Elon University history professor Brian Digre has received a 2010 Fulbright-Hays Seminars Abroad award, which will fund a six-week visit to the Gulf nations of the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Kuwait for study and research.
Digre later this month will join with nine other faculty members from colleges and universities across the nation for the trip. The program examines various aspects of Middle Eastern culture, from the history of the region to the practice of Islam, and from the role of women to modern politics.
The group will visit a diverse group of sites and institutions in the region, from Kuwait University to Al-Jazeera Television. The seminar also includes meetings with local leaders in education, the arts, business and politics.
“I hope to gain new insights on the region that could be useful in my own teaching and research,” said Digre. “I also will seek new contacts that could be beneficial in developing our Middle East studies program here at Elon.”
For the past three years, Digre has been the director of Elon’s Middle East studies curriculum development project, which is supported by a grant from the Undergraduate International Studies and Foreign Language Program of the U.S. Department of Education.
The grant has funded the development of new courses at Elon, a full-time Arabic faculty position and a study abroad program at the American University in Cairo. This curriculum development should provide the foundation for a future Middle East studies minor and a regional concentration within the International Studies major.
Though his research and teaching interests have focused on West Africa, Digre studied the Middle East in graduate school at George Washington University. He has traveled in the region and teaches a course on the modern history of the Middle East.
Digre joined the Elon faculty in 1990. In 2008, he received the university’s Periclean Award for Civic Engagement and Social Responsibility, presented each year to a member of Elon’s faculty or staff whose service to the broader community exemplifies the ideals of Project Pericles; and the Elon College Excellence in Service/Leadership Award.