Singh Shares Opinion on Biden Trip to Middle East
Associate Professor of Political Science and International Affairs Ranjit Singh
Associate Professor of Political Science and International Affairs Ranjit Singh’s views were recently quoted in an article titled “What to Expect from Biden’s Trip to the Middle East,” appearing in the New Arab magazine. New Arab is a news and current affairs website focused on the Arab world. It draws on the editorial staff of al-Araby al-Jadeed, one of the largest and most read Arabic language websites, focused on the region’s political, social and cultural issues.
Candidate Biden was extremely critical of Saudi leadership following the alleged murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi. Yet, according to Singh, President Biden, “who prides himself on his foreign policy acumen, is traveling to the region with an extraordinarily weak hand… almost everything he’ll be saying and doing will be with his domestic political scene in mind.” In need of good headlines back home, especially vis-à-vis Ukraine, Biden is unlikely to trumpet any favors he grants the Saudis, but Riyadh can at least expect to extract some gains from his visit. Read more.
Singh Publishes Article “Arguing BDS in the Undergraduate Seminar”
Department of Political Science and International Affairs Associate Professor Ranjit Singh
Political Science and International Affairs Associate Professor Ranjit Singh published a peer-reviewed article “Arguing BDS in the Undergraduate Seminar” in the Spring 2022 Review of Middle East Studies, a journal published by the Middle East Studies Association (MESA).
Singh’s article discusses benefits and approaches to teaching students about one of the most controversial aspects of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict: the international Boycott, Divestment and Sanction (BDS) movement seeking to pressure Israel to comply with international law and end the occupation of Palestinians. The article is based in Singh’s experience teaching a 2019 UMW seminar that largely focused on debates surrounding BDS. Despite the heated controversy, Singh argues social scientists should not shy from teaching such movements because they affect political behavior, shed light on academia and the need for interdisciplinary approaches, engage issues of professorial authority, and open a portal to the ethics of dissent in the era of Black Lives Matter.
An earlier version of this paper was sponsored by MESA’s Committee for Undergraduate Middle East Studies, and presented virtually at the 2020 annual MESA conference.
Singh Publishes Journal Article on Private Landownership and Land Conservation
Department of Political Science and International Affairs Associate Professor Ranjit Singh
Department of Political Science and International Affairs Associate Professor Ranjit Singh article titled “‘Been Heres’ and ‘Come Heres’ in Stafford County, Virginia: Private Landowners and Land Conservation on the Urban Fringe” appeared in the Fall 2020 edition of the peer-review journal Environment, Space, Place.
Private land is vitally important to land conservation efforts, but access to private landowners is a challenge for researchers. Using a participatory research approach, this article studies the preferences and concerns of such landowners on the rural-urban fringe of Stafford County, Virginia. Interviews with 53 private landowners show that conservation is deeply embedded within key social, moral, cultural, and political contexts, including a divide between long-term and newer residents. Successful conservation requires such social knowledge. It is argued that landowner skepticism about local government points towards joint strategies between local government and partner groups. Land conservation choices should be framed as an affirmation of—not limitation on—property rights since urban fringe landowners are likely to see such rights (especially long-established notions such as “by-right” development) as under attack. Conservation also presents an opportunity for community building in rapidly urbanizing areas, since older residents often feel excluded or unappreciated by local government and newer arrivals.
This research was supported by a Jepson Fellowship, and is an outgrowth of Prof. Singh’s long-term involvement in local land conservation, including his current service on the board of directors of the Northern Virginia Conservation Trust.
Singh Presents to Middle East Studies Association
Associate Professor Ranjit Singh, Department of Political Science and International Affairs
Associate Professor Ranjit Singh of the Political Science and International Affairs department presented his paper “Arguing BDS: Reflections of Teaching Undergraduates about Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions” to the annual conference of the Middle East Studies Association (MESA) on October 15, 2020. Singh’s paper reflects on his experiences teaching a 2019 seminar titled “Political Dissent in the Middle East.” His paper was sponsored by MESA’s Committee for Undergraduate Middle East Studies, which he helped to found ten years ago.
Also at the MESA conference, Singh served as a discussant for papers accepted to the Committee’s forum on undergraduate research. Sarah Pietrowski, a UMW Political Science senior, successfully presented her research titled “The Impact of Syrian Refugees on German Immigration Policy” to the same forum. She initially developed her paper in Singh’s Spring 2020 “Politics of the Middle East and North Africa” course.
UMW Forms Partnership with Northern Virginia Conservation Trust
UMW students at the Northern Virginia Conservation Trust’s 25th anniversary conservation luncheon.
UMW students have the opportunity to learn about the policy process, gain practical skills, and pursue their passion for protecting the environment. Dr. Ranjit Singh has formed a partnership with the Northern Virginia Conservation Trust (NVCT), a land trust operating in the dense urban areas of Northern Virginia’s suburbs. Dr. Singh, associate professor of political science and international affairs, has worked with NVCT to help students learn about legislative and legal strategies for conserving undeveloped land. A partnership that provides unique learning experiences for the students and much-needed support for the NVCT, Singh has used his long-standing relationship with the Trust to provide chances for students to volunteer in a variety of projects and serve as interns. One of Singh’s formers students is now on the board of directors for the Trust, building upon his past volunteer experience with them. The Trust had their 25th anniversary conservation luncheon on March 21, 2019 at the Key Bridge Marriott, and UMW sponsored a table for this event. Dr. Singh was able to bring eight students to the event. Demonstrating the promise of community engagement, this partnership represents a example of President Paino’s strategic vision for UMW over the next decade.
Singh Discusses Muslims and Community
Associate Professor of Political Science and International Affairs Ranjit Singh and Sister Munira Salim Abdalla discussed Muslims and the Fredericksburg community on the Feb. 11 Town Talk radio program in response to recent controversy over a new mosque. The program may be heard on WFVA radio here: http://www.newstalk1230.net/episode/town-talk-feb-11/
Singh Presents at National Conference
On Nov. 22, Associate Professor of Political Science and International Affairs Ranjit Singh presented a paper titled “Teaching Social Media and Middle East Studies” to the annual Middle East Studies Association (MESA) Conference in Washington, D.C. His paper addressed three common pedagogical challenges Arab studies instructors face as they incorporate social media into their courses. Singh then outlined a classroom exercise, inspired by the work of Hamada bin Amar, a well-known Tunisian hip hop artist, that takes advantage of the language barrier that normally exists between students and Arabic social media content.
Singh’s presentation was part of a six-person, interdisciplinary academic panel on “Social Media and Pedagogy of Middle East Studies” that he organized for this year’s national conference. The panel was sponsored by MESA’s Committee for Undergraduate Middle East Studies, which Singh helped found several years ago. The Committee is dedicated to addressing the particular needs of Middle East studies faculty and programs oriented towards serving undergraduates. Its programs focus on sharing information and ideas about pedagogy, student research and other areas of specific concern.
Nabil al-Tikriti, Associate Professor in the UMW Department of History and American Studies, served as panel chair.
Singh and Al-Tikriti Participate in Middle East Studies Association Conference
On Oct. 10 to 13, Professors Ranjit Singh, political science and international affairs, and Nabil Al-Tikriti, history and American studies, attended the 2013 Middle East Studies Association (MESA) Conference in New Orleans, LA. The conference is the primary professional event for Middle East Studies in North America. On Oct. 11, Nabil Al-Tikriti chaired a panel entitled “Empire and Belonging: Ottoman Empire to Modern Turkey,” which brought together four scholars offering papers concerning intellectual luminaries in the late Ottoman Empire and early Republican Turkey. On Oct. 12, Ranjit Singh’s presentation on the “Teacher’s Dilemma” presented by new media was part of the “Media, Media Literacy, and Teaching Middle East Studies” panel sponsored by MESA’s Committee for Undergraduate Middle East Studies (CUMES).
Ranjit Singh Coauthors Article
Ranjit Singh, Associate Professor of Political Science and International Affairs, coauthored with U.S. Navy Commander Youssef Aboul Enein an article titled “After Checkmate: The Use and Limits of the Chess Analogy Regarding Syria,” which appeared in the Small Wars Journal. The article examines frequent assumptions in the use of the chess analogy to describe the risks and benefits of intervention in Syria, and cultural differences in how the game is played. The article germinated from discussions that followed Dr. Singh’s formal lecture on “Political Islam and the Arab Spring,” delivered in May as part of the ongoing National Security Lecture series hosted at UMW’s Dahlgren campus.