Arbella Bet-Shlimon
Reach out and say Hello!
If you would like to contact Arbella Bet-Shlimon, click on the button below and you will be taken to a contact form on a password protected page. Contacting alumni is only for current Robinson Center students and alumni, and you may get the password by contacting eepacad@uw.edu.
Contact Me
RC Program: EEP/Transition School
Graduating Class: 2003
Major: English
Discipline: English & the Arts
Current Location: Seattle, WA
Region: Seattle Area
Current Job/Career:
I’m a historian of the modern Middle East. I specialize in the twentieth-century history of Iraq and the Persian Gulf. Academically, I’m interested in urban history, oil, imperialism, and identity formation; broadly, I strive to help the public understand a badly misunderstood region and to humanize people who are too often dehumanized. I went on the academic job market while completing my Ph.D. and landed a tenure-track position on my second try (that is, a year after receiving the degree). I teach, travel, research, (attempt to) write and publish, meet with grad students, serve on committees, and occasionally do public outreach on Middle Eastern affairs. Among other things.
Graduate School:
After graduating from the UW, I got a master’s degree in Middle Eastern studies from the University of Michigan (2006) and a Ph.D. in history and Middle Eastern studies from Harvard (2012). I had taken no history or Middle Eastern studies classes prior to graduate school and had little background in Arabic; plus, I was only 18 when I matriculated at U of M. There were a lot of psychological and logistical challenges involved in changing fields, becoming a professionalized academic, and being younger than everyone around me (Q: how do you make friends with fellow grad students when you aren’t a drinker and can’t legally set foot in a bar? A: I still don’t know), but I’m glad I stuck with the process to the end because I was passionate about what I was learning, writing and teaching.
Other Interests:
I would be an especially helpful interlocutor for anyone considering graduate school and/or a career in the humanities or social sciences—not only have I done those things myself, but I’ve served on admissions and hiring committees, so I’ve seen the other side of the process. Also, I am a child of immigrants from Iraq and Syria, and I am paid to be obsessed with the Middle East. I’m happy to talk to anyone for whom that background and set of experiences is relevant. Finally, if you find yourself suffering from impostor syndrome (the idea that you are actually incompetent and that your accomplishments are a result of luck or deceit—seriously, RC people, Google this), email me. Really.
If you could give yourself a superpower, what would it be?
A transmogrifying passport that could get me into any country and through any checkpoint.
RC students and community members can contact me for:
- Going out for coffee or conversing over skype about life post-undergrad
- Quick questions over email
