Stephen C
- Research Program Mentor
MPhil candidate at University of Pennsylvania (UPenn)
Expertise
History, Geography, Arabic, Islamic Studies, Middle Eastern Studies, Religious Studies
Bio
I am currently an Arabic Professor. I have extensive teaching experience, and likewise enjoy experience with the editorial and peer-review process both as a graduate student and during my academic career. I love to make the learning process a transformative one. I am deeply committed to cultivating an empathic and empowering learning space that values diversity and inclusion that puts students first. I feel knowledge is a beautiful and priceless gift that belongs to all people. I enjoy reading, music, and calligraphy.Project ideas
The Qur'ān and Literary Narrative
This project would engage how the semiotics (meaning-making narrative) of the Qur'ān is structured. The Qur'ān is often thought to be a disconnected and 'non-linear' text. This project would engage how, while discursive, the Qur'ān displays coherent thematic connectivity (i.e ring composition) and rhetorical structure. The learning outcomes would be applicable to different literacy genres in general, not simply sacred scripture, and could highlight how semantic shifts, pronominal shifts, shifts in narrator voice, and other features of 'post-modern' literature can still create a thematically connected 'text'.
Female Leadership in the Middle East
This project would explore how female networks of power, as knowledge workers, social leaders, and political figures, have functioned in different social contexts in the Middle East and North Africa.