I’ve just completed an upgrade of the Reader on this website. The Reader is a kind of guided tour through the most significant and influential of my (online) articles and addresses. When I launched the site almost four years ago, I intended it as a platform for this published work; blogging was an afterthought. But blogging took over, and I neglected the Reader.
Now it’s been revamped. It features my most pertinent pieces, divided into seven categories: Middle Eastern studies, Islamism, U.S. policy, terrorism, Shiism, identities, and mediators. An additional feature on the sidebar, “Assortment,” rotates through many of my other articles.
But even if you’re familiar with my writings, you’ll find something new on the Reader page. I call it “Syllabuster,” and it’s where I grade the syllabi of Middle East-related courses taught in universities and colleges. Syllabi are readily available on the web, and they’re a window into the biases of the field. I give syllabi a quick once-over, offer pithy comments, and assign grades. (And I’m a firm opponent of grade inflation.) I’ll look around for more syllabi every so often, and I invite students to send me links to the syllabi of their courses.
There’s more on the sidebar of the Reader, so explore and enjoy.
