Brian T. Edwards
{{Infobox person
| name = Brian T. Edwards
| nationality = American
| alma_mater = Yale University
| occupation = Dean, Professor
| organization = Tulane University
}}
Brian T. Edwards is dean of the School of Liberal Arts and professor of English at Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana. Prior to moving to Tulane in 2018, he was on the faculty of Northwestern University, where he was the Crown Professor in Middle East Studies, professor of English and Comparative Literary Studies, and the founding director of the Program in Middle East and North African Studies (MENA).{{Cite web|date=2018-06-03|title=Brian Edwards named dean of Tulane School of Liberal Arts|url=https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/brian-edwards-named-dean-of-tulane-school-of-liberal-arts/|access-date=2021-07-23|website=The Seattle Times|language=en-US}}{{Cite news|date=2018-06-03|title=Brian Edwards named dean of Tulane School of Liberal Arts|work=Associated Press|url=https://apnews.com/article/8d585a82e05445c88ce9acc1b6e910da|access-date=2021-07-23}}
Edwards's research has two main focuses: the globalization of American studies{{Cite journal|last=Giles|first=Paul|date=2017-03-01|title=Between Two Fires: Transnationalism and Cold War Poetry: After the American Century: The Ends of U.S. Culture in the Middle East (review)|url=https://doi.org/10.1215/00029831-3788801|journal=American Literature|volume=89|issue=1|pages=194–196|doi=10.1215/00029831-3788801|issn=0002-9831|url-access=subscription}}{{Cite journal|last=Hibbard|first=Allen|date=2017-02-17|title=After the American century: The ends of US culture in the Middle East|url=https://doi.org/10.1080/1369801X.2016.1250485|journal=Interventions|volume=19|issue=2|pages=298–300|doi=10.1080/1369801X.2016.1250485|s2cid=151341556|issn=1369-801X|url-access=subscription}} and his theorization of "cultural circulation", especially vis-à-vis the Middle East and North Africa.{{Cite journal|last=Lubin|first=Alex|date=2017|title=Brian Edwards, After the American Century: The Ends of U.S. Culture in the Middle East (Review)|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/international-journal-of-middle-east-studies/article/abs/brian-edwards-after-the-american-century-the-ends-of-us-culture-in-the-middle-east-new-york-columbia-university-press-2015-pp-288-3500-cloth-isbn-9780231174008/D55F67D9203E854978B51E1AAD83549B|journal=International Journal of Middle East Studies|language=en|volume=49|issue=1|pages=197–198|doi=10.1017/S0020743816001355|s2cid=164786608|issn=0020-7438|url-access=subscription}}{{Cite journal|last=Schueller|first=Malini Johar|date=2008|title=Orientalizing American Studies|url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/239716|journal=American Quarterly|volume=60|issue=2|pages=481–489|doi=10.1353/aq.0.0013|s2cid=145168869|issn=1080-6490|url-access=subscription}}
Edwards is also an advocate for language learning at both university and K-12 levels,{{Cite web|title=Teach Arabic at Public Schools? Why One Professor Says 'Yes'|url=https://news.wttw.com/2017/05/08/teach-arabic-public-schools-why-one-professor-says-yes|access-date=2021-07-20|website=WTTW News|language=en}} and has served on the American Academy of Arts and Sciences’ Commission on Language Learning.
Career
= Education =
= Work =
Edwards's first book, Morocco Bound: Disorienting America's Maghreb, from Casablanca to the Marrakech Express (2005),{{Cite book|last=Edwards|first=Brian|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2Q2zVesU0v8C&q=%22Brian+T.+Edwards%22+-wikipedia|title=Morocco Bound: Disorienting America's Maghreb, from Casablanca to the Marrakech Express|date=2005-10-28|publisher=Duke University Press|isbn=978-0-8223-8712-1|language=en}} examines "the dynamics and select encounters between the Maghreb and the US from the early 1940s to the early 1970s", as Allen Hibbard writes in the journal Comparative Literature Studies.{{Cite journal|last=Hibbard|first=Allen|date=2007|title=Morocco Bound: Disorienting America's Maghreb, from Casablanca to the Marrakech Express (review)|url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/220410|journal=Comparative Literature Studies|volume=44|issue=1|pages=214–220|doi=10.1353/cls.2007.0033|s2cid=161807606 |issn=1528-4212|url-access=subscription}}
In the edited collection Globalizing American Studies (2010),{{Cite book|last1=Edwards|first1=Brian T.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8-4sZu02tqIC|title=Globalizing American Studies|last2=Gaonkar|first2=Dilip Parameshwar|date=2010-12-15|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=978-0-226-18507-1|language=en}} Edwards and his co-editor, Dilip P. Gaonkar, argue that the discipline of American studies "needs to allow space for alternative interpretations of the concept of 'America' as it is understood in different contexts outside the United States", as Meghan Warner Mettler says in The Journal of Asian Studies.{{Cite journal|last=Mettler|first=Meghan Warner|date=2011|title=Globalizing American Studies. Edited by Brian T. Edwards and Dilip Parameshwar Gaonkar. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2010. 785 pp. 27.50 (paper).|journal=The Journal of Asian Studies|language=en|volume=70|issue=3|pages=785–786|doi=10.1017/S0021911811000933|s2cid=162393687|issn=1752-0401|doi-access=free}}
Edwards's second book, After the American Century: The Ends of U.S. Culture in the Middle East (2015),{{Cite book|last=Edwards|first=Brian T.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rHvICgAAQBAJ|title=After the American Century: The Ends of U.S. Culture in the Middle East|date=2015-12-01|publisher=Columbia University Press|isbn=978-0-231-54055-1|language=en}} considers the reception of US popular culture in Cairo, Casablanca, and Tehran to argue that American cultural influence in the Middle East has waned, according to John Waterbury in Foreign Affairs.
Edwards has appeared in a number of public conversations in the media about US–MENA relations and cultural circulation, including on NPR,{{Cite web|date=2017-02-09|title=Lose yourself in Paul Bowles's 1959 Morocco tapes|url=https://www.kcrw.com/culture/articles/lose-yourself-in-paul-bowless-1959-morocco-tapes|access-date=2021-07-26|website=KCRW|language=en}}{{Cite web|date=2017-12-07|title=Reactions/Perceptions from Morocco of Trump Jerusalem Announcement|url=https://www.wbez.org/stories/reactions-perceptions-from-morocco-of-trump-jerusalem-announcement/7706e6c4-311c-46b5-882d-7beeab8e36be|access-date=2021-07-20|website=WBEZ Chicago|language=en}}{{Cite web|date=2017-02-24|title=Weekend Passport: The Artist's Role in the Arab Spring|url=https://www.wbez.org/stories/weekend-passport-the-artists-role-in-the-arab-spring/330b8d15-f759-472b-b499-80ce411c6e66|access-date=2021-07-20|website=WBEZ Chicago|language=en}} PBS's WTTW,{{Cite web|title=Times Are Changing: Bob Dylan Wins Nobel Prize in Literature|url=https://news.wttw.com/2016/10/13/times-are-changing-bob-dylan-wins-nobel-prize-literature|access-date=2021-07-20|website=WTTW News|language=en}} NBC Chicago,{{Cite web|title=The Talk: Egypt Crisis|url=https://www.nbcchicago.com/local/the_talk__egypt_crisis_chicago/1919159/|access-date=2021-07-20|website=NBC Chicago|language=en-US}} and Voice of America.{{Cite web|title=Chicago Activist Documents Egyptian Turmoil Online|url=https://www.voanews.com/world-news/middle-east-dont-use/chicago-activist-documents-egyptian-turmoil-online|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210720220606/https://www.voanews.com/world-news/middle-east-dont-use/chicago-activist-documents-egyptian-turmoil-online|url-status=dead|archive-date=July 20, 2021|access-date=2021-07-20|website=Voice of America|language=en}} Edwards's podcast episode on Paul Bowles, "Baptism of Solitude",{{Cite web|date=2017-02-09|title=Episode 72: Baptism of Solitude: Paul Bowles's Morocco Tapes|url=https://www.kcrw.com/culture/shows/the-organist/episode-72-baptism-of-solitude-paul-bowless-morocco-tapes|access-date=2021-07-23|website=KCRW|language=en}} which was produced with The Organist (McSweeney's and KCRW), was featured in Hyperallergic
= Awards and honors =
Edwards was named a 2005 Carnegie Scholar by the Carnegie Corporation of New York under its Islam Initiative,{{Cite web|author1=Carnegie Corporation of New York|title=Carnegie Corporation Announces 2005 Carnegie Scholars|url=https://www.carnegie.org/news/articles/carnegie-corporation-announces-2005-carnegie-scholars/|access-date=2021-07-20|website=Carnegie Corporation of New York|language=en}} a 2008 New Directions Fellow by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation,{{Cite web| author1=The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation|title=New Directions Fellowships Recipients|url=https://mellon.org/programs/higher-learning/new-directions-fellowships/new-directions-fellowships-recipients/#!/2008|access-date=2021-07-20|website=The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation|language=en}} and a Class of 2015 Emerging Leader by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs.{{Cite web|title=Emerging Leaders Class of 2015|url=https://www.thechicagocouncil.org/about-us/leadership-development-opportunities/emerging-leaders-program/program-alumni/emerging-4|access-date=2021-07-20|website=Chicago Council on Urban Affairs|language=en}} Edwards also received Fulbright Senior Specialists Awards in American studies in 2009 and 2011.{{Cite web|title=Fulbright Specialist Directory|url=https://fulbrightspecialist.worldlearning.org/directory|access-date=2021-07-20|website=Fulbright Specialist Program|language=en-US}}
From 2016 to 2017, Edwards served on the American Academy of Arts and Sciences’ Commission on Language Learning.{{Cite web|title=Commission on Language Learning|url=https://www.amacad.org/project/language-learning|access-date=2021-07-20|website=American Academy of Arts & Sciences|language=en}} The Commission was charged by Congress to examine language education in the US and make recommendations for ways to meet future education needs, resulting in the report America’s Languages: Investing in Language Education for the 21st Century (2017).{{Cite web|title=America's Languages: Investing in Language Education for the 21st Century|url=https://www.amacad.org/publication/americas-languages|access-date=2021-07-20|website=American Academy of Arts & Sciences|date=28 February 2017 |language=en}} The Commission's findings have been featured in the San Francisco Chronicle,{{Cite web|last=Panetta|first=Leon|date=2018-08-06|title=Americans are losing out because so few speak a second language|url=https://www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/openforum/article/Americans-are-losing-out-because-so-few-speak-a-13135901.php|access-date=2021-07-20|website=San Francisco Chronicle|language=en-US}} The Hill,{{Cite web|last=Tolliver|first=Sandy|date=2018-03-08|title=Monolingualism diminishes America's stature on the world stage|url=https://thehill.com/opinion/education/376707-monolingualism-diminishes-americas-stature-on-the-world-stage|access-date=2021-07-20|website=TheHill|language=en}} the Boston Herald,{{Cite web|date=2018-02-17|title=As you were saying: Students' lack of language skills 'a national emergency'|url=https://www.bostonherald.com/2018/02/17/as-you-were-saying-students-lack-of-language-skills-a-national-emergency/|access-date=2021-07-20|website=Boston Herald|language=en-US}} Inside Higher Ed,{{Cite web|title=Cutting the federal budget for language programs threatens America's security (essay) |url=https://www.insidehighered.com/views/2017/06/23/cutting-federal-budget-language-programs-threatens-americas-security-essay|access-date=2021-07-20|website=Inside Higher Ed|language=en}}{{Cite web|last=Flaherty|first=Colleen|date=2017-02-28|title=Language Study as a National Imperative|url=https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2017/02/28/academy-arts-and-sciences-makes-case-increasing-foreign-language-learning-capacity|url-status=live|access-date=2021-07-23|website=www.insidehighered.com|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170302230613/https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2017/02/28/academy-arts-and-sciences-makes-case-increasing-foreign-language-learning-capacity |archive-date=2017-03-02 }} and the Association for Psychological Science.{{Cite journal|date=2017-03-31|title=Psychological Science Informs American Academy of Arts and Sciences Recommendations on Language Learning|url=https://www.psychologicalscience.org/observer/psychological-science-informs-american-academy-of-arts-and-sciences-recommendations-on-language-learning|journal=APS Observer|language=en-US|volume=30|issue=4}}
= Controversy =
In 2024, Edwards was named in a federal Unfair Labor Practice charge against Tulane University for anti-union activities, including direct retaliation against union organizers.{{Cite web|date=2024-05-24|title=National Labor Relations Board|url=https://www.nlrb.gov/case/15-CA-342922|access-date=2024-09-05|website=National Labor Relations Board|language=en-US}}{{Cite web|date=2024-06-19|title=Non-tenured Tulane faculty overwhelmingly vote to unionize|url=https://lailluminator.com/briefs/tulane-union/|access-date=2024-09-05|website=Louisiana Illuminator|language=en-US}}
Personal life
Edwards is married to Kate Baldwin,{{Cite news|date=1997-08-10|title=Kathryn Baldwin, Brian Edwards|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/08/10/style/kathryn-baldwin-brian-edwards.html|access-date=2021-07-23|issn=0362-4331}} who is Professor of English with joint appointments in the Department of Communication and the Gender and Sexuality Studies Program at Tulane University.{{Cite web|title=Kate Baldwin, School of Liberal Arts at Tulane University|url=https://liberalarts.tulane.edu/departments/english/people/faculty-staff/kate-baldwin|access-date=2021-07-23|website=School of Liberal Arts at Tulane University|language=en}}{{Cite web|title=Interdisciplinary scholar and program builder named new liberal arts dean at Tulane|url=https://news.tulane.edu/pr/interdisciplinary-scholar-and-program-builder-named-new-liberal-arts-dean-tulane|access-date=2021-07-23|website=Tulane News|date=June 2018 |language=en}}
Publications
= Books =
- Morocco Bound: Disorienting America's Maghreb, from Casablanca to the Marrakech Express, Duke University Press, 2005.{{Cite journal|last=Hibbard|first=Allen|date=2007|title=Morocco Bound: Disorienting America's Maghreb, from Casablanca to the Marrakech Express (review)|url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/220410|journal=Comparative Literature Studies|volume=44|issue=1|pages=214–220|doi=10.1353/cls.2007.0033|s2cid=161807606 |issn=1528-4212|url-access=subscription}}{{Cite journal|last=Breu|first=Christopher|date=2007|title=Morocco Bound: Disorienting America's Maghreb, from Casablanca to the Marrakech Express (review)|url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/220758|journal=Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East|volume=27|issue=2|pages=489–492|doi=10.1215/1089201x-2007-025|s2cid=145693489 |issn=1548-226X|url-access=subscription}}
- After the American Century: The Ends of U.S. Culture in the Middle East, Columbia University Press, 2016.{{Cite news|last=Waterbury|first=John|date=2016|title=Capsule Review: After the American Century: The Ends of U.S. Culture in the Middle East|language=en-US|work=Foreign Affairs|url=https://www.foreignaffairs.com/reviews/capsule-review/2015-12-11/after-american-century-ends-us-culture-middle-east|access-date=2021-07-20|issn=0015-7120}}{{Cite journal|last=Rugh|first=Andrea B.|date=2016|title=After the American Century: The Ends of U.S. Culture in the Middle East by Brian T. Edwards (review)|url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/614807|journal=The Middle East Journal|volume=70|issue=2|pages=342–343|issn=1940-3461}}
= Edited collections =
- Globalizing American Studies (with Dilip P. Gaonkar), University of Chicago Press, 2010.{{Cite journal|last=Rhodes|first=Evan|date=2012|title=Beyond the Exceptionalist Thesis, a Global American Studies 2.0|url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/494068|journal=American Quarterly|volume=64|issue=4|pages=899–912|doi=10.1353/aq.2012.0055|s2cid=144622954|issn=1080-6490|url-access=subscription}}{{Cite journal|last=Rothlisberger|first=Leisa|date=2013|title=Globalizing American Studies Edited by Brian T. Edwards and Dilip Parameshwar Gaonkar (review)|url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/531156|journal=Comparative Literature Studies|volume=50|issue=4|pages=717–720|doi=10.5325/complitstudies.50.4.0717 |issn=1528-4212|url-access=subscription}}{{Cite journal|last=Moraru|first=Christian|date=2012|title=Cultural Mobility: A Manifesto, and: Global Matters: The Transnational Turn in Literary Studies, and: The Global Remapping of American Literature, and: Transnationalism in Practice: Essays on American Studies, Literature and Religion, and: Globalizing American Studies, and: Literature and Globalization: A Reader (review)|url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/477158|journal=The Comparatist|volume=36|issue=1|pages=300–311|doi=10.1353/com.2012.0014|s2cid=143673608|issn=1559-0887|url-access=subscription}}
- On the Ground: New Directions in Middle East and North African Studies, Northwestern University in Qatar, 2013.{{Cite web|title=On the Ground {{!}} New directions in Middle East and Northern African studies |url=http://ontheground.qatar.northwestern.edu/|access-date=2021-07-28|language=en-US}}
= Selected journal articles =
- “Hollywood Orientalism and the Maghreb,” boundary2 (online), The Maghreb after Orientalism (special b2o dossier), December 13, 2018.
- “Islam,” in Keywords for American Cultural Studies, 3rd ed., edited by Bruce Burgett and Glenn Hendler (NY: NYU Press, 2020), 137–141.
- “Tahrir: Ends of Circulation,” Public Culture 23.3 (Fall 2011): 493–504.
- “Logics and Contexts of Circulation,” in A Companion to Comparative Literature, edited by Ali Behdad and Dominic Thomas (Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 2011), 454–472.
- “American Studies in Tehran,” Public Culture 19.3 (2007): 415–424.
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{Google scholar id|gXnxw9gAAAAJ}}
- [https://briantedwards.com Personal website]
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Edwards, Brian T}}
Category:Comparative literature academics
Category:Middle Eastern studies scholars
Category:Northwestern University faculty
Category:Tulane University faculty