Sami Jiryis Sweis

BIOGRAPHY

Sami Jiryis Sweis joined the Centre College faculty in 2018. He is Assistant Professor of International Studies.

He is a historian specializing in the history of Arab nationalism and the transregional politics of the Arabian Peninsula during the 19th and 20th centuries. His dissertation focuses on the political evolution of the Hashemite dynasty, a family of Arab Ottoman notables in Mecca, and examines the intersections of their imperial and cultural identities–loyalty to the Ottoman Empire, aspirations for an Arab Caliphate, and the Arabization of the Islamic faith–during the 1916-1918 Arab Revolt. His broader research agenda involves examining how identity and political aspirations interacted during and immediately following World War I in the Middle East, particularly Jordan.

Besides his doctoral research, Sweis also studies and teaches on the history of Islamic civilization, the development of the Modern Middle East, and the history of non-Muslim communities in the Islamic world. In particular he specializes on the history of the British Mandates of Transjordan and its development into the independent Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan with a focus on state-tribe relations.

Before arriving at Centre College, Sweis taught history and Arabic language courses at the University of Chicago and at The University of Chicago Graham School of Continuing Liberal and Professional Studies.

Sweis received a B.A. in history and government from Centre College in 2010 and a master’s degree in Middle Eastern Studies from the Center for Middle Eastern Studies (CMES) at the University of Chicago in 2012, and a Ph.D. in Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations.

COURSES TAUGHT

• Introduction to International Studies
• Middle East Politics, Culture, and Society
• Global Petro-Cultures
• Global Kentucky

PUBLICATIONS

“Hashimite Depictions of Wahhabi Islam as a Rhetorical Front in the Late Ottoman Period.” Cogent Arts & Humanities 2024, Vol. 11, No. 1. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/23311983.2024.2391