BARBARA NIMRI AZIZ

B. Nimri Aziz completed her PhD in Social Anthropology at SOAS (School of Oriental and African Studies), University of London, UK and worked for two decades in her initial fields of expertise -- Tibet and Nepal. Three books and scores of scholarly articles resulted from that career.
In 1989 Aziz took up journalism, focusing on Iraq and The Palestinian lands, again publishing widely from her observations there as well as neighboring countries. Her work has appeared in national newspapers as well as in magazines and in anthologies.
In 1992 she founded the Radius of Arab American Writers Inc. (RAWI , www.rawi.org) and was its director until 2005. This active national organization continues to grow and serve the wider literary and educational communities.
Dr. Aziz continues to work as a freelance (independent) scholar, writer and broadcaster. She hosts a weekly radio program airing on Pacific-WBAI Radio NY and on www.RadioTahrir.org. At WBAI, she also trains young Arab/Muslims in radio journalism.
Aziz’ many awards include visiting professorships and grants (among them, The American Philosophical Society, Wenner Gren Foundation, National Geographic, NEH, NSF, SSRC, SSRC-UK, and most recently, Fulbright Scholar award.
She has delivered lectures and participated in scholarly conferences across Europe, the USA and Asia.
She is currently completing a book on Algeria and editing a collection 'DeTocqueville in Algeria Revisited" presented at MESA 2009 for publication in the MESA Review of ME Studies later in 2010.
"Swimming Up The Tigris: Real Life Encounters with Iraq" is her fourth book. Her edited collection “Soundings in Tibetan Civilization” was republished by Vajra Books, Kathmandu, 2009, and a new edition of hur first book, “Tibetan Frontier Families” is forthcoming. Aziz is also the author of “Heir to A Silent Song: Two Rebel Women of Nepal” published in 2000 by Tribhivan University, Nepal.