Russell brings Middle East perspective to Westfield State

Date: 3/7/2011

WESTFIELD — Westfield State University's (WSU) Guest Lecture Series continues with educator and Egyptian expert, Mona Russell who will bring along her Middle Eastern perspective on the Ground Zero mosque controversy to Scanlon Living Room on March 10 at 7 p.m.

Russell will be speaking from a Middle Eastern perspective, about the controversy surrounding the possibility of a Mosque being built at Ground Zero. She will also be addressing the recent Egyptian Revolution and other Middle East-ern Uprising.

Russell is of Egyptian ancestry and has studied in the country. Her areas of research include Middle Eastern social history and the history of American diplomacy.

Russell received a Bachelor of Arts in History with Social Studies Teacher option from North Carolina State University in 1987. She completed her Ph.D. in Modern Middle East History from Georgetown in 1998.

After receiving her bachelor's degree, Russell was a student teacher at Athens Drive High School in Raleigh, N.C. Since then, she has been an assistant at North Carolina State University, SAS Institute, and Georgetown University. She has taught at Georgetown University, American University in Cairo, Massachusetts Institute of Technol-ogy, Framingham State University, University of Massachusetts at Am-herst, and currently East Carolina University.

In addition to teaching history, Russell has many other teaching interests. These teaching interests include, Middle East/Islamic World, World History and Western Civili-zation. She plans to teach American Foreign Policy in the Middle East, Autobiography, Fiction, and Prison Memoirs as sources for Middle East History, History of Egypt, and many others.

Russell is an associate professor at East Carolina University where she is reconstructing the Middle East history curriculum.

All events in Westfield State's Speakers Series are free unless otherwise noted.

For additional information about WSU's Speakers Series or for a complete schedule, visit www.wsc.ma.edu/speakerseries.

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