Meet Professor Jackson Perry, Visiting Assistant Teaching Professor at CCAS. Please see Dr. Perry’s full biography here.
What brought you to CCAS, and what are your goals while you are here?
While I am officially new to CCAS, I have a long history with the institution, as a holder of undergraduate and graduate degrees from Georgetown. Having trained with many excellent faculty in Arabic, Middle Eastern studies, and history here, my main goals during my time at CCAS are to offer compelling courses about the region’s history and to do my part to sustain the environment of supportive mentorship that already exists on the Hilltop.
What classes are you teaching this semester?
I am teaching core seminars for students pursuing master’s degrees in Arab Studies and Foreign Service (MSFS) this semester. My CCAS course examines the history of the Middle East in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries; the topic with MSFS students is, broadly speaking, the historical roots of the contemporary world order.
You’re currently working on a book manuscript, The Tree of the Future: Eucalyptus Enthusiasm and the Modern Mediterranean World. Do you have any advice for students who are interested in writing a book later in their career?
As I’m not yet done with my own book, I will only offer three humble bits of advice. First, don’t set out to write a book, but to answer a question: a rich, thorny, confusing question (or two). Second, term papers, master’s and doctoral theses, journalistic articles, they all have audiences; write with an audience in mind. And finally, the style of what you are reading will shape the style of what you are writing, so when you’re trying to write clear and accessible prose, go read some while you’re at it (or even some poetry!).
What is one thing you would like to share with the CCAS community?A nice meal at Lapis or ilili.