IU came to my attention while I was still in Lebanon because of the work of the late IU professor Iliya Harik. The ranking mattered too and I checked it before I applied. That said, if I am to be honest, the full scholarship I got at IU was an essential factor driving my choice. Simply put, studying in the states would not have been possible absent the scholarship.
I could write an article about my IU memories. Six beautiful, beautiful years. What I liked best was the ability to devote myself 24/7 to reading and writing. This is what I had always wanted before and IU gave it to me - again, because of the scholarship. It was enough money for to rent a small place next to campus and to cover my expenses. That meant free time to read, read, and read. A blessing ! So, this is what I remember first: the freedom IU gave me to think about the world. 'We do thinking for a living"...I read that somewhere at IU on my very first day on campus and that's really all I wanted to do - thinking for a living. The beautiful campus is still on my mind to this day - and discussions with colleagues at the Tudor room.
One thing I will never forget: I needed to walk for about 15 minutes to get to campus, and by the time I did, I would have listened to 5 or 6 foreign languages around me because there were so many international students around. Now how about that, I would say to myself...This is not NYC or LA, and yet, in the middle of Indiana, IU has managed to bring so many people from different backgrounds to learn. IU must be doing something right, I'd say to myself...and well, it was/ still is (I hope).
Willam Thompson - no doubt. A giant of an intellectual and scholar. Karen Rasler's courses were important. Kevin Martin (at NELC) helped me a lot as well. As for my colleagues, Adrian Florea was intellectually impressive and a very, very nice guy (He is now a professor at Glascow). Nicolas Blarel (Leiden), Joe Woldense (U of Minnesota), Nevruz Nekhbotchev, and others, were also good friends.
I had so many good lunches at Samira Restaurant (Afghani food) and, well, the Tudor room.
After leaving IU, I got a tenure-track position at Carleton College in Minnesota; then I got tenure at Claremont McKenna College in California where I currently teach. My first book was centered on Arab civil-military relations and authoritarianism in the Middle East. I published it in 2021 and I shifted since to studying American foreign policy in the Middle East.
IU prepared me in various ways for what came next. First, the courses were mostly very good and the professors rigorous. Second, we were clearly encouraged to publish before graduating and this proved essential on the job market. Also, the colleagues were serious and this was contagious. You didn't want to be the only person in the room lagging behind while everyone else was active.
The College of Arts