Erik E. Freas

Picture of Erik  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

Resume

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

HIS 115 (World History I)
HIS 116 (World History II)

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.

     

Additional Information