Bayan was a Masters student in the Department of South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies. Her research interests are the Palestinian Diaspora, Women’s roles in social and revolutionary movements in the Levant, Palestinian activism in the West, as well as Islam in the West Bank. babush4@illinois.edu  

Stay curious Samreny uses world view to connect with theater audience Meet Natasha Samreny (MA, ’10, Middle Eastern Studies & Arabic). She is the director of marketing and communications for Trinity Repertory Company, a theater within the League of Resident Theatres. As a storyteller, Samreny taps into her global view to connect with...

Stephen graduated from our MA program in summer 2017. He graduated from UIUC with a BA in History. His academic path has been shaped by courses in political science and geopolitics that sparked his interest in Middle Eastern studies. He has occasionally focused on the Iranian revolution when writing papers in history courses, but has begun to tackle Arabic language study as a way to broaden his...

Will Velez is an incoming MA student for the Fall 2016 semester. He obtained a BA from UIUC, doubling majoring in Political Science and Spanish and minoring in Arabic Studies. He was awarded a Foreign Languages and Area Studies fellowship by the center for Global Studies for the 2016-2017 school year. His research interests include modern Arab history, Middle Eastern languages, and intercultural...

Natasha Samreny pursued her master's degree in Middle Eastern Studies and Arabic, graduating in Spring 2010. She moved from Tampa Bay where she reported and produced daily and in-depth news for WUSF 89.7 FM. Samreny graduated cum laude in 2006 from the University of South Florida with a BA in broadcast news.

After completing her MFA in Sculpture/Painting at UIUC in 2007, Rashelle wanted to continue her studies with a focus on Middle Eastern cultures. She is interested in both traditional and contemporary artwork from the region. Rashelle enjoyed participating in an Artists' Residency in Kapadokya, Turkey, and teaching art classes in Istanbul, Turkey, in 2007. She finds artwork to be a great tool for...

Umair Rasheed graduated from our program in December 2014. He completed his undergraduate studies in Politics and Economics from the Lahore University of Management Sciences in 2009. Upon graduating, he joined the then newly-launched English language newspaper, The Express Tribune, as a sub editor on its Lahore city desk. His work as a print journalist provided him with useful...

David graduated from the CSAMES MA program in Spring 2016. As an undergraduate, David graduated summa cum laude and with highest distinction in history from the University of Illinois, He returned to join the MA program to further develop his language skills in Arabic and Persian, as well as pursue further study and research in Islamic studies and Middle Eastern history. David will attend UT-...

Jeffrey Peyton joined the CSAMES MA program in Fall 2008, with the Middle East specialization. His primary interest is in religion in the Middle East; in particular, he plans to examine interreligious relations and relations between states and minority religions in the region. Jeff grew up in Champaign and completed his undergraduate work in Islamic Studies in the Department of Religion at the...

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...