In January, I had the privilege of spending two weeks in the Persian Gulf (although they call it the Arabian Gulf), touring Kuwait, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Riyadh (Saudi Arabia). The trip was thanks to a Kuwaiti woman I met initially in 2008 when she was a Fulbright Scholar at Whittier College, where I was teaching at the time. I worked with another faculty colleague to apply for the Fulbright scholar as part of a new program created after 9/11 called “Outreach to the Islamic World.” The goal of the program was to foster better understanding between the United States and scholars in the Islamic world, broadly defined. We specifically requested a woman who could teach about Islam with a special focus on women and Islam. It turned out Alanoud Alsharekh was the perfect fit. Alanoud spent a semester on campus and then returned as a Visiting Scholar in 2017 under the auspices of the Center for Engagement with Communities at the College when I was the Director. Alanoud had often invited me to visit Kuwait, but the time was never right. This year, in January 2025, the stars aligned.
