General Information:

• Encyclopaedia of the Orient (LexicOrient; includes maps)
• Middle East Studies Resources from Columbia University's World Wide Web Virtual Library
• MERIP, the Middle East Research and Information Project from Middle East Report (includes a Primer on Palestine, Israel, and the Arab-Israeli Conflict)
• Middle East Watch, Z Magazine's clearinghouse of articles and links devoted to alternative coverage of the Middle East
• Islamic Interlink, "The Directory of Islam on the Internet"
• Arab Net (Saudi Research and Marketing Groups), which bills itself as "The Online Resource for the Arab World in the Middle East and North Africa," is particularly strong on the history and culture of individual countries in the region.  You might also compare individual country profiles from:

  (a) the World Factbook, by your spooky friends at the CIA	(b) Encylopedia Britannica Online (HSU users only)
  Algeria Morocco Sudan Egypt Lebanon / Saudi Arabia Yemen Israel West Bank	Algeria Morocco Sudan Egypt Lebanon / Saudi Arabia Yemen Israel West Bank / Palestine

Maps:

• Maps of the Middle East (University of Texas)
• Maps of Africa (University of Texas)

 

Literature:

• AET Book Club, the (Middle Eastern) "literature" section of the American Educational Trust--"a non-profit, non-partisan organization incorporated in 1982 in Washington, DC by retired U.S. Foreign Service officers."  This is one of the best sources on the Internet for deeply discounted books and videos from and about the Middle East (including some of our primary texts!).
• Arabic Theory and Criticism (Johns Hopkins Guide to Literary Theory and Criticism--HSU users only)
• The Arabic Literature page of the World Wide Web Virtual Library (Columbia University)
• Al Jadid: A Review and Record of Arab Culture and Arts (an English-language magazine published in Los Angeles)
• Arab Studies Quarterly vol. 19, no. 4 (Fall 1997): special issue on Modern Iraqi Literature (HSU users only; scroll to the righthand column and choose "1997, vol. 19, no. 4, Fall 1997")

 

Media:

• Al-Ahram Weekly, a respected English-language newspaper based in Cairo
• Al-Jazeera's English-language site

Women in Islam:

• The Muslim Women's League, "a non-profit Muslim American organization working to implement the values of Islam and thereby reclaim the status of women as free, equal and vital contributors to society."
• Islam and Women's History (a list of links from About.com)

Arabs and Islam in/and the West:

• Michael T. Klare, "The Geopolitics of War" (The Nation, November 5, 2001): a primer on how US oil interests have historically guided its foreign policy in the Middle East and influenced the region's politics. (Articles from The Nation's archives may be restricted to subscribers; e-mail me if necessary.)
• Michael Hirsch, "Misreading Islam" (Washington Monthly, November 2004): "The disastrous war in Iraq is the consequence of a fundamental misunderstanding of Islam and its strong relationship to democracy in the Middle East."
• 100 Questions about Arab Americans: A Journalist's Guide by the Detroit Free Press
• The Middle East and the West: A Troubled History (Mike Shuster's 6-Part NPR Series from 2004)
• Europe, Islam's New Front Line (Sylvia Poggioli's 5-Part NPR Series from 2004)

Academic Centers:

• Birzeit University, West Bank, Palestine
• Center for Middle Eastern Studies, Harvard University
• Center For Middle Eastern Studies, U.C. - Berkeley
• Center for Middle Eastern Studies, University of Texas - Austin
  • Middle East Network Information Center
• Eyal Press, "Neocon Man" (The Nation 10 May 2004). A profile of Daniel Pipes, influential right-wing pundit and founder of "Campus Watch," which targets scholars (especially postcolonialists and critics of U.S. and/or Israeli foreign policy) it considers "anti-American." See also Kristin McNeil, "The War on Academic Freedom" (The Nation 11 November 2002).