During this past summer, Associate Professor of History and American Studies Nabil Al-Tikriti carried out several activities while continuing to actively serve as a member of the Board of Directors of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)/Doctors Without Borders USA.
Prof. Al-Tikriti stands in front of the armored car of President ‘Abd al-Karim Qasim (d. 1963).
For three weeks in May and June, Al-Tikriti assisted MSF’s coordination team in Baghdad, Iraq, during the nearby launching of the Falluja siege and recapture campaign. Before returning to the U.S., he then participated in MSF France’s General Assembly in Paris.
Upon return to the U.S., Al-Tikriti chaired a panel on International Migration which he had earlier assembled and organized for the 2016 MSF USA General Assembly, in Brooklyn, N.Y. Panelists included Apostolos Veizis of MSF Greece, the Istanbul-based immigration rights activist Şenay Özden, MSF USA’s own MaryJo Frawley, and Els Debuf of the International Peace Institute. In the course of this assembly, Al-Tikriti was elected MSF USA’s 2016-2017 Board Vice President by his colleagues on the Board of Directors.
In late June and July, Al-Tikriti conducted an administrative mapping exercise while serving as Country Representative Assistant for a cross-sectional initiative in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. During that same period, he met with several colleagues at the University of Addis Ababa’s Department of History.
While completing his MSF reporting in Turkey with his family, Al-Tikriti was interviewed about the post-coup situation in that country by Katrina Dix of The Free Lance-Star, which resulted in the article, “UMW History Professor Caught Up in Turkey Tension,” on July 21, 2016.