* tmc * in patientia vestra habetis animam vestram * tmc *

Dear Reader,

The ASIAN STUDIES WWW MONITOR
(including all its subsidiary (and/or sister) pages on "coombs.anu.edu.au" server) has permanently ceased its publishing operations on Friday 21st January 2011.

All of the online resources reported here have been thoroughly checked at the time of their listing. However, it is possible that, with the with the passage of time, many of the originally reported materials might have been removed from the Internet, or changed their online address, or varied the scope and quality of their contents.

Fortunately, in several cases it is possible to access many of the older versions of the resources listed in the MONITOR. This can be easily done via the free services of the "The Internet Archive" http://web.archive.org/, a remarkable brainchild of Brewster Kahle, San Francisco, CA.

- with warm regards -

Editor, Dr T. Matthew Ciolek.

Canberra, 21 January 2011.


30 October 2008

Ivory Towers on Sand: The Failure of Middle Eastern Studies in America [free E-Book]

http://sandbox.blog-city.com/ivory_towers_on_sand_download.htm

4star
30 Oct 2008

Washington Institute for Near East Policy, Washington DC, US.

Self-description:
"Seven years ago this week, The Washington Institute for Near East Policy published my book [Martin S. Kramer, 2001] 'Ivory Towers on Sand: The Failure of Middle Eastern Studies in America' [137pp, ISBN: 0944029493 - ed.]. I'm pleased to announce that as of this morning [23 October 2008 - ed.], and for the first time, the entire book is available from the Institute as a free download (pdf). [...]

The book appeared six weeks after 9/11 (here's [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9807E7D61F30F930A35752C1A9679C8B63] the 'New York Times' report of its publication), and had a much greater impact than I imagined it would when I wrote it. The Institute and I hope that by making it freely available, 'Ivory Towers on Sand' will live yet another life, especially among today's university and college students. If you are a student or know a student, share the link. If you are in a Middle East course, send the link to your classmates and ask your professor to discuss the book in class. If you are a faculty member, it's now easy to include the book in your next syllabus. (It should definitely be in the syllabus of any course that assigns Zachary Lockman's 'Contending Visions of the Middle East' [Contending Visions of the Middle East: The History and Politics of Orientalism. 2004. Cambridge U. Press. ISBN: 0521629373) - ed.], where 'Ivory Towers' is critiqued over half a dozen pages. Students should be encouraged to read both books and form their own opinion.) [...]

For emailing convenience, here is the url: http://washingtoninstitute.org/download.php?file=IvoryTowers.pdf - Martin Kramer. "

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgments; Preface; Introduction; An American Invention; Said's Splash; Islam Obscured; Misstating the State; The Beltway Barrier; The Cultivation of Irrelevance; Conclusion: When Gods Fail; Appendix; Index.

URL http://sandbox.blog-city.com/ivory_towers_on_sand_download.htm

Internet Archive (web.archive.org) [the document was not archived at the time of this abstract]

Link reported by: T. Matthew Ciolek (tmciolek--at--coombs.anu.edu.au)

* Resource type [news - documents - study - corporate info. - online guide]:
Study
* Publisher [academic - business - govt. - library/museum - NGO - other]:
NGO
* Scholarly usefulness [essential - v.useful - useful - interesting - marginal]:
V. Useful
* External links to the resource [over 3,000 - under 3,000 - under 1,000
- under 300 - under 100 - under 30]: under 30

Please note that the above details were correct on the day of their publication. To suggest an update, please email the site's editor at tmciolek@ciolek.com