AUK's Fulbrighters

The Gulf Studies Center at AUK is hosting all of the Fulbrighters to Kuwait. The Fulbright program is the largest U.S. international exchange program offering opportunities for students, scholars, and professionals to undertake international graduate study, advanced academic research and university teaching. There are two Fulbright Students, Anne Hamilton and Jessica Cussano. 

 
Anne Hamilton

Anne Hamilton is a U.S. Fulbright Fellow based at the American University of Kuwait until October 2010. Anne also served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in rural Northeast Thailand from 2003-2006 as a development consultant. In the summer of 2007, Anne received a research grant to work as a consultant to Al-Zahraa Women's Organization in Sakhnin. She holds an MA in Comparative Studies from American University in Washington, D.C. She is originally from Memphis, Tennessee.

Anne's research focus is the political development of Kuwait, in particular, the evolution of the interpellation (istajwab) process as a democratic mechanism by which the National Assembly is able to check executive authority. Her research asks how has the interpellation process evolved overtime and what are the main impediments to its full functioning as a democratic mechanism? She is concerned that little attention has been paid to analyzing successful quasi-democratic experiments in the Middle East, such as that of Kuwait, and that "democracy" is defined too narrowly in U.S. policy circles. Upon her return to the U.S., Anne plans to work in Washington as a consultant for the Democracy and Governance arm of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

 
Jessica Cussano 

Jessica Cussano is a U.S. Fulbright Fellow based at the American University of Kuwait until October 2010. Anne was born in Jacksonville, Florida. She graduated from Boston College in May 2009 with a BA in Islamic Civilizations and Societies. Jessica studied abroad at the American University of Cairo 2007-2008 academic year and received a Critical Language Enhancement Award from the US State Department to study Arabic in Jordan in Fall 2009. 

Jessica's research is on the role of the four recently elected women in Parliament and the effects of the women's subcommittee in the Parliament. She is also interested in studying the reaction to the four female members' participation in Parliament from other members.

During the Fall semester, the GSC hosted a Fulbright Scholar, Dr. Souad Ali, and three Fulbright Students; Justin Dargin, Ayesha Bakali and Christina Koningisor. 

 
Dr. Souad Ali

Dr. Souad Ali is a U.S. Fulbright Scholar based at the American University of Kuwait until June 2010. She is Head of Classics and Middle Studies, Professor of Arabic, Middle East & Islamic Studies in the School of International Letters and Cultures at Arizona State University. She is currently a Fulbright Scholar conducting research and lecturing "Arab Society and Culture". One of her publications include her recent book, A Religion, Not A State: Ali 'Abd al-Raziq's Islamic Justification of Political Secularism (University of Utah Press, 2009).

 
Justin Dargin

Justin Dargin is a Research Fellow with The Dubai Initiative and a Fulbright Scholar of the Middle East. Justin joined AUK in July and stayed until August, 2009. He is a specialist in International Law and Energy Law, and a prolific author on energy affairs. He specializes in carbon trading, the global oil and gas market, the legal framework surrounding the Gulf energy sector, and Middle Eastern geopolitics. He is the author of "The Dolphin Project: The Development of a Gulf Gas Initiative" (OIES Press Jan. 2008), and the author of a forthcoming book, entitled "Desert Dreams: The Quest for Gulf Integration from the Arab Revolt to the Gulf Cooperation Council" (forthcoming early 2010).

 
Ayesha Bakali

Ayesha Bakali is a U.S. Fulbright Fellow based at the American University of Kuwait until April 2010. Ayesha graduated from Georgetown University in 2008, earning a B.A. in Arabic & Islamic Studies. Her research focuses on Kuwait's awqaf system, the traditional Islamic endowment system, which once played a major contributing role to societies in early Islamic Civilization. She is interested in how awqaf systems developed vibrant civil societies and supported various institutions such as schools, mosques, hospitals, orphanages, etc. from all major sectors of society.

 
Christina Koningisor

Christina Koningisor is a U.S. Fulbright Fellow based at the American University of Kuwait until June 2010. She graduated in May, 2007 from Brown University, where she majored in International Relations. Christina is currently working on a research project investigating the political role of women in Kuwait, focusing more specifically on the way in which recent legislative advances have affected perceptions of women as both voters and political leaders.