This study analyzes identity, class, religiosity, and belonging as they affect the experiences of female Middle Eastern and Muslim immigrants in various spaces within the context of the Atlanta, Georgia area and draws attention to the ‘othering’ of immigrants in American society. The exploration of immigrants’ experiences in various spaces includes public and semi-public, employment, educational and organizational spaces. Interviews were conducted on 24 female immigrants in the Atlanta area who possess various backgrounds. While female immigrants who wear the hijab experienced more, and more direct, discrimination than those who wear Western styles, the women who wear hijab were not discouraged from attempting to participate in the host society. Female immigrants who wear Western style attire reported indirect negative experiences in public and semi-public spaces. Immigrants’ experiences underscore the concept that socially acceptable stereotypes in the media become fodder for negative stereotypes in mainstream American society.

Une Ethnologie mondaine : l’Égypte vue par Cocteau a pour ambition de comprendre comment le célèbre poète et dramaturge français a perçu le pays des Pharaons au début des années 1950. Jean Cocteau le parcourt à l’occasion d’une tournée théâtrale de la Comédie Française. Il écrit ses impressions et ses états d’âme dans un récit intitulé Maalesh, expression empruntée au langage égyptien du quotidien. Ce carnet de voyage rompt avec le style et la vision de l’Orientalisme romantique dont d’autres écrivains voyageurs comme Gérard de Nerval ou Pierre Loti étaient imprégnés. Maalesh est une oeuvre méconnue, pourtant particulièrement intéressante à étudier parce qu’elle représente pour Cocteau une sorte d’aboutissement dans sa quête incessante d’une compréhension de la mort, qui l’obsède depuis son enfance. L’Égypte ancienne, notamment l’énigmatique Sphinx qu’il considère comme un « dieu », vont lui apporter des réponses. Bien qu’emporté par les soirées mondaines du Caire et d’Alexandrie, Jean Cocteau livre aussi un témoignage fort sur une société égyptienne en pleine transformation qui commence à s’affranchir de la colonisation. En décrivant la misère apparente qui ronge le pays, il va s’attirer les foudres du roi Farouk. Cela empêchera Maalesh d’être suffisamment lu par les Égyptiens. Cette thèse tente aussi de combler un peu ce manque en proposant une traduction d’une bonne partie de l’ouvrage, qui sera ainsi accessible aux étudiants et universitaires arabophones. / A Worldly Ethnology: Cocteau's vision of Egypt is to understand how the famous French poet and playwright perceived the land of the Pharaohs in the early 1950s. Jean Cocteau travels it during a theater tour of the Comédie French. He writes his impressions and moods in a narrative entitled Maalesh, an expression borrowed from the Egyptian language of everyday life. This travelogue breaks with the style and vision of Romantic Orientalism which other travel writers like Gérard de Nerval or Pierre Loti were impregnated with. Maalesh is an unknown work, yet particularly interesting to study because it represents for Cocteau a sort of culmination in his incessant quest for an understanding of death, which has obsessed him since his childhood. Ancient Egypt, especially the enigmatic Sphinx he considers a "god", will provide answers. Although carried away by the mundane evenings of Cairo and Alexandria, Jean Cocteau also gives a strong testimony on an Egyptian society in full transformation which begins to free itself from the colonization. In describing the apparent misery that is eating away at the country, it will attract the wrath of King Farouk. This will prevent Maalesh from being read enough by the Egyptians. This thesis also tries to fill this gap by proposing a translation of a good part of the book, which will be accessible to Arabic-speaking students and scholars.

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Since 2005, the United States has experienced a significant influx of international students from Saudi Arabia, particularly women (Bollang, 2006). The American educational structure is something Saudi women have never experienced due to the vast differences between both cultures in all facets. There is very little to no research conducted on Saudi Arabian women pursuing higher education in an academic culture drastically different from what they are accustomed to. A review of current literature illustrates the critical need for a more in- depth analysis of this phenomenon. Although there is much research available regarding the subjugation of Saudi women in the past and present, the surge in Saudi women pursuing education in the United States has not been researched. This thesis study explores how Saudi women are adapting to the differences in educational structural between what they have experienced back home and what they are experiencing here at Oregon State University. This study also looks at how Saudi women are adapting to the differences in teaching methods at OSU in comparison to what they are used to back home. The traditional teacher-centered approach versus that at OSU that heavily incorporates a student-centered approach. This study utilizes qualitative research methods to find common themes that arose from interviews with the sample group. Findings suggest that the Saudi women studying at Oregon State University developed intercultural competence due to their strong personal desire to succeed in their studies abroad. These Saudi women also proved to have strong levels of motivation and desire to succeed academically in hopes that they will return to their country and assist in improving the status of women. / Graduation date: 2012

Abstract The purpose of this research is to examine the experiences of first-generation, highly educated Iranian women who came to Canada to pursue further education in a ‘just’, ‘safe’, and ‘peaceful’ place. The research has revealed that these women who were fleeing from an ‘oppressive’ and ‘unjust’ Iranian regime face new challenges and different forms of oppression in Canada. This dissertation examines some of the challenges that these women face at their place of work and/or at graduate school. The research findings are based on narratives of eleven Iranian women who participated in in-depth interviews in the summer of 2008. These women, whose ages range from 26 to 55 and are of diverse marital status, all hold an academic degree from Iran. They were also all enrolled in different graduate schools and diverse disciplines in Ontario universities at the time of the interviews. The research findings indicate that their presence in Canada became more controversial after the September 11, 2001 attack on the World Trade centers in New York. Historically, the social images imposed on Middle Eastern women derive from the Orientalism that arose following the colonization of the Middle East by Western imperialists. The perpetuation of such images after the 9/11 attack has created a harsh environment for the participants in this research. After 9/11 most immigrants from the Middle East were assumed to be Muslim and Arab, which many North Americans came to equate with being a terrorist. In order to analyze the participants’ voices and experiences, I have adopted a multi-critical theoretical perspective that includes Orientalism, anti-colonialism and integrative anti-racist feminist perspectives, so as to be equipped with the tools necessary to investigate and expose the roots of racism, oppression and discrimination of these marginalized voices. The findings of this research fall under six interrelated themes: adaptation, stereotyping, discrimination, being silenced, strategy of resistance, and belonging to Canadian society/ graduate school. One of the important results of this research is that, regardless of the suffering and pain that the participants feel in Canadian graduate school and society, they prefer to stay in Canada because of the socio-political climate in Iran.

Abstract The purpose of this research is to examine the experiences of first-generation, highly educated Iranian women who came to Canada to pursue further education in a ‘just’, ‘safe’, and ‘peaceful’ place. The research has revealed that these women who were fleeing from an ‘oppressive’ and ‘unjust’ Iranian regime face new challenges and different forms of oppression in Canada. This dissertation examines some of the challenges that these women face at their place of work and/or at graduate school. The research findings are based on narratives of eleven Iranian women who participated in in-depth interviews in the summer of 2008. These women, whose ages range from 26 to 55 and are of diverse marital status, all hold an academic degree from Iran. They were also all enrolled in different graduate schools and diverse disciplines in Ontario universities at the time of the interviews. The research findings indicate that their presence in Canada became more controversial after the September 11, 2001 attack on the World Trade centers in New York. Historically, the social images imposed on Middle Eastern women derive from the Orientalism that arose following the colonization of the Middle East by Western imperialists. The perpetuation of such images after the 9/11 attack has created a harsh environment for the participants in this research. After 9/11 most immigrants from the Middle East were assumed to be Muslim and Arab, which many North Americans came to equate with being a terrorist. In order to analyze the participants’ voices and experiences, I have adopted a multi-critical theoretical perspective that includes Orientalism, anti-colonialism and integrative anti-racist feminist perspectives, so as to be equipped with the tools necessary to investigate and expose the roots of racism, oppression and discrimination of these marginalized voices. The findings of this research fall under six interrelated themes: adaptation, stereotyping, discrimination, being silenced, strategy of resistance, and belonging to Canadian society/ graduate school. One of the important results of this research is that, regardless of the suffering and pain that the participants feel in Canadian graduate school and society, they prefer to stay in Canada because of the socio-political climate in Iran.