Andrew Simon

Andrew Simon

@simongandrew.bsky.social

Historian of media, pop culture, and the Middle East; senior lecturer @dartmouth; author of "Media of the Masses: Cassette Culture in Modern Egypt"; founder of “Ideas to Ink”; andrewgsimon.com

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Andrew Simon
@simongandrew.bsky.social

I never had the chance to meet Ahmad Adawiya, but I felt like I lost a friend when the artist recently passed. In this essay, I reflect on what he meant to me and many others. I hope it serves as a small testament to his immense impact and the obstacles he overcame. newlinesmag.com/essays/the-m...

newlinesmag.comThe Making and Mourning of Ahmad Adawiya, a Musical LegendThe singer was banned from the airwaves, but the humble cassette allowed him to circumvent the rules and sell directly to his audience
Andrew Simon
@simongandrew.bsky.social

Every term, I tell students that I am more than happy to write them letters of recommendation for everything from summer internships to foreign language scholarships. I only ask that they share the outcome of their applications. Today, I learned that one of my students was admitted to Columbia!

Andrew Simon
@simongandrew.bsky.social

مقال رائع عن الصوت و أرشيف الظل و العلاقة بين الكاسيت و السوشال ميديا. عايز أشكر الكاتب عبد الله رامي على قرايته العميقة اللي تسلط ضوء جديد على "إعلام الجماهير." ألف ألف شكر

Andrew Simon reposted

Andrew Simon
@simongandrew.bsky.social

What a joy to attend this thought-provoking conversation with Kim Ghattas at Dartmouth. During it, Kim discussed not only her brilliant new book, "The Best Kind of American" (@henryholtbooks.bsky.social), but also the importance of curiosity, collaboration, and crafting deeply human stories.

Andrew Simon
@simongandrew.bsky.social

What a joy to attend this thought-provoking conversation with Kim Ghattas at Dartmouth. During it, Kim discussed not only her brilliant new book, "The Best Kind of American" (@henryholtbooks.bsky.social), but also the importance of curiosity, collaboration, and crafting deeply human stories.

Andrew Simon
@simongandrew.bsky.social

What a joy to have the chance to engage with students, today, at Wesleyan, down the road from where my Arabic studies started in high school. During the Q&A, students asked about everything from digital archives to state centralization to media in Middle East history.

Andrew Simon
@simongandrew.bsky.social

To see "Media of the Masses" make an appearance on an AJ+ program is truly wild. A thousand thanks to everyone who played a part in this production exploring music, politics, and the recent past.

Andrew Simon
@simongandrew.bsky.social

For top tier storytelling about the Middle East, my mind always immediately goes to Kerning Cultures.

Kate Carpenter@katecarp.bsky.social

Help! I'm teaching a class on storytelling through podcasting, and I'm assembling examples of great narrative (not interview) podcasts, in a variety of genres. I want to expand my range -- tell me your favorites!

Andrew Simon reposted

Andrew Simon
@simongandrew.bsky.social

Is there anything better than two of your former students sharing a meal together in Cairo, a city they now call home after graduating? News of this outing in Zamalek made my day.

Andrew Simon
@simongandrew.bsky.social

Is there anything better than two of your former students sharing a meal together in Cairo, a city they now call home after graduating? News of this outing in Zamalek made my day.

Andrew Simon reposted

Andrew Simon
@simongandrew.bsky.social

Next month, I'll have the chance to share how "Media of the Masses" came to be and where my research on media in Middle East history is going at Wesleyan University. To be able to do so down the road from where my journey with Arabic began two decades ago is special. @stanfordpress.bsky.social

Andrew Simon reposted

Andrew Simon
@simongandrew.bsky.social

A book I will absolutely be reading. "Reconstructing patient histories, Beth Baron traces how medical knowledge was created through women's bodies and by those treating them. The result is a new understanding of the body, medicine, and colonialism in Egypt."

Andrew Simon
@simongandrew.bsky.social

A book I will absolutely be reading. "Reconstructing patient histories, Beth Baron traces how medical knowledge was created through women's bodies and by those treating them. The result is a new understanding of the body, medicine, and colonialism in Egypt."

Andrew Simon
@simongandrew.bsky.social

Next month, I'll have the chance to share how "Media of the Masses" came to be and where my research on media in Middle East history is going at Wesleyan University. To be able to do so down the road from where my journey with Arabic began two decades ago is special. @stanfordpress.bsky.social

Andrew Simon
@simongandrew.bsky.social

There is nothing better than arriving back on campus to teach your first class of the fall and finding handwritten letters in your mailbox from students the prior spring. Notes like these are such a treasure.

Andrew Simon
@simongandrew.bsky.social

A position at my grad school alma mater for a historian of the modern Middle East “with a focus on the history of Israel/Palestine after 1917.” Candidates are expected to be fluent in both Arabic and Hebrew.

Andrew Simon reposted

Andrew Simon
@simongandrew.bsky.social

Replying to @simongandrew.bsky.social

One of only a handful of Arabic language classes to be offered in public high schools across the US at the time, this course introduced me not only to new words, but a region with a rich history that was routinely reduced to conflict in contemporary media.

Andrew Simon
@simongandrew.bsky.social

There are certain events where most people can recall exactly what they were doing when they happened. One such moment, for me, is 9/11. When the attacks occurred, I was in the 8th grade in Connecticut, and I had classmates whose parents worked in the towers.

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Andrew Simon
@simongandrew.bsky.social

Looking back, I now think it is significant that my knowledge of the Middle East gradually grew in the aftermath of 9/11 through my study of Arabic, in classes where culture featured prominently, communication was a guiding principle, and the wider world came into greater focus.

Andrew Simon
@simongandrew.bsky.social

There are certain events where most people can recall exactly what they were doing when they happened. One such moment, for me, is 9/11. When the attacks occurred, I was in the 8th grade in Connecticut, and I had classmates whose parents worked in the towers.

View full thread
Andrew Simon
@simongandrew.bsky.social

One of only a handful of Arabic language classes to be offered in public high schools across the US at the time, this course introduced me not only to new words, but a region with a rich history that was routinely reduced to conflict in contemporary media.

Andrew Simon
@simongandrew.bsky.social

It piqued my intellectual curiosity and, upon graduating, pushed me to continue with elementary Arabic at Duke University. In North Carolina, I went on to major in Arabic, Middle East, and Islamic Studies and had the opportunity to study abroad every summer, first in Yemen and later in Egypt.

Andrew Simon
@simongandrew.bsky.social

There are certain events where most people can recall exactly what they were doing when they happened. One such moment, for me, is 9/11. When the attacks occurred, I was in the 8th grade in Connecticut, and I had classmates whose parents worked in the towers.

View full thread
Andrew Simon
@simongandrew.bsky.social

Going into my senior year, this would change. A Moroccan teacher, who had long taught French, petitioned to offer an Arabic language course as Islamophobia intensified across the US. Eager to learn more about the Middle East, I enrolled.

Andrew Simon
@simongandrew.bsky.social

As our teacher would later share with us, when the Connecticut school board approved our Arabic textbook, its director was holding the book upside-down. This incident, in our instructor’s eyes, only served to confirm the need for such a course to exist in the first place.

Andrew Simon
@simongandrew.bsky.social

There are certain events where most people can recall exactly what they were doing when they happened. One such moment, for me, is 9/11. When the attacks occurred, I was in the 8th grade in Connecticut, and I had classmates whose parents worked in the towers.

Andrew Simon
@simongandrew.bsky.social

At the time, I could not comprehend the gravity of what had transpired. The Middle East was a region I knew next to nothing about. It was at once ever-present, a staple on the nightly news, yet oddly absent, existing only in relation to the attacks.

Andrew Simon
@simongandrew.bsky.social

As I entered high school, the American public’s preoccupation with the Middle East only intensified. During my freshman year, in 2003, the U.S. invaded Iraq and the war raged at a distance from both my small New England town and the content we covered in class, where the Middle East seldom surfaced.