Samih Farsoun | |
|---|---|
سميح فرسون | |
 Samih Farsoun | |
| Born | 1937 Haifa, Mandatory Palestine |
| Died | June 9, 2005(2005-06-09) (aged 67–68) |
| Academic background | |
| Alma mater | University of Connecticut |
| Academic work | |
| Discipline | Sociology |
Samih K. Farsoun (Arabic:سميح فرسون) (1937 – June 9, 2005) was a professor emeritus ofsociology atAmerican University, where he taught for thirty years until his retirement in 2003.[1]
Farsoun was born inHaifa, Mandatory Palestine, in 1937.[2] The family left their hometown during theNakba in 1948.[2] They settled in Beirut.[2] He graduated fromHamilton College inNew York. He received amaster's degree in 1961 and aPhD in 1971, both in sociology from theUniversity of Connecticut.[1] He died June 9 of a heart attack while on a walk with his wife inNew Buffalo, Michigan.[3] He was a resident of Florida andWashington, D.C. During his career at AU, Farsoun served as chairman of the Department of Sociology for eleven years, chairman and member of numerous university-wide committees. He also established (with John Willoughby) the Arab Studies minor in the Sociology department in 2001.[citation needed]
Farsoun was the founding dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the newly establishedAmerican University of Sharjah in theUnited Arab Emirates from 1997 to 1999. In 2004, Farsoun was named founding dean of Academic Affairs and the College of Arts and Sciences at the newly establishedAmerican University of Kuwait, where he served until February 2005.[4]
An activist and mentor to youngArab-Americans, Farsoun was a founding member of several organizations and the author or editor of books and other writings on aspects of the Arab world,Third World development and the political economy of the Middle East. He lectured at conferences and provided commentary on radio and television news shows on the Middle East.[citation needed]
His accomplishments include:[4]
Farsoun was one of the first members of the board of directors of theJerusalem Fund for Education and Community Development and first member of the executive committee of theCenter for Policy Analysis on Palestine, now thePalestine Center, both based in Washington. He was a founding member of theTrans-Arab Research Institute inBoston.[4]
Farsoun was married to Katha Kissman and his daughter was Rouwayda Farsoun.[citation needed]
Farsoun wrote books about the sociology and politics of theMiddle East:
Additionally, he published papers, book chapters and articles. His works have been translated into several languages, includingArabic,Persian,French,Italian andGerman. Farsoun also published columns in Arabic and English journals and newspapers.[citation needed]
