Muhammad Aziz
Dr. Muhammad Aziz is a Senior Lector in Arabic. His pedagogical approach involves particularly the integration of new ideas and methodologies that may contribute productively to enhancing the linguistic, communicative, and cultural competencies of learners. He regularly participates in national conferences on the teaching of Arabic as a foreign language. He has published Religion and Mysticism in Early Islam: Theology and Sufism in Yemen, I.B.Tauris, 2011 and currently working on a translation of some medieval treatises written by Ahmad bin Alwân (d. 1266). Dr. Muhammad Aziz and Dr. Jonas Elbousty have worked on Advanced Arabic Literary Reader, published by Routledge in 2016. Dr. Muhammad is also a board member of both the National Yemeni Arab American Association (NAYA) and The Yemeni American News.
Education:
Ph.D., University of Michigan 2004; M.A. Near Eastern Studies, University of Michigan, 1998; M.A. Center for Middle Eastern & North African Studies, University of Michigan, 1997; B.A., Sanaa University, Yemen, 1986.
Academic Experience:
Lecturer of Arabic, Princeton University, 2004-05; Instructor of Arabic, University of Michigan, 1997-03; Instructor of Elementary English, Ministry of Education, Yemen, 1986-95.
Overseas Experience:
Yemen: Sanaa University; Training in Arabic Syntax (Ibb-Yemen); Quran & Sufi Readings (Ibb-Yemen), Intermediate Arabic for Yale Summer Session program, Amman, Jordan.
Language(s):
Arabic 5, English 5, French 1, Persian 1
Percentage of Time Dedicated to Middle East Studies: 80%
Middle East Studies Courses Taught:
Modern Standard Arabic (all levels), Arabic Narrative Prose, Modern Arab Writers, and Yemeni literature and Culture.
Research/Teaching Specialization:
Modern Standard Arabic (all levels); Arabic Narrative Prose, Modern Arab Writers, Yemeni literature and Culture, Islamic Texts, Arabic Grammar, and Modern Arabic Poetry.
Recent Publications:
(Books)
(1) Religion and Mysticism in Early Islam: Theology, & Sufism in Yemen, I.B.Tauris, 2011; (2) Advanced Arabic Literary Reader, Routledge, 2016 (co-author); (3) Sufi Aspects in the Literary Thought of Najeeb Mahfouz, (in Arabic) Dardjilah, Amman, Jordan, 2019; (4) Aspects of Arabic Culture: The Proverbs of the Yemeni City of Ibb, (in Arabic) Dardjilah, Amman, Jordan, 2020; (5) The Epistles of Aḥmad b. ‘Alwān, A Parallel English-Arabic Text, Dardjilah, Amman, Jordan, 2021.
(Articles)
“A Short Survey of Sufism in Yemen from Inception to the 13th C,” AJISS (2009); Entries in Encyclopedia of Islam, Third Edition (EI3): “Ibn Alwān” & “Abū l-Ghayth Ibn Jamīl, (2008)”: the following in (Arabic) “Zuhd al-Rasūl” & “Zuhd al-Imam ‘Alī b. Abī Tālib” (2008), Spiritual Thoughts in the Thought of Muḥammad Mutawallī Al-Sah’rawī (2017) in yemeniamerican.com, Ibn al-Dayba’, (EI3) forthcoming.
Distinctions:
Certified ACTFL, OPI-Rater/Tester in Arabic, 2009, 2013, 2015, 2019 - 2023; The Great Books of Islamic Civilization Prize, 1997; Professor Richard P. Mitchell Memorial Prize, 1996; Fulbright Fellowship (AMIDEAST), 1995-97, the Frederick W. Hilles Publication Fund of Yale University 2011.
