Erik E. Freas
Associate Professor
Social Sciences, Human Services and Criminal Justice
EMAIL: efreas@bmcc.cuny.edu
Office: S-633D
Office Hours:
Phone: +1 (212) 220-8000;ext=5225
Dr. Freas is an Assistant Professor of Modern Middle East History at the Borough of Manhattan Community College, City University of New York. Previously he taught at the University of Illinois at Springfield. He earned his Doctorate in Modern Middle East History at the University of St. Andrews in St. Andrews, Scotland.
His dissertation and research has focused on Muslim-Christian Arab relations in Palestine during the Mandate and late-Ottoman periods. He is particularly interested in how said relations have informed the development of Palestinian-Arab identity.
His most recent publications have addressed Hajj Amin al-Husayni’s appropriation of the cause of the Haram al-Sharif as a means of elevating his political status, vis-A -vis the Palestinian nationalist movement, through the convening of World Islamic Conference in Jerusalem in 1931; likewise, changes wrought on Palestine’s peasantry during the nineteenth century by the Ottoman Tanzimat reforms and Europe’s then growing economic presence in the region.
Currently, he is working on two articles: one dealing with the perceived problem of Christian Arab favoritism in mandatory Palestine with respect to government-related employment; the other concerning the appropriation of the Haram al-Sharif by both Israeli and Palestinian nationalist movements over the course of the twentieth century, and the impact this has had on the two movements.
He is also currently working on a manuscript dealing more broadly with the nature and evolution of Muslim-Christian Arab relations in Palestine during the late Ottoman period.
Expertise
Modern Middle East History
Degrees
- B.A. Dickinson College, Anthropology (Double Major in Biology),1987
- M.A. New York University, Anthropology,1993
- Ph.D. University of St. Andrews, Modern Middle East History,2006
Courses Taught
- This course analyzes the societies of Western civilization from their origin to early modern times. The major social, economic, political, religious and intellectual developments are examined and their impact on the development of modern Western civilization is traced.
- This course traces the growth of the modern Western world to the present. It surveys the political, economic and social foundations of contemporary civilization.
- This course offers a survey of human history in a global context, beginning with the birth of civilization and running up through the beginnings of the Renaissance in Europe. This historical development of fundamental cultural, political and social institutions will be examined through an analysis of recurring themes in world history. Topics include the earliest civilizations of the Middle East, India, China and the Americas; the beginnings of the world?s major faiths, such as Confucianism, Daoism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Judaism; the history of ancient Greece and Rome; the pre-Islamic history of the Middle East; the early histories of Africa, the Far East and the Americas; Islamic History; medieval European history; the Renaissance. It should be noted that, with respect to those topics generally associated with the ?West? ( i.e., Europe ? for instance, ancient Greece and Rome and the Renaissance), these will be considered within a more global context; developments in Europe then will be considered in terms of its interaction with other global regions, likewise, as reflective of analogous responses to common societal, cultural and environmental challenges. Indeed, the course will address the question of whether the familiar dichotomy of ?West? and ?East? is, in fact, a meaningful one.
- The course offers a survey of human history in a global context, beginning with the Renaissance in Europe and running up to the present. The historical development of fundamental cultural, political and social institutions will be examined through an analysis of recurring themes in world history. Topics include the respective histories of the world?s great religions, the European Renaissance, the Protestant Reformation, the European Enlightenment, the development ( and continuing pervasiveness) of nationalism, Western imperialism and colonialism, the First and Second World Wars, the Cold War, and decolonization. It should be noted that those topics generally associated with the ?West? (for instance, nationalism) will be considered within a more global context; likewise, developments in Europe and North America will be considered in terms of their interaction with other global regions and/or as reflective of analogous responses to similar societal, cultural and environmental challenges. Indeed, the course will address the question of whether the familiar dichotomy of ?West? and ?East? is, in fact, a meaningful one.
- Recent events have seen a growing interest in that part of the world commonly referred to as the Middle East. This course aims to introduce students to the Middle East, from the rise of Islam to contemporary times. It takes a cross-disciplinary approach, designed to allow students the chance to examine the region from a number of different perspectives; not only an historical one, but also those of literature, religion, economics, politics and international relations. It is hoped that, at minimum, the course will provide a sound basis by which students might better frame their understanding of the region; at maximum, that it might stimulate a desire to further explore the region in greater depth. Particularly, given the tendency if the media to view the region largely in terms of current events, it is hoped that by taking a cross-disciplinary approach, students will come to conceive of the region as a multi-dimensional; as a region with rich and varied cultural, historical and intellectual traditions; most importantly, as a region made up of people, of individuals who have many of the same desires and aspirations, the same fears and concerns, as ourselves. Given that the course constitutes a broad cross-disciplinary survey of the Middle East, it will, at times, be necessarily selective, focusing in depth on specific but representative aspects of Middle Eastern civilization. Students are thus encouraged to make reference to the a??additional reading lista?? towards the end of the syllabus. An additional goal of the course is to consider in a more critical way the manner in which the region is portrayed in the media. Thus, periodically, we will be examining issues of topical interest.
Research and Projects
- Upcoming publications
Currently Dr. Freas is working on two articles: one dealing with the perceived problem of Christian Arab favoritism in mandatory Palestine with respect to government-related employment; the other concerning the appropriation of the Haram al-Sharif by both Israeli and Palestinian nationalist movements over the course of the twentieth century, and the impact this has had on the two movements. He is also currently working on a manuscript dealing more broadly with the nature and evolution of Muslim-Christian Arab relations in Palestine during the late Ottoman period.
Publications
“Ottoman Reform, Islam and Palestine’s Peasantry” , Arab Studies JournalBook Review of Christopher M. Davidsons Dubai, The Vulnerability of Success, The Historian“Hajj Amin al-Husayni and the World Islamic Conference” , British Journal for Middle East StudiesBook Review of Ussama Makdisi’s Artillery of Heaven: American Missionaries and the Failed Conversion of the Middle East, Journal of World HistoryMuslim Women in the Missionary World, Muslim WorldReview Article “The Middle East under the Mandate System, Itinerario
Honors, Awards and Affiliations
- UIS Summer Competitive Scholarly Research Grant
For research on monograph ‘Muslim-Christian Relations during the British Mandate Period’ in London and Jerusalem, Summer 2008. - PSC-CUNY Award
For research on monograph ‘Muslim-Christian Relations during the Late Ottoman Period’ in London, Summer 2010. - BMCC Faculty Development Grant
For research on monograph ‘Muslim-Christian Relations during the British Mandate Period’ in London and Jerusalem, Summer 2014.
