Prize-winning Independent Study Projects in Arabic

Written by SOAS Students During the Year Abroad 2016-17.

Writing a 3500-word essay in Arabic after three years of instruction is a challenging task. It is all the more impressive to see how well many students manage, and how stimulating their choice of topic can be.  To illustrate this and to acknowledge the work done by the students, the Near and Middle East Section has decided to publish the best essays of any year on the SOAS website.

From the academic year 2016-7, six out of a total of 31 essays were selected. The students’ names, their year abroad destinations and their essay titles are listed below.  The opinions expressed are those of the students themselves and do not necessarily reflect those of SOAS or the Year Abroad institutions where the essays were written.

Student	Year Abroad Destination	Essay Title
Farzana Lodhi (joint first prize)	Fez	"The idea of 'the self' and 'the other' in Maghreb literary works"
Giorgia Mineo (joint first prize)	Alexandria	"The development of music and song in Egypt from the beginning of the 20th Century to today"
Izna Nadeem	Fez	"Marriage in Islam"
Nicola Toomey	Amman	"The death penalty in Jordanian law: a comparative study"
Winifred Wood	Alexandria	"The history of tattoos among Egypt's Christian Coptic communities"