WESTFIELD – Westfield State University will host a lecture by visiting international scholar Gali Tealakh, a Jordanian professor of political history, titled “Political Islam and the Arab Spring” on Tuesday, March 4 at 4 p.m. in the Loughman Living Room in Scanlon Hall.
Tealakh has been teaching and writing for many years in Jordan and is currently visiting in the United States. He will be a guest and visiting professor at Westfield State University from Thursday, February 27 – Wednesday, March 5, where he will visit classes and speak with students and professors about issues in the Middle East including US-Arab Relations after 9/11, Roots of Terrorism and Counter Terrorism, and Islam and Middle East Societies and Globalization.
In his open lecture “Political Islam and the Arab Spring,” Tealakh will concentrate on current affairs in the Arab world including the role of Political Islam, violence, fanaticism, and reforms. He will answer such questions such as why Islamic parties are gaining from the Arab Spring, and will Islamic politics succeed in an age of globalization?
Tealakh has previously worked as head of the foreign relations department for the Hashemite Charity Organization, head of the Central Asian Division at the Royal Scientific Society in Jordan, and as a senior researcher at the Center for International Studies at the Royal Scientific Society there. He has received two Fulbright awards. His Ph.D. is from University of Durham in England and he holds three master’s degrees: one from Temple University in Philadelphia, one from Indiana University in Bloomington, and one from Moscow State University.
Tealakh was invited to campus by John Paulmann, professor of communication, who met Tealakh at the American Center for Oriental Research in Amman, while traveling in Jordan.
Upon meeting Tealakh, Paulmann was inspired by his open-mindedness.
“I was struck by how Gali not only had great insight about the culture of the Middle East, he was also very knowledgeable about American culture as well, and had an affection for it,” Paulmann said. “I realized that he is a great bridge able to negotiate both cultures.”
The two cultures are, according to Tealakh, more alike than some would think.
“The American Dream is identical with the Arab Dream, if not with every man’s dream,” Tealakh said.
Paulmann said that he hopes Tealakh’s visit allows students to reconsider any preconceived notions they might have regarding Middle Eastern culture.
“I hope Gali’s visit opens up new avenues of understanding on a person to person basis,” Paulmann said.
Tealakh said he’s most looking forward to providing his perspective to help students, faculty, and staff establish bonds with Middle Eastern culture.
“I want to build a bridge for communication, dialogue, and mutual understanding between the Americans and the Arabs depending on many common similarities,” Tealakh said. “I am optimistic because my experience with the students in the US and in the Middle East convinced me of the viability of mutual understanding, and this can be the dominant factor in the future.”
Tealakh will be available for questions from audience members and press following his open lecture. Tealakh’s visit was sponsored by Academic Affairs and made possible by the efforts of John Paulmann and Ricki Kantrowitz. For more information on classes Tealakh will attend and other opportunities to meet with him, please call or email John Paulmann, at 413-572-5752 or [email protected].
