Schwedler, Jillian 1966- (Jillian Marie Schwedler)

PERSONAL:

Born February 9, 1966, in Warren, MI; daughter of Marvin Charles and V. Diana Schwedler; married Joel Allan Sherman (a sports columnist), November 14, 1992; children: (twins) Jake and Nick. Education: New York University, B.A., 1988, M.A., 1992, Ph.D., 2000; studied Arabic in immersion programs through Middlebury College, 1990, and American University in Cairo, Egypt, 1991. Hobbies and other interests: Scuba diving, dance, and travel.

ADDRESSES:

Office—Department of Government and Politics, University of Maryland, 3114 L Tydings Hall, College Park, MD 20742-7215. E-mail—JSchwedler@gvpt.umd.edu.

CAREER:

Writer, educator. University of Maryland, College Park, department of government and politics, assistant professor, 2000—. New York University, New York, NY, visiting scholar, 2003-04. Middle East Research and Information Project, chair of the board of directors.

MEMBER:

American Political Science Association, Middle East Studies Association, Law and Society Association, International Studies Association.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Awarded a grant from the National Science Foundation; two Fulbright Scholarships; and two grants from the Social Science Research Council; served as senior research fellow of the Arab Archives Institute in Amman, Jordan.

WRITINGS:

(Editor) Toward Civil Society in the Middle East? A Primer, L. Rienner (Boulder, CO), 1995.

(Editor) Islamist Movements in Jordan, [Amman, Jordan], 1997.

(Editor, with Deborah J. Gerner) Understanding the Contemporary Middle East, Lynne Rienner Publishers (Boulder, CO), 2004.

Faith in Moderation: Islamist Parties in Jordan and Yemen, Cambridge University Press (New York, NY), 2006.

Contributor to journals, including Comparative Politics, Journal of Democracy Social Movement Studies, and SAIS Review of International Affairs.

SIDELIGHTS:

Writer and educator Jillian Schwedler was educated at New York University, where she earned both her undergraduate degree—a bachelor's degree in Near Eastern languages and literature—and her graduate degrees—a master's degree in Middle Eastern studies and a doctorate in politics with a focus on the Middle East. She also studied Arabic, participating in immersion programs at Middlebury College in Vermont, and then through the American University's program in Cairo. Schwedler serves on the faculty at the University of Maryland, College Park, where she is an assistant professor in the department of politics and government. Her research and teaching interests include general courses in government and politics as well as a focus on the Middle East and North Africa and the place of Islam in politics. In addition to her academic work, Schwedler has written a number of articles for journals and other periodicals such as Comparative Politics, Journal of Democracy Social Movement Studies, and SAIS Review of International Affairs. She is also the editor or coeditor of several volumes on the politics of the Middle East: Toward Civil Society in the Middle East? A Primer, Islamist Movements in Jordan, and Understanding the Contemporary Middle East, which she edited with Deborah J. Gerner. She is also the author of Faith in Moderation: Islamist Parties in Jordan and Yemen, which was released in 2006 by Cambridge University Press.

In Faith in Moderation, Schwedler addresses the idea of faith in politics, particularly regarding the way Islam is intertwined with the various political factions in the Middle East. She attempts to determine whether unified political ideals and policies eventually result in more moderate religious beliefs for the state as a whole, or whether religion ultimately prevails and prevents a long-term peaceful status and unity on a political level. Her book was spawned following the 2006 political success of the Hamas organization in Gaza and the widespread debate whether the organization would grow more temperate in its goals now that it had managed to become the ruling party. The book includes Schwedler's analysis of other political factions in Jordan and how they might affect the eventual responses by Hamas. In a review for the Journal of Church and State, Sarah Salwen remarked: "Schwedler's work is rigorous and thorough. Yet, her conclusions are slightly unsatisfying and suggest the need for further study." Neil Quilliam, writing for the Middle East Journal, was more satisfied with Schwedler's effort, dubbing it "an excellent piece of research, which has expanded the boundaries of theoretical debate and deepened understanding of the issues surrounding Islamist participation in national and local politics in the Middle East."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Choice: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries, June, 2004, N. Rassekh, review of Understanding the Contemporary Middle East, p. 1942; February, 2007, N. Entessar, review of Faith in Moderation: Islamist Parties in Jordan and Yemen, p. 1051.

Journal of Church and State, spring, 2007, Sarah Salwen, review of Faith in Moderation, p. 353.

Middle East Journal, summer, 2007, Neil Quilliam, review of Faith in Moderation, p. 553.

ONLINE

Mershon Center for International Security Studies Web site,http://mershoncenter.osu.edu/ (February 10, 2008), faculty profile.

University of Maryland Web site,http://www.bsos.umd.edu/ (February 10, 2008), faculty profile.