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Souad Ali ASU CAIS Director  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.

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 BataldenProfessor,
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 CadyFounding 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 CarlsonInterim Director, Associate ProfessorCenter for the Study of Religion and Conflict, 
Religious Studies Faculty,
School of Historical, Philosophical, and Religious Studies, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
Eugene ClayAssociate ProfessorReligious Studies Faculty,
School of Historical, Philosophical, and  Religious Studies
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
Chouki El HamelProfessor History Faculty,
School of Historical, Philosophical, and  Religious Studies
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
Mary Margaret FonowProfessor,
Founding Director
Women and Gender Studies, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
School of Social Transformation 
Abdullahi GallabAssociate ProfessorAfrican and African American Studies,
School of Social Transformation,
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
Chad HainesAssociate ProfessorReligious Studies Faculty and Global Studies,
School of Historical, Philosophical, and  Religious Studies
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
Agnes Kefeli ClayClinical ProfessorReligious Studies Faculty,
School of Historical, Philosophical, and  Religious Studies
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
Sally KitchFounding Director,
Regents' Professor,
Distinguished Sustainability Scientist
Institute for Humanities Research,
Women's and Gender Studies, School of Social Transformation
Wrigley Institute for Sustainability
Ann KoblitzEmeritus ProfessorWomen and Gender Studies,
School of Social Transformation,
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
Mirna LattoufPrincipal Lecturer

Languages and Cultures: Humanities
College of Integrative Sciences and Arts 

Neal LesterFoundation Professor,
Director, Project Humanities
Department of English,
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
Miral MahgoubAssociate ProfessorArabic - Classics and Middle Eastern Faculty,
School of International Letters and Cultures,
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences 
Neimeh MousaSenior LecturerArabic - Classics and Middle Eastern Faculty,
School of International Letters and Cultures,
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences 
Ileana OrlichPresident's ProfessorRomanian - Classics and Middle Eastern Faculty,
School of International Letters and Cultures,
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences 
Mary Jane ParmentierClinical Associate Professor Global Technology and Development program, 
School for the Future of Innovation and Society
Angelita ReyesEmeritus ProfessorAfrican and African American Studies,
School of Social Transformation,
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
Sarah RishaSenior LecturerArabic - Classics and Middle Eastern Faculty,
School of International Letters and Cultures,
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences 
Daniel RothenbergProfessor 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 SaikiaHardt-Nickachos Chair,
Professor 
Peace Studies, Center for the Study of Religion and Conflict,
History Faculty, School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies
Judith ShemerSenior LecturerHebrew - Classics and Middle Eastern Faculty,
School of International Letters and Cultures,
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences 
Sharon SmithHead, Distinctive Collections

Collections Services and Analysis                                         ASU Libraries

Peter SuwarnoAssociate Professor, Director of Undergraduate StudiesIndonesian Faculty,
School of International Letters and Cultures,
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences 
Shahla TalebiAssociate ProfessorReligious Studies Faculty,
School of Historical, Philosophical, and  Religious Studies
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
Cynthia TompkinsProfessor Spanish Faculty,
School of International Letters and Cultures,
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences 
Desi UthmanAssociate ProfessorAfrican 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