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Faculty & Staff
Dr. Souad T. Ali, Founding Chair
An internationally acclaimed Scholar, Professor Souad T. Ali is head of Classics and Middle Eastern studies, founding chair of the ASU Council for Arabic and Islamic Studies; coordinator of Arabic Studies; and associate professor of Arabic literature and Middle Eastern/Islamic studies in the School of International Letters and Cultures (SILC). She is simultaneously an affiliate graduate faculty member in English, women and gender studies, religious studies, and justice and social inquiry; as well as an affiliate faculty member in the Center for the Study of Religion and Conflict, African and African-American studies, Center for the Study of Race and Democracy, Institute for Humanities Research, and Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies. A scholar with international recognition, Professor Ali is a recipient of several awards including, the ASU Faculty Women’s Association Outstanding Graduate Mentor Award (2017); the ASU Outstanding Advisor of the Year (2019), among others.
A Fulbright Scholar, Professor Ali is the author of A Religion, Not A State: Ali ‘Abd al-Raziq’s Islamic Justification of Political Secularism (University of Utah Press 2009), The Road to Two Sudans, an edited volume of which she is the lead editor, has been published internationally by Cambridge Scholars Publishing (2014). Ali’s third book is Perspectives of Five Kuwaiti Women in Leadership Roles: Feminism, Islam and Politics (CSP, April, 2019). Her other books in progress include, "Subjugated Voices"(with Dr. Emily Silverman); as well as a major Translation of Ali 'Abd al-Raziq that received an invitation by Oxford University Press to submit when completed. Professor Ali published more than 25 scholarly articles (several of which have been translated into different languages); and contributed more than 100 scholarly conference presentations.
Professor Ali is the elected president of the Sudan(s) Studies Association of North America (SSA) (2017-2019); Board Member and Arizona/Nevada Representative, as well as the past president of the American Academy of Religion/Western Region (AAR/WR). She is a member of the Governing Board of the Center for Arabic Studies Abroad (CASA) in the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Harvard, and as Executive Committee member of the International Association of Intercultural Studies (IAIS), Cairo, Egypt and Bremen Germany.
Professor Ali has taught at the American University of Kuwait, the University of Utah, Brigham Young University, and Hiram College (Ohio).
Professor Ali received a bachelor's with distinction from the University of Khartoum and the Polytechnic of North London, a master's with distinction from Brigham Young University, and a doctorate with honors from the University of Utah (2004), where she studied under Professor Bernard G. Weiss.
Education:
- Ph.D. Middle Eastern Studies (Arabic Literature/Islamic Studies) Summa cum Laude (with honors), Department of Languages and Literatures, The Middle East Studies Center, University of Utah 2004
- Master's degree. English (American and African American Literature) with distinction, Brigham Young University 1994
- B.A. English (British and African Literature) with distinction, University of Khartoum, Sudan and the Polytechnic of North London, England 1991
Affiliate Faculty
| Stephen Batalden | Professor, Director | History Faculty School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies Melikian Center for Russian, Eurasian, and East European Studies College of Liberal Arts and Sciences |
| Linell Cady | Founding Director, Emeritus Professor | Center for the Study of Religion and Conflict Religious Studies Faculty, School of Historical, Philosophical, and Religious Studies College of Liberal Arts and Sciences |
| John Carlson | Interim Director, Associate Professor | Center for the Study of Religion and Conflict, Religious Studies Faculty, School of Historical, Philosophical, and Religious Studies, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences |
| Eugene Clay | Associate Professor | Religious Studies Faculty, School of Historical, Philosophical, and Religious Studies College of Liberal Arts and Sciences |
| Chouki El Hamel | Professor | History Faculty, School of Historical, Philosophical, and Religious Studies College of Liberal Arts and Sciences |
| Mary Margaret Fonow | Professor, Founding Director | Women and Gender Studies, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences School of Social Transformation |
| Abdullahi Gallab | Associate Professor | African and African American Studies, School of Social Transformation, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences |
| Chad Haines | Associate Professor | Religious Studies Faculty and Global Studies, School of Historical, Philosophical, and Religious Studies College of Liberal Arts and Sciences |
| Agnes Kefeli Clay | Clinical Professor | Religious Studies Faculty, School of Historical, Philosophical, and Religious Studies College of Liberal Arts and Sciences |
| Sally Kitch | Founding Director, Regents' Professor, Distinguished Sustainability Scientist | Institute for Humanities Research, Women's and Gender Studies, School of Social Transformation Wrigley Institute for Sustainability |
| Ann Koblitz | Emeritus Professor | Women and Gender Studies, School of Social Transformation, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences |
| Mirna Lattouf | Principal Lecturer | Languages and Cultures: Humanities |
| Neal Lester | Foundation Professor, Director, Project Humanities | Department of English, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences |
| Miral Mahgoub | Associate Professor | Arabic - Classics and Middle Eastern Faculty, School of International Letters and Cultures, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences |
| Neimeh Mousa | Senior Lecturer | Arabic - Classics and Middle Eastern Faculty, School of International Letters and Cultures, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences |
| Ileana Orlich | President's Professor | Romanian - Classics and Middle Eastern Faculty, School of International Letters and Cultures, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences |
| Mary Jane Parmentier | Clinical Associate Professor | Global Technology and Development program, School for the Future of Innovation and Society |
| Angelita Reyes | Emeritus Professor | African and African American Studies, School of Social Transformation, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences |
| Sarah Risha | Senior Lecturer | Arabic - Classics and Middle Eastern Faculty, School of International Letters and Cultures, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences |
| Daniel Rothenberg | Professor of Practice (FSC), Co-Director, Lincoln Fellow for Ethics and International Human Rights Law | School of Politics and Global Studies, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Center for the Future of War, Lincoln Center for Applied Ethics |
| Yasmin Saikia | Hardt-Nickachos Chair, Professor | Peace Studies, Center for the Study of Religion and Conflict, History Faculty, School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies |
| Judith Shemer | Senior Lecturer | Hebrew - Classics and Middle Eastern Faculty, School of International Letters and Cultures, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences |
| Sharon Smith | Head, Distinctive Collections | Collections Services and Analysis ASU Libraries |
| Peter Suwarno | Associate Professor, Director of Undergraduate Studies | Indonesian Faculty, School of International Letters and Cultures, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences |
| Shahla Talebi | Associate Professor | Religious Studies Faculty, School of Historical, Philosophical, and Religious Studies College of Liberal Arts and Sciences |
| Cynthia Tompkins | Professor | Spanish Faculty, School of International Letters and Cultures, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences |
| Desi Uthman | Associate Professor | African and African American Studies, School of Social Transformation, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences |
Administrative Support
The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS) and the School of International Letters and Cultures (SILC) provide administrative support to the Council. CAIS is a council of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS). SILC is a school of CLAS.
Administration, ASU College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
Administration & Faculty Heads, ASU School of International Letters and Cultures