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The Institute for Social Policy and Understanding (ISPU) is pleased to announce a new initiative focusing on the interrelation among media, policies, and perceptions.
The Jane Gaffney Reimaging the Peoples of the Middle East Fund
This fund will sponsor ISPU research and outreach on media representations and popular perceptions of people of Middle Eastern and North African descent to support well-informed dialogue and decision-making.
"Our world has never needed communication and understanding between and among diverse groups more than it does now."
– Jane Gaffney
About ISPU's Jane Gaffney Reimaging the Peoples of the Middle East Fund
At the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding (ISPU), we envision an America where Muslims are thriving. And we believe that relevant, rigorous research placed in the right hands will help us get there. Our work strengthens Muslim communities and equips those working toward full and equitable inclusion with solution-seeking research.
The Jane Gaffney Reimaging the Peoples of the Middle East Fund will support ISPU research and outreach on media representations and popular perceptions of people of Middle Eastern and North African descent to support well-informed dialogue and decision-making.
In honor and memory of Jane, please consider a one-time or monthly recurring donation to ISPU
Please contact Nancy Titus at ntitus@ispu.org to contribute.
Your contribution bolsters our work to build understanding and strengthen communities by laying a foundation of facts. You’ll join us as we discover new data through rigorous research, educate the general public, and equip changemakers to put our research into practice through their own work.
About Jane Gaffney
Jane Catherine Gaffney devoted her life to interpreting Middle Eastern politics and cultures. She studied Arabic at Georgetown and earned a BA (1968) in Middle East International Relations at American University. While pursuing a Masters in Applied Linguistics at the American University in Cairo, Jane formed lifelong friendships with Arabist colleagues and notables like Egyptian film director Youssef Chahine and Egyptian architect Hassan Fathy. In 1970, Jane joined the faculty at Haigazian College in Lebanon, where she transformed TOESL into the College Skills Program. She studied anthropology at AUB and spent two summers conducting ethnographic fieldwork among the Beni Sakhar tribe near Amman, Jordan. She joined the faculty of the University of Kuwait in 1975 and stayed for over a decade, teaching English and honing her expertise in Arabic culture. In 1987, Jane was recruited as a mid-level Arabist U.S. diplomat. She directed American Cultural Centers in Morocco, Egypt, Jerusalem, and Sudan. In Washington, she served as Director of West Africa and Central Africa offices before retiring in 2010 to Maryland, where she lived with her sister Barbara, raising rescue dogs and regaling friends with incisive analyses of the latest Arab teledramas.
Jane was among the first to recognize the growing social and political significance of media and popular culture in the region. She published one of the earliest scholarly treatments of Arab film “Egyptian Cinema” in the Arab Studies Quarterly and spoke on representations of the Kurds in Turkish television at the University of Maryland. Her newsletter “Expressions” offered colleagues and friends incisive analyses of Arabic-language entertainment media and music.
You can give at any level, designing your gift to fit your budget. Your regular gift allows us to plan for more ambitious projects,
maximizing our nationwide impact. Thank you for your support.