Bruce Masters, the John E. Andrus Professor of History, has been a member of the faculty for 28 years. He currently teaches “The Middle East in the 20th Century” and “Islam Civilization: The Classical Age.” Aside from English, he speaks Arabic, Turkish, and German. Professor Masters sat down with The Argus to discuss his reading preferences, interest in the Middle East, and experience teaching at Wesleyan.
The Argus: What are you reading right now?
Bruce Masters: Right now, I am reading Pekka Hämäläinen’s “The Comanche Empire.” It’s about the Comanche Indians and how they established a non-European empire in the Americas. I don’t know if I believe his definition of empire, but it’s interesting.
A: What else is on your bookshelf?
BM: Oh, I have a lot of books on my bookshelf. I generally read non-fiction during the school year and I read novels during the summer.
A: What course or professor influenced you in college?
BM: That’s the easiest question because the person who had the biggest influence on me was a woman named Barbara Stowasser, a German woman. I had fallen in love with the Middle East, and when I was an undergraduate at Georgetown University, I majored in Arabic. At Georgetown, you had to declare your major your freshman year. I didn’t have time to play around like you do at Wesleyan. One of the courses I took was Arab Culture. It was for a whole year, and Barbara Stowasser taught that course. And I had chosen Arabic sort of as a whim. I had no idea what it was and so this was a course where we read Arab novels and translation and we talked about Umm Kulthum—we listened to her music. It was just a real eye opener for me. I actually can only remember two or three names of the professors that I had as an undergraduate, but I remember her as clear as yesterday—so she was clearly an inspiration.
A: It’s amazing that you could decide on a major based off of one class.
BM: Before I was eight, I lived in Germany. My father was in the American military. I have a fairly large family, and they would put us all in a station wagon and drive us around Europe. We would go to various places, and one of the last places we were before my family came to the United States was Yugoslavia—former Yugoslavia. And so I was eight years old and I was in Sarajevo, and Sarajevo at the time still had a Muslim feel about it. You saw people in baggy trousers. There was the call to prayer, there were the smells of people making Turkish coffee, the smells of people cooking shish kebab on the street. To me, it was the most exotic thing I had ever seen. And so I was drawn to Arabic because of a trip, not to an Arab country but to a Muslim-cultured one. And I have to say, I really didn’t like Arabic at first. But then I did my junior year abroad.
A: Where?
BM: In Jerusalem, in the Hebrew University because I couldn’t get into the AUB [American University of Beirut]. I wanted to go there but they wouldn’t take American undergraduates at that time. So, I went to Jerusalem and then again I was totally naïve. I didn’t know much about Israel other than the movie Exodus—which was a big popular American movie in the sixties—and I ended up living with a Muslim family in the old city of Jerusalem. So I learned to speak Palestinian Arabic. That’s when I fell in love with Arab culture.
A: So, where have you lived in the Muslim world?
BM: I’ve lived in four Middle Eastern countries: Egypt, Syria, Israel, and Turkey.
A: Which is your favorite?
BM: Syria.
A: Why?
BM: I just like the people. There’s something about Syrians. It’s an ancient country and it shows. They had a kind of a civilization that shows through the way they behave in almost any situation. I lived in Egypt for three years, but Egypt was just too crowded—it was just too much. It was too overpowering, too much noise, too much everything. And Syria was very quiet. So you had time to relax and talk to people. I like Syria a lot. I like Egypt, but I like Syria more.
A: Of the classes that you’re teaching now and of the classes that you’ve taught before, which is your favorite?
BM: The courses I have enjoyed teaching are courses I’ve developed at Wesleyan. I’ve probably enjoyed them most because of the students. One was Islam Mysticism and Sufism, which is something I would never have taught if I hadn’t come to Wesleyan. I’ve enjoyed teaching that a lot because every time I teach it I learn something. I also enjoy teaching Islamic Civilization: The Classical Period. The one that’s most popular is The Modern Middle East, but that’s the one that I actually enjoy teaching the least because it’s depressing to me. The rest of the periods are fun to teach. But in the 20th century too many bad things happened and I’ve lived through some of them. I was in Egypt during the ’73 war. I was in Syria when the civil war was starting in 1980-81. I was going to move to Lebanon in 1975 when the civil war broke out there. So I’ve personally seen some of the bad stuff about 20th century Middle Eastern history and so it’s depressing for me teach it. But I realized it’s necessary. It’s something that American students need to know.
A: Do you feel there has been more interest recently in the Arab world and in the Middle East?
BM: Yes, a lot. Interest has grown an awful lot. I’ve always had some students but not like I have now. I teach it every year now, and it’s pretty much filled every year. When I first got here I tried to encourage interest by teaching Arabic. Since Wesleyan finally hired an Arabic teacher in about 2001 or 2002, the interest in the Middle East has increased, especially because of September 11. But I think what’s interesting is that Wesleyan students are genuinely interested in the culture. It doesn’t seem to be so much driven by “I want to understand these people because they’re my enemy.” No, it seems to be more that they have a genuine interest in trying to understand what other people are thinking.
A: And lastly who is your favorite Arab singer or actor?
BM: My favorite Arab singer has got to be—it’s going to sound too cliché—Fairuz. But this Iraqi guy Kadim Al Sahir is pretty good and Marcel Khalife, a Lebanese who sings Palestinian songs.