CV

Leila Abdel Rahim

Dept. Comparative Literature
University of Montreal

AREAS OF EXPERTISE:

. What:

Culture, literature, comparative methods in research, anthropology, systems of knowledge, creative writing

. Where:

in Western Civilization, Russian (and Slavic) Culture, North East African society (but have lived on 5 continents and hence familiar with other places too).

DEGREES

Ph.D. in Comparative Literature

University of Montreal, Quebec, Canada (to be completed 2008)
Dissertation: Order and the Literary Rendering of Chaos: Children’s Literature as knowledge, culture and social foundation.

M.A. in Social Sciences with extra courses in anthropology (completed course requirements for a second masters in anthropology)

Stockholm University, Sweden (1995-96)
Thesis: The portrayal and participation of women in Russian rock music.

B.A. with thesis in Comparative Literature

Bryn Mawr College, PA, U.S.A. (1989-93)
Thesis: Construction of Cultural Identity in the works of Chingiz Aitmatov and Tahar Ben Jelloun.

EXTRA FIELDS: Civil Engineering (studied for 3 years); Equivalent A-levels in additional maths and physics; Fine Arts (2 years); Courses in sociology at l’Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Science Sociales in Paris (1993-94); Summer programme on Francophone literature and culture at University Laval, Quebec (1991); Administrative skills

LANGUAGES

Native fluency: English, Russian
Fluent: Arabic, French, Swedish
Comprehension of and reading skills in: Latin, Italian, Serbo-Croatian, German, and basic Japanese.

HONOURS & AWARDS

Academic

. Thomas J. Watson Foundation fellowship (1993-94)
. Bryn Mawr College, Full scholarship, 4 years B.A. programme (1989-93)
. Alliance Française, Philadelphia scholarship for excellence in French (1991)
. Bryn Mawr scholarship for summer theatre programme in Avignon (1993)
. Bryn Mawr scholarship for study of Francophone literature and culture at Université Laval, Quebec (Summer 1991)

Painting
Various prizes

Sports
National and international awards in show jumping. Member of the Sudanese National Equestrian (show jumping) team for ten years

COURSES TAUGHT

20th century American Literature, department of Modern Languages, University of Quebec in Trois Rivieres (UQTR) (Spring 2008)

RESEARCH and AREAS OF EXPERTISE

Order and the Literary Rendering of Chaos: Children’s Literature as knowledge, culture and social foundation. Doctoral research (2002-present)

Early Child Development and children’s literature. Research conducted in Tver, Moscow, and the Golden Ring cities. Collected 1000s of slides on Soviet children’s stories, art, cartoons and children’s books in various languages. Wrote several essays on education - see publications below (1998-2002)

Researcher based at CEIFO (the Centre for International Migration and Ethnic Relations Studies), department of Anthropology, Stockholm University (1996-98)

Conducted anthropological research on the following projects:
. Immigrant women in the Swedish labour market (1997-98)
. The Encounter. Socio-medical anthropological research ordered by Socialstyrelsen (the Swedish Board for Health & Social Affairs) on the encounter of notions of health and illness between immigrants and social and medical workers in Stockholm (1996-1998).

Cultural Identity of Muslim Women in Europe in Russia, France, Sweden, and Great Britain. Fellowship: Thomas J. Watson Foundation, R.I., U.S.A. (1993-94)

Intermittent investigations into nationalist movements in the former Soviet Union and East Africa (1986-93)

ESSAYS, PRESENTATIONS and PUBLICATIONS

“Revealing and Concealing: Architecture and Knowledge in Children’s Books” to be presented at Masking and Unmasking conference, Duke University (September 2008)

Conference: CHILDHOODS 2005, Oslo University, Norway. Presented 3 papers (29^th June – 3^rd July 2005):
. “Crime and Punishment in Children’s Literature.”
. “On Objects, Love, and Objectifications.”
. “Modernism and Education: Revised Perspectives.”

Conference: Off to See the Wizard: Quests for Memory and Culture in Children’s Literature, at Monroe College, Rochester, NY. Presented paper (19^th March 2005):
Order & the literary rendering of Chaos in children’s literature.

Stockholm University (1995-97):

. “Gender & Islamic representations by literary authors and western anthropologists: Fazil Iskander, Chingiz Aitmatov, Tahar Ben Jelloun, and others.”
. “Terms are germs - a critique of concepts and terminology in International Migration & Ethnic Relations studies.”
. “Introduction to the particularities of Chilean and Eritrean Migration to Sweden.”
. “Ethnicity, gender, and human rights: two case studies.”

Participation in conferences and workshops:

. Stockholm University: Crime Prevention Association, Stockholm (April 1998)
. Transformation of the Pluralist City, IMER (International Migration & Ethnic Relations Centre), Bergen, Norway (May 1997)

. Sheba - an international conference on black minorities in Europe, Driebergen, Holland (March 1994)
. London Black Women’s Health Project, London (April 1994)

“Tattoos of Alienation“, Bryn Mawr Bulletin, Bryn Mawr, PA. (fall’95)

Reporter on war in North East Africa - Sudan Times (1987-88)
3 hour interview with guerrilla leader Col. John Garang in South Sudan was broadcast on BBC and Voice of America (August 1987)

Drama and other writing

Naked Supper (drama)
Red Delicious (drama)
Ladies and Gentlemen, We’ve Got Him (drama)
Kaleidoscope
Collected Essays on Literary Theory and Culture

EMPLOYMENT

Researcher (1993-present)

Private Consultant on pedagogical and cultural integration questions; e.g.: autonomous building of free learning curriculum, parenthood/childhood, adoption issues (2000-present)

Academic Consultant & Editor -Tver InterContact, Tver, Russia. An exchange undergraduate programme in collaboration with Tver State University (1998-99)

Editor - Maik Nauka Interperiodica, Moscow. A monthly journal on genetics (1998-99)

Researcher - Ceifo (Centre for International Migration and Ethnic Relations), Department of Anthropology, Stockholm University (1996-98)

Teacher of English, French and Russian languages to Keio University, Fujiswawa, Japan professors and students. Organized private classes and used interdisciplinary methods (references available upon request) (1994-95)

Arts Editor The Spur a bi-monthly newspaper, Montgomery College, MD, USA (1988-89)

Office Manager WADS (Water Assessment and Development Project, Sudan) at the Royal Netherlands Embassy, Khartoum. Settled Sudanese, Ethiopian and Eritrean refugee camps and worked on the first geo-hydrological map of Sudan (1987-88)

Political Reporter Sudan Times, Khartoum (1987-88)

Private tutoring English & Russian to professionals in Educational and Musical domains (1984-88)

Administrative responsibilities at various “development” projects and businesses in Sudan - EDI (Energy Development International), WADS (Water Development Sudan), Reading & Bates, Toyo Menka Kaisha and Hilton (1982-87)

Librarian at the Russian Dept. Library, University of Khartoum – two years (I was 15 years old)

Various jobs from the age of 10 to 15 years.

OTHER ACTIVITIES

.Science

.Creative Writing

.Film and Theatre

. Dance: classical ballet, contemporary, Indian

.Animation: author and artistic consultant for both, the English and the Russian versions of: Pisanka: The seed of life, chosen at the animation film festival, Portugal, October 2005

.President of the Russian Cultural Club at Bryn Mawr College, 1991-93

.Equestrian: member of the Sudanese National Show Jumping team for over 10 years

.Travel. Travelled extensively in North East Africa, Eastern and Western Europe, North and Central America, Australia, and East Asia

REFERENCES

Available upon request

3 Comments

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Comment by Cammarota:
Wow, I’d like to get to know this lady, she’s done it all, she’s so learned and her interests so varied, some so close to mine… Feels just like I know you. Can I get a recent picture? Are you Madame or Mademoiselle ?
Been there, done that, hunh ?
Hugs from Omar

August 22, 2007 @ 10:50 am
Comment by Imyarek:
You are a real dynamite. Wish you always to use your energy in the same way and to never betray your ideals for the rest of your life. Meanwhile, Is it possible to watch your interview with guerrilla leader Col. John Garang in South Sudan?
Very interesting combination of talents in one person, you must be having very rich external representation?

Long live Idealists!

August 25, 2007 @ 9:31 pm
Comment by marie-soleil dubois:
I am pleased to have you as professor.
I am really thankful for the knowledge that you transmitted to us. I am still questioning about different topics that you said. I read some of your essays available in your site and I am more puzzles about the way we perceive children and how we educate them. I will keep reading your essays since they are very interesting.
Sincerely,
Marie-Soleil Dubois

March 28, 2008 @ 6:40 pm

© 2008 Layla AbdelRahim

You are welcome to read these works and feel free to quote from the texts, provided that you give full reference and a link to this site. You are NOT to change anything in the texts. For distribution via print or internet, staging, filming or any other projects, please contact the author, Layla AbdelRahim, at: swoury at yahoo.com

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Hapgood, David: The Screwing of the Average Man.

Warning: This book is not for the weak of heart. If you were everwondering where to invest your old age, how to sue your landlord,which bank, health insurance, or pension fund to bless with yourblood and sweat, this book will shatter all illusions (that is, ifyou still managed to retain any innocence with regard to organisedcrime and society). Even if it was written in the 1970s, the book isas relevant today as it was when it first appeared. Hapgood presentsa brilliant analysis of how bankers, stock- and insurance brokers, lawyers, other professionals, and government screw up your average Homo Sapien. This quote speaks for itself: "Theaverage man has of course always been a loser, at least since theinvention of agriculture made it profitable for one person to exploitanother... Sometime in the late sixties, the average man's domesticeconomy stalled... In 1974 a group of congressmen led by John McFallof California estimated that wealth was being transferred to therichest one fifth of the population from those below them at the rateof $10 billion a year... This divine right of hustlers flourishedfrom the earliest days in America... ".
George Lakoff and Mark Johnson Metaphors We Live By.

This is an important classic, whose astute analysis of the metaphoric nature of language exposes the process through which language fosters specific belligerent and problematic social relations and values even when one attempts to restructure those relations. The authors raise vital questions about language and reality and, overall, present a convincing case for the role of metaphor in human perception of war and peace, world and self, even if at times they make some problematic interpretations of causal relationships in a few specific examples. I give a more thorough analysis of this book in my second chapter of my doctoral dissertation that will soon appear here (link) and I highly recommend it.
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Tayeb Salih Season of Migration to the North / The Wedding of Zein.

This Sudanese author writes about the village life in Northern Sudan with depth yet which sparkles with humour and wit while conveying love and respect for these human characters. The Season of Migration to the North was at one point acclaimed as THE novel of the 20^th century Arabic literature. It tells a poignant story of a narrator who returns to his native village in the North of Sudan after several years of higher education in England to meet a mysterious character who reveals to him his own relationship to colonialism, education, racism, and the classical Arabic literary demarcation of reason and madness. A beautiful read that transcends culture and society in our striving for flight towards true human freedom, beyond politics and beyond our social and individual constraints.
Margaret Peterson Haddix, in my opinion, is one of the most interesting contemporary authors, who is unfortunately categorized as a writer for young adults and sometimes children, but whose effective manner of writing with respect for her readers' intelligence and whose fascinating and critically vital themes should, in fact, reach people of all ages - anywhere between 0 and 300 years or more. Just Ella is a realistic book narrated effectively in first person by Ella who is more commonly known around the world as Cinderella and who tells us what “really” happened when she almost married a prince.

She presents a highly convincing explanation of how her story ended up being interpreted as a tale of magical pumpkins, fairy godmothers, and glass slippers and how she finally learnt from her mistakes. Haddix presents a lively narrative, humorous and thoughtful. An excellent book that raises questions of social injustice and outrageous abuse in a reflective, dignifying and powerful language that never once falls into the trap of pity or resignation.
Escape from Memory. This book is at once far-fetched yet credible in Haddix’ ability to portray human nature as striving for goodness and its constant encounter with greed and power.

The plot of this book revolves around an imaginary village called Crythe. Crythians find themselves torn between two great warring powers: the US and USSR. Both powers don't give a damn about individual lives and human suffering. The Russians are portrayed as brutal and the Americans as greedy. This stereotypical depiction is justified through the narrative because it finally all depends on the specific choices that a people make with regards to their social organization. In this particular plot, we find the main character, an all-American girl from a small town in Ohio, after a game of hypnosis going through a turbulent adventure unveiling dark secrets of human relations, her own relationship with her mother, her encounter with Aunt Memory and discovery of a cruel reality outside her home town. The book ties in the themes of memory, history, community, and war. What is people’s meaning in this world? Is it to preserve memory? What is memory? The Crythians respond with the implementation of a tradition that would ensure the transmission of specific memory. Sounds familiar? Aunt Memory is usually this adult who transmits to her “niece” the meaning of the clan and is an important link between the past and the future. The main point of the book seems to be: So, why don't we write hopeful, beautiful narratives rather than keep repeating useless mythical facts that harbour fear, hatred, and breed violent havoc. Apart from being a story on human choices, love and relationships, this book is also about the relations of children and parents and where the link in memory continues, breaks, should continue or should break.
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John Holt: How Children Failand How Children Learnare lively accounts of Holt's observations as a school teacher on exactly what they announce: how children learn or fail.

These books have challenged modern pedagogical theory most of which is based on the assumption that children are either in need of “correctional” methods or are passive receptacles of knowledge to be filled, programmed and modelled into “decent” human beings. Holt argues that authoritarian approach to learning, in fact hinders natural curiosity and blunts the child's thirst for learning, fostering instead passivity and indifference. Holt calls to trust and respect the child's natural striving to learn and be in love with her world and her ability to learn wholesomely without the bribery of professional approval, peer pressure, or grades which are the basis of most of children's “failure”. This is an important foundation for the theory of unschooling and happy childhood.

Elegantly written, these books offer an important yet pleasant read that leaves a deepmark on any one striving to give the best to their children.
JohnTaylor Gatto is an important contemporary critic of pedagogy whom I cite often. A former school teacher, he shocked the pedagogical world of New York when after receiving Best Teacher's Award, he delivered his famous speech, titled The Seven Lesson School Teacher(link) in which he exposes what he “really” “teaches” . In a powerful language, Gatto confesses that he has done an excellent job in fulfilling the schoolmandate teaching kids indifference, passivity, shattering theirself-esteem, cruelty, etc. through the system of bells, grades, constant evaluation and various forms of coercion and punishment that ensure conformity and downright stupidity. This speech served as the basis for a powerful critique of contemporary obligatory schooling titled Dumbing Us Down. I highly recommend it.

The Underground History of American Educationis another important book by John Taylor Gatto in which he explores thehistorical argumentation for and structuring of contemporary schools, a project that has been fostered by the need in hierarchical societies for docile soldiers, workers, consumers, et al, at the service of warring rulers in Europe and industrialist capitalists inthe US. An extremeley important critique of culture and pedagogy.

You can also access some of his books on-line at:http://www.johntaylorgatto.com/or at the public library.
Ivan Illich: Deschooling Society.

This is one of the most important books that at once offers acritique of culture and social institutions and offers feasible waysfor de-institutionalising society and most import deschooling it.Already in 1971, the book already made reference to popularising knowledge and information through libraries and technologies of thetext, such as web nets. Ivan Illich was a brilliant philosopher andany of his books are, in fact, a must to read. If you haven't yet, I'd recommend you start with this book.
Taha Hussein: The Days. A trilogy that beautifully renders the reality of a blind boy growingup in rural Egypt.

It is a rare account of the details of an experience of life through senses excluding our most taken forgranted sense of sight. This autobiographical narrative in third person (although the third part was translated into English in the first person) raises important questions of knowledge and experience, clash of civilizations and most important of social class in a softmanner that sounds like the easy gurgle of the river of life. Infact, the title itself, the Days, in Arabic has many connotations,among which destiny and life. This was my first book of Arabic literature that I read by myself when I was 10.

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