 | This is not a Wikipedia article: It is an individual user's work-in-progress page, and may be incomplete and/or unreliable. For guidance on developing this draft, see Wikipedia:So you made a userspace draft. Find sources: Google (books · news · scholar · free images · WP refs) · FENS · JSTOR · TWL |
Hasan El-Shamy (born 1938) is a Professor in the Department of Folklore and Ethnomusicology, the Department of Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures, and the African Studies Program at Indiana University. He received a B.A. with Honors in Arabic and Islamic Studies from Ain-Shams University in Cairo, Egypt in 1959. He then completed an Intensive Graduate Program in Psychology and Education from Ain-Shams (Heliopolis) University in 1959-1960. Later he received an M.A. in Folklore from Indiana University in 1964, as well as a Ph.D. in Folklore with Interdisciplinary training in Folklore, Psychology, and Anthropology from Indiana University in 1967.
From 1967-1972 El-Shamy was the Director of the Archives at the Folklore Center Ministry of Culture in Cairo, Egypt, as well as an Assistant Professor of Sociology-Anthropology at The American University in Cairo, Egypt. From 1973-1980 he was an Assistant Professor of Folklore in the Folklore Department at Indiana University, and then from 1980-1985 he served as Assistant Professor of Folklore in the Folklore Institute at Indiana University when the name was changed. In 1985 El-Shamy became a Professor of Folklore, Near Eastern Languages and Cultures, and African Studies, and served as Director of Graduate Studies (Folklore) in 1995-1998. Most recently he has held a position as Visiting Professor at the Institute of Advanced Studies in Anthropology, National Museum of Ethnology, in Osaka, Japan in 2002, as well as a Visiting Professor in the Department of Sociology at Tanta University, Egypt in 2003.
El-Shamy's research publications introduced a number of innovative approaches to the study of traditional cultures in general and Arabic communities in particular. Among these are the concepts and research methodology of "Folkloric Behavior," and "The Brother Sister Syndrome" in Arab family life and psychological practices. Some of his research interests include religion, myth and ritual, narrative folk poetry, typology and classification, kinship and folklore which he analyzed through psychological approaches. He has written numerous books on Arabic and Middle Eastern Folk Narratives.
In light of his contributions to the fields of Folklore and Middle Eastern studies El-Shamy has been awarded a number of honors, including the Senior Scholar Award: from Institute of Advanced Studies in Anthropology, National Museum of Ethnology, Osaka, Japan in 2002. He was also elected “Consultant” to the Saudi Society for Folklore Studies, as well as A Fellow of the American Folklore Society in 2006.