Dr. Jamie Whidden
ABOUT ME
Not sure where I am from (military bases were my first home), but I went to Halifax West High, Dalhousie, McGill, and the University of London.
My research interest is primarily British imperial history, focusing on Egypt as an example of colonialism, anti-colonial nationalism, and revolution. I have written two books on the subject. My recent research involves the translation of the diaries of a prominent Egyptian nationalist and I have produced several working papers on the subject presented in London and Washington; the most recent is, “The liberal moment in Egypt: A behind the scenes look at the impact of Wilsonian doctrines”.
I have a diverse set of teaching interests, beginning my teaching career instructing African history, with a focus on the inclusion of North Africa in the African historical narrative. My main area is Middle Eastern history. In recent years I have taught courses on the Arab-Israeli Conflict, the Ancient and Islamic Middle East, and have explored issues of race in comparative perspective (including Canada) in Race and Class in Twentieth Century Africa. I seek to engage students in activities, particularly debates or panels on issues such as compensation for victims of the Atlantic slave trade, simulations of conflict resolution in Israel/Palestine, development strategies in Africa, revolution in the Middle East, and various group projects focusing on specific historical processes or events, like the medieval city in the Middle East or the Crusades.
Over the past fifteen years I have worked with hundreds of students seeking experience in learning and teaching through a program known as ASPECT, which, in conjunction with English & Theatre, places Acadia students in local schools as teaching assistants.
TEACHING & PEDAGOGY
Here’s some of the students I have worked with on research projects:
External Reader, Honours Thesis, Colin Mitchell, Geopolitics with Chinese Characteristics: China’s Involvement in East Africa Through International Organizations (Politics).
Faculty Mentor Program, Mentor to Shay Grover, Double Major, History & Psychology, 4th Year.
Independent Study, Naomi Burkhardt, HIST 3693, ‘The Jewish National Fund’.
External Examiner, Master of Arts Thesis, Dalhousie University, Ghazi Jarrar, A Divided Camp: The Istiqlalis in Transjordan, 1920-1926.
Mentoring, Honours Thesis: Jenna Rae Dean, Governmentality and Resistance in the Egyptian ‘Revolutionary’ Uprisings: a biopolitical perspective (Politics).
Supervisor, Honours Thesis: Paul Wadden, Instruments of Civilization: British Economic Imperialism in India during the Nineteenth Century.
External Examiner, MA Thesis, Alan Lensink, Dalhousie University, Writers in the Ally: State Legitimacy and Literature in Nasser’s Egypt, 1952-1967.
External Examiner, MA Thesis, Ibrahim Badawi, Dalhousie University, Dictatorship of the Pious: The Theological Dimensions of Muslim Extremism in Egypt, 1954-1997.
External Examiner, MA Thesis, Brandon Stevens, Dalhousie University, “A Power Plant for Persia”: Alborz College and the Education of Modern Nationalism in Iran, 1921-1941.
Supervisor, Honours Thesis: Alexandra Keys, Founding Apartheid: Race, Capitalism, and British Imperialism in South Africa, 1866 to 1911.
Co-supervisor, Honours Thesis: Kate Schoenmakers, The Contradictions of Development: The Case of Egypt.
Supervisor, Honours Thesis: Ashley Martin, Gender and Empire: British Women in India.
Supervisor, Honours Thesis: Nancy Reid, Amhoro Rwanda! The 1994 Genocide as a Lesson for the World in Conflict and Peace