Professor of political science and Middle East studies/Arabic coordinator, BYU
“From Tunisia to Syria: Causes of the Arab Spring”
Donna Lee Bowen, a professor of political science and Middle East studies/Arabic coordinator at BYU, teaches courses in comparative and Middle East politics and area studies, and gender politics. Bowen writes on the intersection of religion, tradition, and politics in the Middle East and has a forthcoming book on attempts to construct policy that reflects Muslim sensibilities, specifically social policy concerning family planning and abortion. Bowen has traveled, lived, and researched in North Africa and the Middle East. She served on the Board of Directors of the Middle East Studies Association of North America, and held the offices of treasurer, vice president, and is currently on the Board of Directors of the American Institute of Maghrib Studies. She received a PhD in political science from the University of Chicago. In addition to academia, she has completed consulting projects on population, politics, development, and women’s status for the World Bank, the Ford Foundation, and USAID. Bowen and her husband, James R. Barnes, emeritus professor of zoology at BYU, are the parents of three daughters and have eleven grandchildren.
Business casual, $10 per attendee, and lunch will be served. RSVP by Thursday, 10 May to Nellie Ashby at (801) 422-3378 or nellie.ashby@byu.edu. For more information, contact Joe Seeger, BYU Alumni Association Chicago Chapter, (312) 594-7148 or byuchicago@gmail.com.
