Wadie Jwaideh Memorial Lecture Series :: Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures

Wadie Jwaideh Memorial Lecture Series

NAME Professor Wadie Elias Jwaideh had a long and distinguished career both within and outside of Indiana University. He received the degree of Licentiate in Law from the University of Baghdad in 1942. In 1960, he received his Ph.D. from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University. During this time, he also held a lecturer position in Arabic at Johns Hopkins University.

His dissertation entitled “A History of the Kurdish Nationalist Movement” is the most comprehensive study ever made into the Kurdish question. This work established him as one of the world’s leading experts on the Kurds. It was published posthumously as The Kurdish National Movement: Its Origins and Development in 2004 by Syracuse University Press.

Dr. Jwaideh joined the faculty of Indiana University in 1960 and became the founder and chairman of the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Literature and Professor of History until his retirement. In 1972, Professor Jwaideh was given the Lieber Memorial Award for Distinguished Teaching. A number of his colleagues and former students contributed articles for a Festschrift in his honor. Dr. Robert Olson edited this book, entitled Islamic and Middle Eastern Society (Amana Books, 1987).

After his retirement from IU in 1985, Dr. Jwaideh accepted an appointment as Adjunct Professor of history at the University of California at San Diego, where he taught until 1990.

Wadie Jwaideh Memorial Lecture Series, Papers & Presentations

First Wadie Jwaideh Memorial Lecture
- Fred M. Donner, "Seeing the Origins of Islam in Historical Perspective." November 4, 2002.
Third Wadie Jwaideh Memorial Lecture
- Martin van Bruinessen, "The Kurdish Question: Whose Question, Whose Answers?
  The Kurdish Movement Seen by the Kurds and by their Neighbors." November 19, 2004.
Fourth Wadie Jwaideh Memorial Lecture
- Juan Cole, "Marsh Arab Rebellion:
  Grievance, Mafias and Militias in Iraq." October 15, 2005.
Fifth Wadie Jwaideh Memorial Lecture
- Robert Olson, "Parallel History and Diplomacy:
  Turkey’s Position toward the Kurdish Question in 1925 and from 2003-2006." November 3, 2006.
Sixth Wadie Jwaideh Memorial Lecture
- Albertine Jwaideh, "The Marsh Dwellers of Southern Iraq:
  Their Habitat, Origins, Society, and Economy." October 30, 2007.
Seventh Wadie Jwaideh Memorial Lecture
- Eric Davis, "Is there an Arab Democracy Deficit?
  Reflections on Democratization in Iraq and the Arab World." October 21, 2008.