Ross School - Senior Projects 2010

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Student: David Kaner

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Mentor: Carrie Clark

Product

Title: The Middle East in the Global Era: A Journey

Description:

(catalogue entry)

Details:

(Add images, additional descriptions of techniques, design, etc see rubric)

(add your presentation PowerPoint if you used one)

Abstract

This project was the culmination of many years of interest in the history, culture, society and politics of the world at large. Since middle school, when I took two years of Arabic classes, I have been especially intrigued by these subjects as they related to the Middle East. In 11th grade, eager to further my study of the language, I applied for and received a State Department merit scholarship to spend the summer in Cairo studying Arabic.

I immediately decided to use my journey as inspiration for my Senior Project. In the lead-up to the trip, I started working with Ms. Clark, who became my mentor, and read several books (fiction and non-fiction) on the history and culture of the region. While there, I kept a detailed blog of events and observations in the hope I could refer back to it for content and tease out themes to use in my product. I also took a camera with me daily to get visual references.

When I returned, I began the work of sifting through all the information I had collected for patterns that could point me to essay topics. I eventually settled on three subjects to explore: the politics of Islamic dress in both the Middle East and the West, the relationship between media (especially satellite TV) and democratization in the Middle East and, finally, the history of Cairo as a vehicle to discuss the role of the region as the intersection point of people, cultures and ideologies from ancient Egyptian times to the present day.

Over the course of writing the three essays, my writing and research skills improved markedly. While my first essay took a month and 6 drafts to write, the second took three weeks and just three drafts. My third essay, despite being three times as long as the previous one, was accomplished in the same amount of time. I believe this was a result of my growing ability to anticipate my mentor’s criticisms and self-edit accordingly, which has made me improve as a writer. I also simply write much faster now and find it easier to power through writer’s block.

This project has not always been easy, nor fun, but in general my experience was positive. I learned a lot about a broad array of subjects and grew as a writer, researcher and person. The process has made me more confident that I have the skills necessary to complete similar or even larger endeavors moving foreword, and will be invaluable as I study International Relations in college.

Works Cited or Works Consulted

AbsoluteAstronomy.com. Cairo Timeline. 2009. 24 November 2009 <

Al Jazeera. Timeline: Tourist attacks in Egypt . 24 September 2008. 13 December 2009 <

Associated Press. "Farfour Mouse dies in last episode." 29 June 2007. The Jerusalem Post. 8 November 2009 <

Atia, Tarek. The Final Bridge. 6-12 May 1999. 08 December 2009 <

Baur, M. and Szultz. "Plan general de la VILLE du KAIRE et des Environs, Topographie Medical du Caire, Munich, 1847.". 1846.

Dunn, Jimmy. An Overview of Egyptian Tourism. 24 September 2004. 13 December 2009 <

Echeverri, Natalia. Cairo: Suburbanizing the desert. 22 October 2009. 7 December 2009 <

Egyptology Online. Coptic Cairo. 2001. 24 November 2009 <

Encyclopedia Britannica . Guide to Nobel Prize. 2009. 10 December 2009 <

Farag, Fatemah. A Myth dismantled . 13-19 October 2005. 06 December 2009 <

Fox, Jim. Paris on the Nile. 1999. 30 November 2009 <

Freedom House. "Electoral Democracies 2009." 2009. Freedom House. 8 November 2009 <

—. "Map of Freedom in the World." 2009. freedomhouse.org. 8 November 2009 <

Google, TerraMetrics. cairo,Egypt-Google Maps. 2009.

Lev, Yaacovv. "Saladin in Egypt." The Medieval Mediterranean. New York: Brill Academic Publishers, 1999.

Lunde, Paul. Saudi Aramco World: The Seven Wonders. May/June 1980. 13 December 2009 <

McDevitt, April. Ancient Egypt: The Mythology. 25 March 2008. 24 November 2009 <

Metz, Helen Chapin. Egypt: A Country Study. Study. Washington: GPO for the Library of Congress, 1990.

—. "Egypt-The French Invasion and Occupation, 1798-1801." 1990. Countrystudies.us. 30 November 2009 <

Moore, Richard. Napoleon's Egyptian Campaign . 1999. 30 November 2009 <

Nicohosoff, Alexander. Map of Cairo. Alexandria, 1933.

Plett, Barbara. Egypt Tries to Understand the Luxor Massacre. 1 December 1997. 13 December 2009 <

Raafat, Samir. Once, We Hosted Kings. June 2005. 7 December 2009 <

Rashed, Dena. "Celebration of a Suburb." Al-Ahram 21-27 April 2005.

Shillington, Kevin. Encyclopedia of African History. New York: Taylor & Francis, 2005.

Shoshan, Boaz. Popular Culture in Medieval Cairo. New York: Cambbridge University Press, 2002.

Staff Writers. "Hamas TV unveils Jew-eating bunny." 13 February 2008. News.com.au. 8 November 2009 <

TED Conferences. Evgeny Morozov: How the Net aids Dictatorships. July 2009. 25 October 2009 <

Thuillier, V. "Le Caire, Itinerare de l'Orient, Egypt, Dresse par L. Thuillier, Paris Hachette, 1888.". Paris, 1888.

Tour Egypt. Egypt: History-Ottoman Turk Period. 2005. 24 November 2009 <

Traffic Online Media Solutions. The Changing Landscape of Middle East's Media Consumption. 27 October 2009. 11 November 2009 <

White, Sharon. History of Tourism. 2006-2008. 7 December 2009 <

Wide Angle. "Handbook: Satellite Television in the Arab World." 31 July 2007. Dishing Democracy. 7 October 2009 <

World Bank. Gross Domestic Product-Google-Public Data. 19 November 2009. 14 December 2009 <

Community Member (Details)

Sally Booth, PhD

Associate Director of research, curriculum and professional development, Ross Institute