Recently, there have been constant reports about frequent hostage crises in the Middle East. These kidnappings have increased each year and spread to places where footholds of (typically) terrorist groups reside. It is not unheard of for hostages to be sold or traded to other groups in return for other individuals, goods, or territory. The […]
Read more "Don’t Take Them!"In America, health care and health policies are becoming more and more of a debated issue. What is the right way to handle the issue? What stance should be taken? Well, for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) regions, they are gearing up for the same topic. I was intrigued on what was being […]
Read more "Public Health – What’s Everyone Talking About?"In ancient legend, it is believed that the evil eye was the biggest threat to someone who accepted praise for something beyond what they truly deserved. That person would become “so swollen with pride” that doom would come from the evil eye in the form of incurable illnesses. Society thought that “gods were punishing those […]
Read more "Evil Eyes All Around!"In the Middle East, perceptions of “gay” or “homosexual” are different from those of the West, and even Ohio University. Simply going against cultural norms can cause one to be labeled as “gay” in the Middle East; this categorization of homosexuality may be on pure assumption as well. Unlike Western culture, there are many classifications of […]
Read more "Right To Love"With internet censorship and privacy becoming a growing issue each day, the implementation of Turkey’s new law is shocking. The law will tighten the state’s grip on the Internet and changes the majority of original Turkey internet law from 2007. Street protests and campaigns against the new law have been in full force since the […]
Read more "For Freedom of Press’s Sake"For over five thousand years the art of henna (Arabic) or mehndi (Hindi) has been used as a way of enhancing beauty. Legend has it that Mohammad used henna to dye his beard and that the henna flower was the Prophet’s favorite. The plant has since been associated with positive magic and “provides a link […]
Read more "Expression through Henna"We are always told never to judge a book by its cover, but I find it very hard not to jump to conclusions when I see certain pictures. There are specific images that work really well on covers to help them sell (of course there are others that do not sell). An example that comes […]
Read more "Saving Muslim Women?"When I found that calligraphy is the highest form of visual art in Islamic cultures, I was completely intrigued. Calligraphy isn’t present in Western art (or even culture) and I ended up scrolling through countless Google images of beautiful Islamic calligraphy. Calligraphy script is clearly revered because of the lettering in the Quran. I, and […]
Read more "Elegance in Writing"
Across Cultures 