Faculty Profiles

History/ Religion/ Director of Middle Eastern Studies Program

Director of Middle East Studies Program
Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania

Lucy Stone Hall B-312
54 Joyce Kilmer Avenue
Piscataway, NJ 08854 

FALL OFFICE HOURS (beginning September 1):
Thursdays 1-4pm

Email: srussjo@history.rutgers.edu

ACADEMIC APPOINTMENTS

Director of Middle East Studies Program (Fall 2011 – CURRENT)
          Center for Middle Eastern Studies, Rutgers University

Assistant Teaching Professor (Fall 2014 – CURRENT)
          History Department, Rutgers University

Assistant Teaching Professor (Fall 2014 – CURRENT)
          Religion Department, Rutgers University

Lecturer (Fall 2010 – Spring 2014)
          History Department, Rutgers University

Lecturer (Fall 2008; Spring 2012 – Spring 2014)
          Religion Department, Rutgers University

Fellow, Rutgers Center for Historical Analysis (2010 – 2011)
          History Department, Rutgers University

Grader, Middle East Studies Seminar (Spring 2009)
          Center for Middle Eastern Studies, Rutgers University

Lecturer (Spring 2003)
          University of Pennsylvania

Adjunct Faculty (Fall 2002)
          East Stroudsburg University

Teaching Assistant and Writing Adviser (Fall 1999 – Spring 2001)
          University of Pennsylvania

EDUCATION

Ph.D. (August 2010)                             University of Pennsylvania, Religious Studies
B.A. (1993)                                           Dickinson College, Religious Studies
Arabic Language (2001-2002)                 Center for Arabic Study Abroad in Cairo, Egypt
Arabic Language (1999)                         Summer Intensive Arabic at Middlebury College
Semester Abroad Program (1996)           School for International Training, Morocco

AREAS OF SPECIALIZATION

Women in Islam, Islamic Law, Qur’an exegesis, Shi`i Islam.

LANGUAGES

Arabic – advanced/intermediate (reading, writing, speaking)

French – reading

German - reading

AWARDS & FELLOWSHIPS

Rutgers Center for Historical Analysis Fellowship (2010-2011), New Brunswick, NJ

Fulbright IIE Program for U.S. Students Dissertation Research Grant (2004-2005), Bahrain

Fulbright-Hays Fellowship for Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad (2004-2005), Bahrain (declined)

American Research Center in Egypt Dissertation Research Grant (2004-2005), Egypt

University of Pennsylvania Religious Studies Pre-dissertation Grant (2003), Bahrain

Center for Arabic Study Abroad Full-Year Fellowship (2001-2002), Egypt

University of Pennsylvania Religious Studies Boardman Fellowship (2000)

PUBLICATIONS

"Bahrain:Origins of a Crisis," Jadaliyya, http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/1209/essential-readings_bahrain_origins-of-a-crisis, April 10, 2011.

“God’s law or state’s law? Authority and Islamic family law reform in Bahrain,” dissertation, University of Pennsylvania, 2010.

“The Battle Over Family Law in Bahrain,” Middle East Report, No. 242, Spring 2007.

Review of Amira El-Azhary Sonbol, Women of Jordan: Islam, Labor, and the Law in International Journal of Middle East Studies, Vol. 36, no. 3, August 2004.

PAPERS PRESENTED

“’A Diagnostic of Power:’ Strategies of Muslim women activists in advocating Islamic family law reform in Bahrain, 1982 – 2008,” Rutgers Center for Historical Analysis, April 12, 2011.

“Women and Family Law Reform in Bahrain: Re-shaping Shari`a and the Islamic State,” Religious Studies Colloquium, University of Pennsylvania, September 17, 2009.

“Shi`i `Ulama’ in Bahrain: The Family Law Debate as an Arena for Redefining Religious Authority,” Annual Meeting, American Academy of Religion, November 3, 2008.

“Shi`i `Ulama’ in Bahrain: The Family Law Reform Debate as an Arena for Redefining Religious Authority,” Middle East Studies Graduate Student Colloquium, University of Pennsylvania, October 20, 2008.

“Is Islam’s Response to Suffering Gendered? A Reply to Susan Sered,” Mid-Atlantic American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting, March 15, 2001.

“Testing Bell: An Application of Catherine Bell’s Ritual Theory, Ritual Practice to the Sufi ritual Sama’,” Religious Studies Colloquium, University of Pennsylvania, December 8, 1999.

COURSES TAUGHT

Islamic Civilization, Rutgers University
Women and Society in the Islamic Middle East, Rutgers University
Islam, Global Civilization, Rutgers University
Introduction to Islam, Rutgers University and University of Pennsylvania
Introduction to World Religions, East Stroudsburg University, PA

COURSES ASSISTED

Middle East Studies Seminar, Rutgers University
Religion and the Search for Meaning, University of Pennsylvania
Religions of the West, University of Pennsylvania
Religions of the East, University of Pennsylvania

RESEARCH AND EXPERIENCE ABROAD

BAHRAIN(2005-2006) Dissertation Research: Between Allah and Man, Sunni and Shi`a: Bahraini Women and Shari`a Court Reform

EGYPT (2004-2005) Preliminary Dissertation Research: Personal Status Law Reform and Egyptian Women Activists.

BAHRAIN(2003) Preliminary Dissertation Research: Between Allah and Man, Sunni and Shi`a: Bahraini Women and Shari`a Court Reform.

MOROCCO (1996) Independent Study Project: Adam’s Rib in Cultural Perspective: Comparative Cosmogonies and the Ontology of Women in the Qur’an and Genesis.

ISRAEL (1991) Lived and worked as a field hand on Kibbutz Ga`aton, Nahariyya.

PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS

American Academy of Religion
Association of Middle Eastern Women’s Studies
Fulbright Association
Middle East Studies Association