Nabil S. Al-Tikriti

Nabil Al-Tikriti
  • Associate Professor
  • History & American Studies
  • Academic Degrees

    • BSFS, Georgetown University
    • MIA, Columbia University
    • M.A., Ph.D., University of Chicago

Nabil Al-Tikriti, Associate Professor of History, earned a Ph.D. (2004) in Ottoman history from the University of Chicago, an MIA (1990) from Columbia University, and a BSFS (1988) in Arab studies from Georgetown University. He also studied at the Center for Arabic Studies Abroad’s advanced Arabic language immersion program at The American University in Cairo, and the advanced Turkish language immersion program at Bogaziçi University in Istanbul.

From 1992 to 2003, Dr. Al-Tikriti was a context and liaison officer, administrator, and logistician for Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF-Doctors Without Borders), an international humanitarian aid organization that provides emergency medical assistance to populations in danger in more than 70 countries. He worked in Jordan, Turkey, Albania, Iran, and Somalia, and his duties included jointly conducting an exploratory mission determining potential Médecins Sans Frontières activity in Iraq; negotiating with community and clan leaders concerning team security and staff contracts; serving as liaison with United Nations, nongovernmental organizations, and local government personnel; and controlling personnel issues for more than 200 local staff in a war zone. In 2011, he was elected to serve a three-year term as a member of the MSF-USA Board of Directors.

Dr. Al-Tikriti also has served as a polling station supervisor and election monitor for nine elections since 1997 in Bosnia, Kosovo, Ukraine, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Georgia, and Albania for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). In conjunction with his interest in peace and conflict, Dr. Al-Tikriti researched the effects on Iraqi civil society of the 2003 Anglo-American invasion after being awarded a 2007-2008 Jennings Randolph Fellowship at the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP) in Washington D.C.

Dr. Al-Tikriti’s publications on early modern Ottoman intellectual history, contemporary Iraqi cultural patrimony, higher education and forced migration have appeared in a number of journals, edited volumes, and web reports. He has received several grants and scholarships, including a 2000 Fulbright Fellowship and a 2011 National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH)/American Research Institute in Turkey (ARIT) grant.

He has delivered conference lectures and presentations throughout the United States and in France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, the United Kingdom, Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, and Japan. In 2011, he served as external discussant and delivered the keynote address, “The State of the Middle East Studies in the American Academy,” for the 5th Joint International Workshop in Tokyo, organized by Kyoto University and the Tokyo University of Foreign Studies. He also offered a lecture titled “All My Children: Succession Politics Under Bayezid II” at the American Research Institute in Turkey.

Dr. Al-Tikriti is a member of the American Historical Association, the Middle East Studies Association and the MSF/Doctors Without Borders U.S. Association.

For more information about Dr. Al-Tikriti’s publications, research, appearances, and curriculum vitae, visit: http://naltikriti.umwblogs.org/publications.

  • Nabil Al-Tikriti Presents at Cairo Conference on Iraq 10 Years Later

    Nabil Al-Tikriti Presents at Cairo Conference on Iraq 10 Years LaterOn 3-4 June, Nabil Al-Tikriti offered a presentation entitled “Some Longer Term Effects of the 2003 Anglo-American Invasion on Iraqi Society” to the conference entitled Iraq – 10 Years On: Conflicts, Migrations, Futures in Cairo, Egypt. This conference brought together experts from the fields of Iraqi studies and forced migration to examine some of the [...]
  • Nabil Al-Tikriti Submits Paper at Baghdad Translation Conference

    Nabil Al-Tikriti Submits Paper at Baghdad Translation ConferenceOn 7-9 May, Nabil Al-Tikriti submitted a paper entitled “A Tale of Two Nations: Translation Traditions in the Arab World and Turkey” to the Third International Translation Conference in Baghdad, Iraq. In this conference addressing a wide variety of theoretical and contextual issues related to the field of translation, Prof. Al-Tikriti’s paper addressed a comparison of translation traditions and [...]
  • Nabil Al-Tikriti Participates in NGO Field Associative Debate

    Nabil Al-Tikriti Participates in NGO Field Associative DebateIMG_9708  In his capacity as a board member of the United States section of  MSF/Doctors Without Borders, Nabil Al-Tikriti, associate professor of history and American studies, participated in the annual Field Associative Debate (FAD) for MSF staff serving throughout South Sudan, in Juba on 1-2 March. This year's FAD topic covered arguments in favor of and against the utilization of "remote control" management in constricted relief contexts, whereby international staff avoid direct presence and leave local operations to national staff -- in its extreme form, a sort of humanitarian sub-contracting. After debating this year's topic, staff members then presented recommendations and motions for consideration by the MSF International General Assembly. After the FAD was completed, Prof. Al-Tikriti conducted a brief field visit to MSF's child and maternity hospital intervention in Aweil, South Sudan. Upon his return, he completed a thought piece on his experience for internal review. A brief video produced to commemorate this year's South Sudan FAD can be accessed here: [youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9SOvoufqCI[/youtube]
  • Nabil Al-Tikriti Participates in Iraqi Foreign Policy Workshop

    Nabil Al-Tikriti Participates in Iraqi Foreign Policy WorkshopPro Photo 2012 On February 20-21, Associate Professor of History and American Studies Nabil Al-Tikriti joined a workshop in London entitled "Iraqi Foreign Policy in a Changing Middle East." Participants included over thirty area experts, party representatives, government officials, scholars, and journalists.  The closed workshop was sponsored jointly by the Middle East and North Africa Programme of the Royal Institute of International Affairs at Chatham House and the U.S. Institute of Peace of Washington, D.C. Six sessions covered a range of topics, including Iraq's relations with Syria, the Kurdish Regional Government, the oil sector, and the Gulf states, as well as Iraq's future role in the region. Chatham House plans to publish a summary report of workshop proceedings within the next few weeks.
  • UMW Faculty to Discuss Anniversary of Iraq War

    UMW Faculty to Discuss Anniversary of Iraq War[caption id="attachment_18871" align="alignleft" width="150"]Nabil Al-Tikriti Nabil Al-Tikriti[/caption] [caption id="attachment_15483" align="alignright" width="150"]Eric Bonds Eric Bonds[/caption] UMW faculty members will discuss the 10 year anniversary of the Iraq War during a roundtable on Wednesday, Feb. 13. The discussion will begin at 4 p.m. in Combs Hall, Room 139 and is free and open to the public. The roundtable will feature Nabil Al-Tikriti, associate professor of history, Eric Bonds, assistant professor of sociology, Jason Davidson, associate professor of political science and Stephen Farnsworth, professor of political science and director of the Center for Leadership and Media Studies. All four faculty members have published scholarly research on aspects of the war. Ranjit Singh, associate professor of political science, will serve as the moderator. For more information, contact Jason Davidson at jdavidso@umw.edu or (540) 654-1509. Jason Davidson [caption id="attachment_10362" align="alignleft" width="150"]Stephen Farnsworth Stephen Farnsworth[/caption]
    Ranjit Singh
    Ranjit Singh
  • UMW Graduates Receive Fulbright Scholarships

    University of Mary Washington graduates Eric Halsey and Peter Wingrove have been selected to receive U.S. Fulbright grants for 2012-2013. They become the ninth and 10th students, respectively, to receive the prestigious awards in the university’s history. “The Fulbright committee is extremely proud of Eric and Peter’s accomplishments and wish them well in all their [...]