Fida J. Adely, an expert in the field of development and gender in the Arab world, has been the recipient of two Fulbright scholarships to study gender and education in Jordan where her research examined the role of state schools in contemporary social change. Her work has examined the role of schools as both state institutions and as critical social spaces for young people in their struggle to define and make sense of national, religious, and gendered identities. Dr. Adely’s research interests also include women and development, gender and education, Islamic education in public schools, civic education, and development aid to the Middle East and North Africa. Her dissertation research, titled, "Gender Struggles: Nation, Faith, and Development in a Jordanian High School," focused on the educational experience of adolescent girls in Jordan.
Dr. Adely holds a doctorate in comparative education and anthropology from Teachers College, Columbia University, and her master's degree from Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs. She was previously a visiting assistant professor in the Department of International and Transcultural Studies at Teachers College, Columbia University. In addition, she was a lecturer at Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs from 2000-2005, where she served on the faculty of the Economic and Political Development Program and as the coordinator of the Workshop in Applied Development.
Clovis and Hala Salaam Maksoud Chair in Arab Studies:
Established by friends of the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies in honor of Ambassador Clovis Maksoud and his late wife Hala Salaam Maksoud, this chair strengthens research and teaching in the areas of social and economic development in the Arab world. The Maksoud Chair will address the broad area of Arab social and economic development, including issues of education, governance, and gender. In addition, the chair provides Georgetown’s Center for Contemporary Arab Studies with critical faculty and research support.
Ambassador Clovis Maksoud, a leading Arab public intellectual, played a key role in the founding of the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies in 1975. Maksoud served as the representative of the League of Arab States to the United Nations for 11 years, and was a senior editor at the Egyptian daily Al-Ahram and editor-in-chief of Beirut’s An-Nahar International weekly newspaper. In 1991 he founded of the Center for the Global South at American University. Hala Salaam Maksoud received her doctorate in government from Georgetown University and served as president of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, the largest grassroots Arab-American organization in the United States. She was recognized widely as a role model for Arab and Arab American women. A commentator on Middle East affairs and U.S.-Middle East relations, Maksoud was involved in the effort to educate the U.S. public on issues related to the Arab world.
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