Three new faculty members joined the Department of General Studies (GS) at the beginning of the semester (September 2012). As a result, the GS department is able to offer increased courses in social sciences and humanities. In addition, the new faculty members will enhance the department’s diverse research agenda through their own areas of expertise.
Dr. Mark Thompson, Assistant Professor of Middle East Studies, earned his Ph.D. in the spring of 2012 from the Institute of Arab & Islamic Studies, University of Exeter (UK). In addition, he holds a Bachelor's Degree from Manchester Polytechnic (UK), a Master's Degree in Applied English Language Studies from the University of Wales (UK), and a Master's Degree in Middle East Policy Studies from the University of Exeter where he taught courses on ‘Reform in the Gulf’. He is also a University of Cambridge English Language System (UCLES) examiner and has taught postgraduate and research pre-sessional English for Academic Purposes (EAP) at the University of Reading. Dr. Thompson served as consultant of Middle Eastern affairs to a number of British companies. His research currently focuses on the Gulf States with particular focus on socio-political development in Saudi Arabia.
Dr. Timm Lau, Assistant Professor of Cultural Anthropology, earned his Ph.D. in Social Anthropology from the University of Cambridge (UK) in 2007. He studied Ethnology in Hamburg (Germany) and took his M.Sc. in Social Anthropology at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). From 2010 to 2011, Dr. Lau held a postdoctoral research fellowship funded by the AXA Research Fund at the University of Calgary (Canada), where he undertook research on Tibetan economic adaptation in Canada. He is the author of ‘How Do We Know? Evidence, Ethnography and the Making of Anthropological Knowledge’ (2008) as well as several journal articles and book chapters on the Tibetan diaspora.
Dr. Ashraf Singer, Assistant Professor of International Relations, earned his Ph.D. in Political Science from Claremont Graduate University (USA) in 2008. He is a Fulbright scholar, who served as Research Fellow of World Politics, School of Politics & Economics at Claremont Graduate University. He is a member of the Egyptian Council for Foreign Affairs. Dr. Singer taught at Claremont Graduate University, American University in Cairo (Egypt), Woodbury University, Los Angeles, and the University of California in Irvine (USA). His research interests include War and Peace Studies, American Presidency, Middle East Politics, and the Rise of Asia.
