes of compiling a proposal for a forthcoming conference on gender-based violence, with a focus on sexual identity in the Middle East, and have been struck by... Posted Jul 06 2009, 11:37 AM by Caledoniyya Filed under: middle east, Culture, gender, academia, lgbt

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  The Newbie

  Today marked my first day as a staff member, although I cannot quite shirk the feeling of being an impostor. I felt decidedly postgraduate as I trundled about the baking streets, dodging graduates in their... Posted Jul 02 2009, 10:59 AM by Caledoniyya Filed under: Life, academia, Frivolities & Miscellaeny, Layla

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  Addendum: William I. Robinson

  Back in April I posted on the moral/political/academic/all-of-the-above quagmire traversed by the UC Santa Barbara professor, William I. Robinson. Robinson, in what I deemed a plucky ruse, elicited much... Posted Jun 26 2009, 01:07 PM by Caledoniyya Filed under: Palestine, middle east, Israel, politics, United States, academia, Americas, William I. Robinson

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  William I. Robinson: Provoking Thought, Courting Controversy

  Back in January I posted on a collection of images that when coupled displayed the parallels between Israeli actions today and the atrocities committed during World War II. It transpires that William I... Posted Apr 30 2009, 12:32 AM by Caledoniyya Filed under: Palestine, middle east, Israel, politics, Holocaust, Gaza, USA, Conflict Zones, Censorship, academia, Americas

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  Lost in Publication: A Riddle For Readers

  Riddle me this: how can two votes in favour and one vote not, result in an overall resounding no? This is the question that has plagued the past week after my first manuscript was rejected by the publishing... Posted Mar 30 2009, 03:36 AM by Caledoniyya Filed under: books, Jordan, Life, note-to-self, academia, publishing

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  Academic Appreciation Corner: M. Laetitia Cairoli

  After almost two years of blogging it’s wonderful to introduce something new through the following gush over a research paper. At the moment I’m reviewing From Patriarchy to Empowerment: Women’s... Posted Mar 20 2009, 09:44 AM by Caledoniyya Filed under: middle east, gender, Morocco, note-to-self, academia, North Africa, anthropology

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  On Academic Freedom in Palestine

  The letter attached below was signed by 121 Columbia and Barnard faculty and sent to president of Colombia University calling on academic freedom in Palestine. Hope this step gets adopted by a number of... Posted Feb 17 2009, 11:13 AM by Bonbonloverr Filed under: Palestine, Freedom, academia, States

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  Countdown - 3 Days

  The lecture is written. The facts are there. And so is the anxiety. Particularly the anxiety, as I have a problem. Italktoofast. Everythingjustcomesoutsoquickandalltheinformationislostinablurofwords. I... Posted Oct 31 2008, 05:50 AM by Caledoniyya Filed under: Life, academia, Frivolities & Miscellaeny

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  The ‘I Wants’ of a Guest Lecturer

  As much as I would love for the above title to indicate that I had somehow circumvented the purgatorial rigmarole of getting an actual job in academia, alas it is not so. Nevertheless, I am overwhelmed... Posted Oct 30 2008, 07:18 AM by Caledoniyya Filed under: middle east, academia, Frivolities & Miscellaeny

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  Ghada al-Samman and the Liberated Woman

  One of the multitudinous reasons why I love research is the unexpectedly joyous subjects that appear from nowhere, light up your studies, and then fade into a corner of your files, beaming with satisfaction... Posted Oct 03 2008, 06:20 AM by Caledoniyya Filed under: middle east, Culture, Syria, Lebanon, feminism, note-to-self, academia

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  British Universities Ponder Independence

  British universities have in recent years battled on multiple fronts: whether it is the issue of gender discrimination and the ubiquitous glass ceiling confronting female academics, or the ratio of working... Posted Sep 15 2008, 07:27 AM by Caledoniyya Filed under: Culture, politics, education, Europe, Academic, Britain, University, academia