Greenberg Middle East series begins with Sept. 19 lecture

?Ethnic Minorities in Israel: From Marginality to Political Power? is the title of the first special event in the Greenberg Middle East Scholar-in-Residence Program this fall at Skidmore. Aref Abu-Rabia, a professor in the Department of Middle East Studies at Ben-Gurion University, will lecture on the topic at 8 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 19, in Davis Auditorium of Palamountain Hall. Admission is free and open to the public.

A scholar whose research interests focus primarily on ethno-botanical medicine, nomadic culture, and on the Bedouin in particular, Abu-Rabia is a 1973 graduate of Ben-Gurion University. He earned a master?s degree in public health at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where his thesis was a comparative analysis between Bedouin traditional medicine and Western medicine. In 1991, he received a Ph.D. degree at Tel-Aviv University.

Since 1997 he has been at Ben-Gurion University, where he has held a number of positions, including chair of the Department of Middle East Studies from 2004 to 2006. During academic year 2006-2007, he was an honorary research fellow at University College London and Huron University in London. He recently received research grants to work with the Bureau of Arab Affairs in the Office of the Israeli Prime Minister, the Department of Education of the Histadrut (Israeli Organization of Labor), the Israeli Ministry of Science and the Truman Research Institute for the Advancement of Peace at Hebrew University.

In addition, he served as the superintendent of Bedouin schools in the Negev, was an instructor at a teachers college, and worked in public health in the Negev.

Abu-Rabia has published widely on the topic of the Bedouins, most recently, A Bedouin Century: Education and Development Among the Negev Tribes in the 20th Century (2001, Berghahn Books) in addition to contributing chapters and making conference presentations.

Abu-Rabia will be in residence at the College in September and October. While on campus he will teach anthropology course titled ?Traditional Medicine in the Middle East,? and serve as a visiting lecture in several departments, in addition to his Sept. 19 public lecture.

The Greenberg Middle East Scholar-in-Residence Series is made possible by a gift from Skidmore alumna Jane Greenberg. The series enables Skidmore to host an Israeli scholar who through teaching, lecturing, and participating in campus life, educates the community on a range of topics concerning political life in the Middle East. The Office of the Dean of Special Programs coordinates the Greenberg series.