Social Science Research Council grant
funds workshop, panel discussion, new course
A $50,000 grant from the Social Science Research Council is enabling three University of Arizona units to partner to improve public understanding of Islam and the Middle East.
The grant, awarded to the UA’s Center for Middle Eastern Studies in partnership with the School of Journalism and the Department of Near Eastern Studies, aims to improve the understanding of Islam and Muslims among journalists and the audiences with whom they communicate. A second goal involves training academic experts on Islam and Muslim communities to effectively communicate with journalists.
In spring 2010, Sarah Gassen, editorial writer at the Arizona Daily Star, and Maggy Zanger, an associate professor of practice in journalism, will teach an international opinion writing class in the School of Journalism with funding from the grant. The course will enable students to explore the role, importance and process of writing editorials about international issues.
The Center for Middle Eastern Studies also has built a database of UA faculty members who are experts in different areas of the Middle East and are willing to talk to the media. The School of Journalism will assist in turning this into a Web-based searchable database.
The grant has already funded other successful initiatives.
On Oct. 10, three faculty members traveled to Phoenix to speak to journalists attending the Arizona Newspapers Association convention. Shahira Fahmy (journalism) and Maha Nassar and Scott Lucas (Near Eastern Studies) were part of a panel discussion on “Islam In the News: Bridging the Worlds of Academia and Journalism.”
A panel of experts offered tips to professors and graduate students on writing effective commentaries at a Sept. 25 workshop called “Writing for the Media: Helping the Public Understand the Middle East & Islamic World.” The panel featured Gassen; William O. Beeman, a professor and chair of anthropology at the University of Minnesota and the author of more than 600 opinion pieces; and Mark Kimble, former editorial page editor of the Tucson Citizen.
The Social Science Research Council, according to its Web site, is an independent, nonprofit international organization founded in 1923. It nurtures new generations of social scientists, fosters innovative research, and mobilizes necessary knowledge on important public issues.
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