Recently, there have been constant reports about frequent hostage crises in the Middle East. These kidnappings have increased each year and spread to places where footholds of (typically) terrorist groups reside. It is not unheard of for hostages to be sold or traded to other groups in return for other individuals, goods, or territory. The […]
Read more "Don’t Take Them!"This past week, I was graced with the presence of an Omani student here at Ohio University. With this experience I learned that his family consisted of TEN children, 5 male and 5 female with ages ranging from 7 to 24 years old. I also learned that most of his siblings lived at home, even […]
Read more "We Are Family!"Here in America there are a few foods that are so integrated into the American culture that they have become some of the most popular foods. Some of these foods can include: a cheeseburger, hot dog, nachos, pizza and chocolate chip cookies. After thinking about all of the foods that I love, and especially with […]
Read more "Mouth Watering Middle Eastern Food"Approximately 40 Ohio University students have been displaced after a multiple structure fire occurred early Sunday morning along Union Street in uptown Athens. The fire began around 4:10 a.m. on Sunday, November 16 and was not entirely extinguished until 3:00 p.m. During this time, the flames spread to a total of five businesses, three of […]
Read more "Harsh Winter, Harsh Reality"The Other Son Last summer my Nana and I saw a movie called The Other Son. I was a bit skeptical at first because all I knew was the movie was in subtitles but I must say I was pleasantly surprised. Before watching this movie I was very uneducated on much of the conflict in […]
Read more "The Other Son"The craziest shopping day in America is coming up and retailers are already rolling out their 2014 hours and deals. “Black Friday,” as the day after Thanksgiving is commonly referred to, is the highest sales day of the year for malls, retailers, and outlets alike. In 2013, Americans spent $12.3 billion in overall sales. Americans […]
Read more "Black Friday: A Worldwide Success"After reading and agreeing with one of my classmates, Jack McNenny’s, blog on the lack of foreign language in our schools, I became interested in how countries throughout the Middle East implement foreign language throughout their education, and how it differs from the United States. But They’re Just Children.. Americans tend to view the concept […]
Read more "The Power of Foreign Language"The advertisement business is a competitive market that strives for consumers’ attention. Many companies fail to acquire the interest of their buyers through ads, but there are always those companies that win peoples attention through a memorable commercial, usually from humor or something cute like a puppy. The “Never Say No To Panda” campaign has […]
Read more "Never Say No To Panda"Although ancient history, the rift between Sunni and Shiite Muslims continues to be a factor in modern-day conflict. In order to understand the conflict it is important to know the difference between these two divisions of Islam, a difference I did not know until recently. Difference between Sunni and Shiite Muslims: Both Sunni and Shiite […]
Read more "Islam: one religion divided"In America, health care and health policies are becoming more and more of a debated issue. What is the right way to handle the issue? What stance should be taken? Well, for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) regions, they are gearing up for the same topic. I was intrigued on what was being […]
Read more "Public Health – What’s Everyone Talking About?"The socialization of young women in our culture occurs through many institutions and by means of numerous materialistic items. The familial institution is crucial to how a young woman perceives herself and the world, but her peer group, school, and toys all play a role into her view of what is right and wrong, and […]
Read more "Like a Girl"ISIS. This is a name we have all come to know while researching and learning about the Middle East. ISIS stands for Islamic State in Iraq and Syria but has become more recently known as ISIL, which stands for Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant. They are an extremist group that started as an […]
Read more "The Slave Market"It always fascinates me when I look down from an airplanes window and see the Earth from a different point of view. From this perspective, one can see the ground in a different way, and perceive the land they stand on as patchy, colorful squares divided by trees, bodies of water, roads, homes, etc. The […]
Read more "Stone Rings Decorate The Middle East"In ancient legend, it is believed that the evil eye was the biggest threat to someone who accepted praise for something beyond what they truly deserved. That person would become “so swollen with pride” that doom would come from the evil eye in the form of incurable illnesses. Society thought that “gods were punishing those […]
Read more "Evil Eyes All Around!"With the fights in the Middle East, it’s worth noting who has the biggest arms when it comes to military might over there. These rankings are based on statistical numbers and progress made over the past decades. #5: Iran- With a 6.3 billion dollar defense budget and over 500,000 active front line soldiers, Iran has developed […]
Read more "Top 5 military powers in the Middle East and why"Today, we will continue the discussion on differences between the U.S. and the Middle East. However, there are many more differences in infancy than pregnancy in each region, because there is no universal way to raise a child in our world. The other major idea to keep in mind is that there is no universal […]
Read more "All About them Babies: Part 2"As a citizen of the United States I am granted many freedoms, freedoms I often take for granted. The First Amendment of the United States Constitution protects my right to freedom of religion. Although I am not personally religious, I question how different life would be without that choice. According to Article 18 of The Universal Declaration of Human […]
Read more "The Middle East: Home for Many Relgions"In the Middle East, perceptions of “gay” or “homosexual” are different from those of the West, and even Ohio University. Simply going against cultural norms can cause one to be labeled as “gay” in the Middle East; this categorization of homosexuality may be on pure assumption as well. Unlike Western culture, there are many classifications of […]
Read more "Right To Love"As a public relations major, I find it interesting to learn about how other countries use public relations and how it differs from a typical public relations job in the United States. I never thought that the Middle East would utilize PR the same way we do, but I found myself to be corrected through […]
Read more "Public Relations in the Middle East"We know Haram to be any act that is forbidden or off-limits as outlined by Allah, but where did it come from? This was my initial task: explore Haram– but while meandering through the etymology of “Haram”, I quickly found myself in the thick of texts detailing “Harem,” which were, (am I reading this correctly?) […]
Read more "Is Harem Haram?"
Israel, America, and the Middle East 