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Stuart Schaar is Professor Emeritus of Middle East History at Brooklyn College, CUNY. He is the co-author of The Middle East and Islamic World Reader (New York: Grove Press, 2003).
Orientalism's Wake: The Ongoing Politics of a Polemic
Originally posted September 2009
Edward W. Said, who passed away at the age of 67 on September 25, 2003, was a towering “public intellectual” — a man of extraordinary erudition, a path-breaking scholar, and a passionate activist.
Said was a man of many interests, talents, and accomplishments — pianist, opera critic, newspaper columnist, popular essayist, television celebrity, and public lecturer. From 1963 until his death, he was Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University.
Orientalism's Persistence in Mass Culture and Foreign Policy
Originally posted September 2009
Edward W. Said’s widow, Mariam, tells me that his books are still selling well. The academic community has been transformed, and the field of literary criticism has been revolutionized as a result of his legacy. The Middle East Studies Association (MESA) has in recent years elected a series of presidents reflecting non-orientalist approaches. At the last MESA annual meeting in Washington, DC in November 2008 a plenary session was devoted to Said’s work. The large hall was packed.
