ISIM Chair at the University of Amsterdam Annelies Moors

Abstract

Annelies Moors' interest in the Middle East dates from the 1970s when she travelled extensively in Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan. Having spent time with Arabic-speaking people in southern Iran, she decided to study Arabic. Initially she did so through an Arabic language programme at the University of Damascus. After returning to the Netherlands, she continued studying Arabic and Islamic studies at the University of Amsterdam, but soon decided to make a disciplinary move to anthropology in order to be able to work not only with texts, but also with people. Her first fieldwork brought her to the Nablus region (West Bank) where she conducted research on transformations in family relations and the division of labour in the rural areas. After graduation, she was appointed as part-time lecturer at the Department of Anthropology at the University of Amsterdam.