Personal Summary

A proactive, results-focused administrator, teacher, and scholar passionate about and experienced in supporting students through improving academic processes. Skilled in managing and coordinating multiple stakeholders, processes, and projects. Enthusiastic networker who is avidly supportive of faculty and university needs. Trained in academic grant writing, cultural exchange, ethnography, textual analysis, and research methods.

Relevant Employment

2023-2024       Student Hub Coordinator, Winchester School of Art

                        University of Southampton, Southampton, UK

• Provided direct and long-term student support and specialist advice
• Management of internal and external stakeholders at Winchester School of Art and across the University
• Met with students in person and remotely
• Reviewed and advised improvements on processes and procedures
• Collected and reviewed data on objectives and statistics with management
• Developed institution-specific knowledge of processes and stakeholders

2016-               Instructor of Record, Florida State University and University of Wyoming

• Course and syllabus design for Islamic History
• Deliver in-person and fully remote courses in Islamic History and Film Studies
• Line manage two teaching assistants per semester
• Write, invigilate, and mark all exams, assignments, and papers

2022-2023       Executive Assistant to the CEO, CAST

                        Remote; organisation based in Boston, MA, USA

• Supported all facets of CEO and Senior Leadership Team’s work
• Managed CEO’s schedule; liaised with other stakeholders for scheduling, event planning, and organisation
• Managed internal and external relationships
• Initiated and maintained funding relationships with US government, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and other private philanthropic organisations
• Supported Board of Directors: created and distributed communications about board meetings, managed virtual conferencing, and produced meeting minutes
• Tracked, managed, and submitted expenses for CEO and Board of Directors
• Organised travel, designed itineraries, and managed all top-level communications for CEO and Senior Leadership Team

2019-2020       Visiting Researcher, Al-Khalil bin Ahmed Center for Arabic and Humanities Studies, supported by the Fulbright Fellowship

                        University of Nizwa, Nizwa, Sultanate of Oman

• Cultivated and maintained network of local researchers, scholars, and instructors at the University of Nizwa, Sultan Qaboos University in Muscat, and other technical and vocational institutions in Oman
• Conducted site visits with visiting scholars from the UK and US
• Developed professional contacts with Sultan Qaboos College for Teaching Arabic to Non-Native Speakers in Manah, Oman

2015-2016       Faculty Research Support, Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding

                        Georgetown University, Washington, DC

• Provided research support for Ebrahim Rasool, former South African Ambassador to the United States
• Wrote briefs for and edited chapters of Amb. Rasool’s research on combatting religious extremism
• Provided other support managing Amb. Rasool’s workload and research schedule

2005-2016       Faculty Research Support, Department of Near Eastern Studies

                        University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ

• Provided grant writing support, editing, and overall workload management for faculty
• Selected first round of candidates for major departmental fellowships
• Assisted with administrative processes
• Reviewed external assessments of department and strategized responses

2013-2014       Programme Manager, Middle East Security Project and Middle East Initiative

                        Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School of Government, Cambridge, MA

• Created and distributed marketing materials for seminars and other events
• Planned, oversaw, and managed budget ($100,000) for major Track II international conference
• Managed and developed relationships with funders
• Booked travel and provided other administrative support for speakers
• Developed international Executive Education programme in conjunction with the Harvard Business School
• Developed and selected candidates for new pre- and post-doctoral fellowships in Middle East Studies at Harvard
• Coordinated two major international conferences in Islamic Studies with the Alwaleed Islamic Studies Program at Havard

2013-2014       Project Manager, Arabs and Israelis: Conflict and Peacemaking in the Middle East book publication

                        Crown Center for Middle East Studies, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA

• Organised and managed all public events related to the book’s publication
• Planned and oversaw public seminars at Tufts University, New York University, and others, along with private dinners in Boston, New York City, and London

2013                Intern, Office of International Study

                        Wellesley College, Wellesley, Massachusetts

• Shadowed Director and Assistant Director of Office
• Assisted with study abroad placement for Wellesley students
• Attended training course on student visas for study in the United States

2012-2013       Director of Study Abroad Program

                        Center for International Learning, Muscat, Sultanate of Oman

• Designed, coordinated, and taught new Study Abroad programme targeted to US, UK, and European students
• Designed and oversaw all administrative processes
• Planned and directed events: speaker series, student tourism, cultural excursions
• Provided pastoral care, ensured student welfare, and communicated with key stakeholders at students’ home universities
• Created marketing materials and managed relationships with funders, clients, and other stakeholders in-country and abroad
• Line managed team of programme coordinator, governmental liaison, and head of homestay programme
• Taught two seminars on Omani history and research methods

2012                Visiting Professor, Survey of Arab History

                        Department of Arab and Islamic Civilizations, American University in Cairo, Cairo, Egypt

• Designed and taught course on Arab History
• Provided pastoral care to students from Egyptian, European, and American backgrounds

2011                Supply Teacher

                        St. Gregory College Preparatory School

Education

PhD                 Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL

                        History and Ethnography of Religion (Islam), advised by Dr. Adam Gaiser, in progress

                        Fulbright Scholarship, 2019-2020

MA, 2016        Georgetown University, Washington, DC

                        Theological and Religious Studies

MA, 2012        American University in Cairo, Cairo, Egypt

                        Arabic Studies (Middle Eastern History)

BA, 2008        University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ

                        Summa Cum Laude and with Honors

                        Outstanding Senior Award, College of Social and Behavioral Sciences

                        Phi Beta Kappa

                        Near Eastern Studies, Classics (Latin), Linguistics, Arabic minor

University Courses Taught as Instructor of Record

Florida State University

• Multicultural Dimensions of Film and 20^th-Century Culture: Spring 2024, Fall 2023, Summer 2023, Fall 2022, Summer 2022, Spring 2022, Fall 2021, Summer 2021, Summer 2020, Summer 2017, Spring 2017, Fall 2016
• Islamic Traditions I: Spring 2021, Fall 2020, Summer 2019, Fall 2018, Summer 2018
• Islamic Traditions II: Spring 2019

University of Wyoming

• History of Islam: Fall 2022

Center for International Learning, Muscat, Oman

• Research Methods for Social Sciences: Spring 2013, Fall 2012
• Capstone Research Project: Spring 2013, Fall 2012
• Area Studies Seminar: Culture and History of Oman: Spring 2013, Fall 2012

American University in Cairo, Department of Arab and Islamic Civilizations

• Survey of Arab History: 2012

Awards

2021                Florida State University Department of Religion Excellence in Service Award

2020                Florida State University Department of Religion Excellence in Research Award

2019-2020       Fulbright Scholarship, Oman

2009-2011       International Graduate Fellowship, American University in Cairo

                        One of two university-wide fellowships with full two-year funding for MA study

2008                Outstanding Senior

                        College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, University of Arizona

                        Awarded to one student annually

2008                Richard A. Demers Award for Academic Excellence

                        Department of Linguistics, University of Arizona

                        Awarded to one student annually

2008                Outstanding Senior

                        Department of Near Eastern Studies, University of Arizona

2007                Leila Fawaz Prize for Best Undergraduate Paper 2006-2007

                        Department of Arab and Islamic Studies, American University in Cairo

                        Awarded to one student annually

2006                Springboard: One-Room Schools for Egypt’s Girls (charitable NGO)

                        Working fellowship with full funding to attend American University in Cairo

2004-2008       Spirit of Discovery Scholarship and Provost Scholarship

                        University of Arizona

                        Full undergraduate funding

2003                Smith College Book Award, St. Gregory College Preparatory School

Publications

Propst, Amanda. Spring 2020. “Book Review: Paul M. Love, Jr. Ibadi Muslims of North Africa: Manuscripts, Mobilization, and the Making of a Written Tradition.” Journal for Manuscript Studies 5(1), 206-210.

Propst, Amanda. June 2019. “Book Review: The First Compendium of Ibadi Law: The Mudawwana by Abu Ghanim Bishr b. Ghanim al-Khurasani. Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies 82(2), 368-369.

Propst, Amanda. 2019. “The Prophet Muḥammad in early Ibāḍī Siyar.” In Yohei Kondo and Angeliki Ziaka (Eds.), Studies on Ibadism and Oman, Volume 13: Local and Global Ibadi Identities (81-85). Hildesheim: Georg Olms Verlag.

Propst, Amanda, 2018. “Religious Tolerance in Oman and Ibāḍī Islam.” In Abdulrahman Al Salimi and Reinhard Eisener (Eds.), Studies on Ibadism and Oman, Volume 12: Oman, Ibadism and Modernity (317-324). Hildesheim: Georg Olms Verlag.

Propst, Amanda, 2015. “Book Review: Fifty Years in the East: The Memoirs of Wladimir Ivanow, edited with annotations by Farhad Daftary.” Ilahiyat Studies 6(1), 140-142.

Conference Organization

2021, February. Co-Director, Religion and Law: 19th Annual Florida State University Department of Religion Graduate Student Symposium, Florida State University

2013, December. Event Coordinator. Islam and Muslim Societies in South Asia, Alwaleed Islamic Studies Program, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA.

2013, December. Event Coordinator. Perceptions and Realities of Muslims: Paradigm Shifts in Public Policy, Media, and Academia, Alwaleed Islamic Studies Program, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA.

2013, October. Event Planner. Closed, off-the-record track-II dialogue, US-Israeli Relationship, Middle East Security Project, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA.

2005, October. Event Planner. “Kidtalk” Language Acquisition International Workshop, Cognitive Science Program, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ.

Conference Presentations

Propst, Amanda. Presented 2020, October. The Waqf in Contemporary Omani Historiography. Paper presented at Annual Meeting, Middle East Studies Association, virtual.

Propst, Amanda. Invited participant 2020, June. 11th Conference on Ibadi Studies in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Indefinitely postponed due to COVID-19 pandemic.

Propst, Amanda. Presented 2019, June. Waqf in Ibāḍī Legal History and the Study of Islamic Law. Paper presented at Ibadism and the Study of Islam: A View From the Edge, Tenth Conference on Ibadi Studies, University of Toronto, Canada.

Propst, Amanda. Presented 2019, February. Ibadi Theory of Waqf. Paper presented at Human & Nonhuman: 17^th Annual Florida State University Department of Religion Graduate Student Symposium, Tallahassee, FL.

Propst, Amanda. Presented 2018, November. The Role of Scholarship in Religious Identity and Land Privatization in North Africa. Paper presented at Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Religion, Denver, Colorado.

Propst, Amanda. Presented 2018, March. Legitimizing Wealth and Social Status through Waqf. Paper presented at American Academy of Religion Southeastern Regional Meeting, Atlanta, Georgia.

Propst, Amanda. Presented 2017, June. The place of the Prophet Muhammad in early Ibadi literature (the siyar). Paper presented at Local and Global Identities: Social Change and Diaspora in the Ibadi Communities, Eighth Conference on Ibadi Studies, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.

Propst, Amanda. Presented 2017, February. Muhammad in Siyar. Paper presented at Religion & Conflict: 16^th Annual Florida State University Department of Religion Graduate Student Symposium, Tallahassee, FL.

Propst, Amanda. Presented 2016, November. The State of Ibāḍism Online. Paper presented at 50^th Anniversary Meeting, Middle East Studies Association, Boston, MA.

Propst, Amanda. Presented 2016, February. Ibadism and Violence: Narrative and Counter-Narrative. Paper presented at Religion/Culture: 15^th Annual Florida State University Department of Religion Graduate Student Symposium, Tallahassee, FL.

Propst, Amanda. Presented 2015, June. Religious Pluralism and the Development of the Ibadi Identity in the Modern Period. Paper presented at Ibadi History: The Nahda Period, Sixth Conference on Ibadism and Oman, Institute of Oriental Manuscripts, Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg, Russia.

Propst, Amanda. Presented 2011, February. Kalam Allah: Muslim Interpretations of God’s Word in Historical Context and the Development of the Ash‘ari School. How Ideas Win: Formations of Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy in Muslim Practice and Thought, 8^th Annual Duke-UNC Graduate Islamic Studies Conference, Chapel Hill, NC.

University Service

2020-2021       Florida State University, Vice-President, Organization of Religion Graduate Students

2017-2018       Florida State University, Graduate Committee Representative, History and Ethnography of Religion, Department of Religion

2015-2016       Georgetown University, President, Sacred Encounters student organization

2015-2016       Georgetown University, Departmental Representative, Department of Theology, Graduate Student Organization