Diverse perspectives
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Advancing awareness
The Center for South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies (CSAMES) was founded to sponsor, highlight, and encourage events that further our academic community's awareness of and knowledge about the societies of South Asia and the Middle East. CSAMES is engaged in activities to foster knowledge and debate on those areas on campus as well as among community institutions such as schools, libraries, and service organizations, and we welcome suggestions for collaborative efforts in the service of these goals.
Alumni Spotlight: Matthew Niemi
Matthew Niemi entered the CSAMES MA program (Middle East focus) in Fall 2010, soon after completing his undergraduate degree at UIUC in International Studies (Middle East focus) and with a minor in Linguistics, making this his sixth year on campus. He is fascinated by how people form their belief systems and act on them privately, publicly and politically, particularly in regards to the Abrahamic religions in the Middle East and the West. He was a recipient of the FLAS fellowship for the 2010-2011 academic year.
Recent Lecture: China and the Middle East through the lens of Halal Diplomacy
This research focuses on certain halal markets that are large and have aspirations to lead halal certification and quality standardization in recent years. Example: the MENA. Southeast Asia has inspired halal diplomacy with other players. I analyze whether China is a major halal market partner and their influence for each situation. This trend is also seen in major halal markets like MENA, EU, and ASEAN as these countries expand their halal certification processes. The paper examines halal markets and global South relations, focusing on China's influence, and outlines the interview methods...