Columbia professor Joseph Massad to present the Inaugural Edward Said Endowed Lecture at CSUSB

Joseph Massad, professor of Modern Arab Politics and Intellectual History at Columbia University, will present the first talk of the Edward Said Endowed Lecture Series, Thursday, Oct. 13, at Cal State San Bernardino.

Massad will speak on “Independence: The Ruse of Settler-Colonialism.” The program will take place at 6 p.m. in the Santos Manuel Student Union North Conference Center and is free and open to the public. For those unable to attend, it will be livestreamed; register at Edward Said Endowed Lecture Series. Featuring Dr. Joseph Massad  webpage to obtain the link.

Massad is the author of several books, dozens of scholarly articles, and hundreds of op-eds. His books include “Colonial Effects: The Making of National Identity in Jordan,” “The Persistence of the Palestinian Question,” “Desiring Arabs,” and “Islam in Liberalism.” His forthcoming book is tentatively titled “The Age of Independence: A Settler-Colonial History of the World.”

He is a recipient of a number of research and teaching awards, including the Lionel Trilling Book Award for his book “Desiring Arabs,” The Scott Nearing Award for Courageous Scholarship, and The Columbia University Faculty Mentoring Award.

His works have been translated to more than a dozen languages including Arabic, Turkish, Persian, French, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Swedish, Japanese, Chinese, German, and Indonesian.

The Edward Said Endowed Lecture Series was established with a gift of $200,000 by local philanthropist and retired businessowner Mustafa Milbis. He and his wife, Beatriz, donated the gift to provide support for an annual lecture series on the contemporary Palestinian experience, allowing CSUSB to continue its commitment to promoting cultural understanding into tomorrow’s leaders.

The lectures will feature internationally recognized intellectuals who will contribute to a deeper understanding of Palestinian history and culture over the past century.

The lecture series is  housed in CSUSB’s College of Social and Behavioral Sciences and the Center for the Study of Arab and Muslim Worlds.

The series was named in honor of Dr. Edward Said, who was a professor of English and comparative literature at Columbia University, and the author of more than 20 books. A leading literary critic, public intellectual and passionate advocate for the Palestinian cause, he was born in Jerusalem in 1935 and died in New York in 2003.

Milbis serves on the CSUSB Philanthropic Foundation Board and also serves on the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences Development Council. His dedication to CSUSB is recognized by his selfless collaboration and unyielding determination – all of these qualities exhibit Milbis as a helpful community member whose willpower adds to CSUSB’s commitment to students. His donation is a promise characterizing the CSUSB community as a place where we are dedicated to helping students achieve success.