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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

Project ideas are meant to help inspire student thinking about their own project. Students are in the driver seat of their research and are free to use any or none of the ideas shared by their mentors.

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.

Languages I know

Arabic

Teaching experience

I have been a college professor for over six years, teaching Arabic, Philosophy, and Middle Eastern Studies

Credentials

Work experience

Rutgers University (2020 - 2020)
Co-Adjunct
Union County College (2019 - Current)
Adjunct Professor
Manhattanville College (2022 - Current)
Clark Center for Religion and Social Justice

Education

Rutgers University
BA Bachelor of Arts (2014)
Religious Studies
Rutgers University
MA Master of Arts (2018)
Religious Studies (Emphasis Islamic Studies)
University of Pennsylvania (UPenn)
MPhil Master of Philosophy candidate
Near Eastern Languages and Cultures

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