The Latest from the CCAS Team
Welcome to New Staff
We’re excited to welcome two new members to the CCAS team! Mimi Kirk (left) joined CCAS last fall as Associate Director. She previously served as Program Manager at the Middle East Studies Association and Managing Director of Al-Shabaka, The Palestinian Policy Network. She is also editor of the Journal for the Study of Christian Zionism and has taught the MAAS thesis workshop for several years. Mackenzie Poust (right), a 2020 graduate of the MAAS program, returned to CCAS in early 2025 as Operations and Program Manager. A former CASA fellow in Amman, she brings experience from a range of NGOs and academic institutions focused on the Arabic-speaking world.
Congratulations to Susan Douglass on Her Retirement
After more than a decade of service, Dr. Susan Douglass is retiring from her role as CCAS Education Outreach Director. An alumna of the MAAS program (’93), Susan returned to CCAS in 2014 to lead K–14 outreach, designing professional development workshops and curriculum resources that reached hundreds of educators across the U.S. Her impact has been recognized through major university and national awards, including Georgetown’s President’s Excellence Award (2017) and the Paul S. Hanson Award from the Miami-Dade Council for the Social Studies (2018). “Susan mobilized Georgetown’s intellectual resources to benefit others,” said former CCAS Director Rochelle Davis. “She enhanced the academic and intellectual substance of our education outreach program and raised the national profile of Georgetown.” We are deeply grateful for Dr. Douglass’ tireless work and lasting contributions to our community and to the field of education! You can read a reflection from Susan on her time at CCAS here.
New Book by CCAS Editorial Director
CCAS Editorial Director Vicki Valosik published her debut book, Swimming Pretty: The Untold Story of Women in Water (W.W. Norton, 2024), which was named to NPR’s Best Books of 2024 list, selected as an Amazon Editor’s Pick for Best History Books, and recently shortlisted for the 2025 Vikki Orvice Award for Women’s Sports Writing sponsored by The Sunday Times (UK). Swimming Pretty traces the origins and evolution of synchronized swimming—from vaudeville to the Olympics—and shows how its pioneers forever changed women’s relationships with water. You can read an interview with Vicki about her book on the Georgetown website here.
Congrats to CCAS Fellows on New Appointments
This year, CCAS had the pleasure of hosting two fellows: Dr. Mariam Taher (top right), Qatar Post-Doctoral Fellow, and Dr. Natalie El-Eid (bottom right), American Druze Foundation Fellow. Taher, whose research focuses on security in the daily life of the Amazigh community, taught the course “Ethnic & Racial Minorities in the MENA.” Next year, she will begin a tenure-track position at Indiana University. El-Eid’s work examines interdisciplinary textualizations of transnational Arab identities, cultures, and lived experiences across racial and ethnic solidarities. She taught the course “Trauma, Memory, & the Transnational Arab World” at CCAS and was recently awarded a fellowship from the American Council of Learned Societies. Congrats to both on their new positions and many thanks for their contributions to the intellectual life of our community!
CCAS Events Manager Honored with Distinguished Staff Award
We are pleased to congratulate Assistant Director of Events and Programs, Coco Tait, who received the 2024 Provost Distinguished Staff Member Award, which recognizes outstanding staff contributions across Georgetown University. Coco was honored for her leadership, professionalism, and dedication to fostering community through her work. “Coco has been a vital member of the CCAS team,” said CCAS Director Fida Adely. “In what is perhaps one of the busiest periods in the Center’s nearly 50-year history, Coco has helped to shepherd a vibrant and timely events program and to build relationships with colleagues around the university and in the DMV area.”