2025 Research Grant Winners

The Intersection of Faith and Feminism: Portrayal of Islam, Women and Patriarchy in Hausa Films and Literature
Mr. Nura Abubakar, Ohio University

Harsh Punishments and the Criminal Justice System of Iran: Between Judicial Corporal Punishment and Penal Alternatives
Dr. Sanaz Alasti , Lamar University

Cocoa in the Gold Coast: Indigenous Agency, Colonial Policy, and Foreign Trade Networks in an Evolving Global Economy, 1859-1957
Mr. Maxwell Asabere, West Virginia University

Give Peace a Chance: Could the Yom Kippur War have been Prevented? Hafez Ismail’s Talks with the Americans in 1973: A Case Study
Dr. Yehuda Blanga, Bar Ilan University

Feminism Behind the Veil: Coptic Orthodox Nuns and the Politics of Female Piety in Contemporary Egypt
Dr. Rosemary Dawood, Abu Dhabi University

Italy and the Algerian decennie noire between European Dynamics and Mediterranean Pacification
Prof. Flavia De Lucia Lumeno, Lumeno Università degli Studi Niccolò Cusano - Roma

"Blow 'Em All Away": Rape, Race, and Reprisal in North Africa
Prof. R.M. Douglas , Colgate University

Color Capital: Sociocultural Influences of Skin Bleaching Practices Among Nigerian Women
Ms. Ruth Emmanuel , George Mason University

The Lived Experience: Soviet Assistance to Somali Soldiers
Dr. Whitney Grespin, Institute for Security Governance, DSCU/DSCA/DoD

Between Empire and Development: Arthur Hugh Bunting and the East African Groundnuts Scheme, 1947-1951
Dr. Joseph Hodge, West Virginia University

Sites of Control, Spaces of Resistance: Mau Mau Insurgency, Carceral Geography and Memory in Kenya, 1948-1963
Mr. Stiffin Kamande, West Virginia University

#MahsaAmini and #ZanZendegiAzadi Forming a New Discourse of Feminism and Women’s Rights among Iranian Users
Ms. Atousa Kaviani, State University of New York at Binghamton

Necropolitics of the Guillotine in Colonial Algeria
Ms. Shirley Le Penne, Cornell University

Echoes of War: Comparing Kenyan and Tanzanian Reactions to the October 7 Attack and the Israel-Hamas Conflict
Dr. Asher Lubotzky, University of Houston

Navigating a Shifting Middle East: Nationalism, Islamism, and the Future of Regional Order
Dr. Liora Lukitz, Independent Scholar

Zaydism and Ansar Allah (Huthi Movement): Doctrinal Continuity, or Ideological Transformation? (2014-2025)
Prof. Felipe Medina Gutierrez, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana

Examining the Contribution of Domestic Workers to Work-Family Balance Among Dual-Earner Families in Nairobi City, Kenya
Ms. Sussie Mutahi, Strathmore University

The Omu's Vanishing Realm: Gender, Colonial Legacies, and the Unmaking of Indigenous Market Governance in Anioma, Nigeria, 1960-2015
Mr. Sopuruchukwu Nwadi, West Virginia University

Framing Terrorism for Political Survival: Populist Securitization Strategies in Turkey
Ms. Busra Özyüksel, University of Szeged

To Fly to the Tune of Revolution: Huma Airline and the Making of Modern Iran in the Cold War
Dr. Golbarg Rekabtalaei, Seton Hall University

The Muslim Kurdish Peshmerga: Ideology, Militia Structure, and Role in the Suppression of Kurdish Autonomy in Iran
Dr. Fateh Saeidi, University of Texas at Austin

Charles de Gaulle in Beirut
Dr. Franck Salameh, Boston College

Beyond Resources: The Role of Faith and Identity in Shaping Eastern Mediterranean Energy Conflicts
Mr. Mustafa Burak Sener, Eötvös Loránd University

Velleity, Exigency, and Expediency: British Policy in Southern Kurdistan 1918-1921
Prof. Larry Simpson, High Point University

Narratives of Maternal Mental Health in Ghana's Zango Communities
Mrs. Balkisa Sissy, University of Cincinnati

Othering, Representing Identities, and Defining the Political: Islamism and Anti-Americanism in Turkey
Dr. Tuba Unlu Bilgic, University of St. Thomas