Waed Athamneh
Assistant Professor of Arabic Studies in the Department of Classics
Joined Connecticut College: 2011
Specializations
Modern Arabic poetry
20th-century Arab politics
Feminism in modern Arabic fiction
Waed Athamneh’s research interests focus on modern Arabic literature and 20th-century Arab politics. She studies how poetic voices in the Arab world become a social and political force that mobilizes the public.
At Indiana University-Bloomington, Athamneh has recently defended her dissertation titled: "The Transition in Modern Arabic Poetry from Commitment to Maturity of Poetic Voice and Identity.” She is also currently researching the topic of individual and cultural identity in modern Arabic poetry.
Athamneh founded and directed an immersion Arabic study abroad program at Connecticut College in summer 2012. Ten Connecticut College students spent six weeks in Jordan studying intensive Arabic language and culture and visiting historical and cultural sites of interest. Athamneh was awarded Connecticut College research awards and funding to conduct research and support her work on Arabic poetry in Jordan in 2011 and 2012. In addition, she was awarded the President’s Fund for Faculty-Student Engagement.
In 2006-2007, Athamneh was a Fulbright Scholar teaching Arabic and conducting research at William Paterson University, New Jersey. She also received the Best Arabic Instructor Award of the year 2009-2010 for her dedication and teaching of Arabic at the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures at Indiana University, where she taught Arabic for three years.
Waed Athamneh teaches Introductory Arabic 101, 102, Intermediate Arabic 201, 202 and Modern Arabic Literature and Politics. View the Arabic Studies course descriptions in the College catalog.
Recent conference presentations and talks by Waed Athamneh include:
- "Hijazi yabhath ‘an Sautuh al-Shi’ri” (Hijazi Searching for His Poetic Voice), December 2012, a presentation in Arabic. Invited by the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures, Indiana University, Bloomington
- "Politics and Literature Intertwined: Commitment and Identity in Modern Arabic Poetry," November 2012, Denver, Middle Eastern Studies Association
- "Voices of Protest in Syria,” Middle Eastern Studies Association, Denver, CO. Nov 2012 (with Dr. Caroleen Sayej, Connecticut College)
She is a member of MESA, Middle East Studies Association; AAUW, American Association of University Women and the MLA, Modern Languages Association.
