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Past Mellon Postdoctoral Fellows

2006-08

Sherine Hamdy
 PhD, New York University
Research Interest: Sherine's dissertation, “Our Bodies Belong to God: Islam, Medical Sciences and Ethical Reasoning in Egyptian Life,” addressed questions of science, medicine, bioethics, and Islam. An Egyptian-American who grew up in various parts of the world, Sherine is fluent in Modern Standard Arabic, and Qur'anic and classic Arabic, as well as English, French and Spanish. Among her publications is Blinding Ignorance: Medical science, diseased eyes, and religious practice in Egypt, which appeared in Arab Studies Journal in 2005. 

In Fall 2008 Sherine will continue with the Anthropology Department at Brown, this time as an Assistant Professor.

Michael Rohlf
PhD, University of Pennsylvania
Research Interest: Michael is a specialist in the philosophy of Immanuel Kant, with additional interests in ethics, aesthetics, and the history of modern philosophy, especially German Idealism. His dissertation, "Kant on the Unity of Reason" analyzed Kant’s conception of reason and what is at stake in Kant’s claim that theoretical and practical reason are ultimately manifestations of one and the same cognitive faculty operating on a common principle. Currently he is working on some problems in Kant’s theoretical philosophy in the Critique of Pure Reason, the relationship between Kant’s moral philosophy and contemporary contractualism, and an English translation of Salomon Maimon’s Essay on Transcendental Philosophy (1790).

Michael has accepted a position as Assistant Professor in Philosophy at Catholic University in Washington, DC.

2007-09

Nauman Naqvi
PhD, Columbia University
Research Interest: Nauman’s dissertation, “Mourning Indo-Muslim Modernity: Moments in Post-Colonial Urdu Literary Culture”, explores key moments in the development of modern Urdu literary criticism from the late 19th century in colonial North India to contemporary Pakistan, to understand how questions of modernity, nationalism, tradition, and criticism have been configured in this literary critical tradition. Nauman’s interests include modern Urdu literature, post-colonial studies, modern South Asian history and critical theory. He has taught at Columbia University, has been a producer in the Urdu section of the BBC World Service, and an assistant editor at Pakistan’s premier news magazine, Newsline.

Nauman has accepted a Mellon Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Toor Cummings Center for International Studies and the Liberal Arts (CISLA) of Connecticut College.

Ian Straughn
PhD, University of Chicago
Research Interest: Ian's research and teaching focus is the emerging subfield of Islamic archaeology. His research emphasizes the intersection of material and textual evidence, and the production of space and landscape in the early Islamic period Levant. His current project “Materializing Islam: An Archaeology of Landscape in Early Islamic Period Syria” stems from his dissertation research undertaken in the Anthropology Department at The University of Chicago. His work also looks to develop the theoretical intersections of archaeology and religion through an understanding of how materiality becomes a key vector in ritual practice and spiritual relationships.

Ian continues at Brown's Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology and the Ancient World as a post-doctoral fellow and is the interim scholarly resources librarian for Middle East Studies. He was also recently named to the editorial board of the journal Archaeological Dialogues.

2008-09

Rachel Price
PhD, Duke University
Research Interest: Rachel's dissertation is entitled "Future Measures in Atlantic Literatures (1868-1968)." Her research and teaching focus on circum-Atlantic and particularly Cuban literature.  Rachel is also interested in comparative imperial histories, poetry, media, and critical theory. She is currently working on a study of how late 19th and early 20th century Atlantic literatures engaged a perceived translatio imperii, or transfer of empire, economic power, and aesthetics in the region. 

Her articles include "The Spirit of Martí in the Land of Coaybay," "La sombra del imperio," "Object, non-object, trans-object, relational object: from Concrete Poetry to the nova objetividade" and "Animal, Magnetism, Theatricality." 

After her first year as a Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow, Rachel accepted a position as Assistant Professor at Princeton University.