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RONALD A. MESSIER
Department
of History
Box 23
Middle
Tennessee State University
Murfreesboro, TN 37132
(615) 898-5828 |
7313
E. Primrose Lane
Lascassas, TN 37085
(615) 273-2474
Fax: (615)898-5881
E-mail:
rmessier@mtsu.edu |
EDUCATION
Ph.D. (History) University of
Michigan, 1972
M.A. (History) University of
Michigan, 1968
B.A. (History) University of
Rhode Island, 1966
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Middle Tennessee State
University, 1972-Present; Director of the Honors
Program, 1980-1990
Adjunct Professor of History
at Vanderbilt University, 1993-Present
Eastern Michigan University,
1970-1972
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DUTIES
I currently teach four
history courses per semester: one upper level course
selected from the Middle East, the Medieval
Mediterranean World, Historical Archaeology, the
Medieval Experience and Material Culture Resources in
World History; and three sections of Western
Civilization or World Civilization. I have also taught
courses in African History, Comparative Religion and
Interdisciplinary Honors Seminars. My courses at
Vanderbilt include The Islamic World to 1798, and The
Crusades and the Muslim Response, and Introduction to
Islam.
CURRENT RESEARCH
I am the project director for
an excavation of the medieval trade city, Sijilmasa,
in southern Morocco. We have completed six seasons of
work; we are currently planning a traveling exhibit of
the findings for the year 1999.
PUBLICATIONS
Books
Jihad and Its Times.
Co-edited with Hadia Dajani-Shakeel. Ann Arbor:
Michigan Center Series on the Middle East, IV, Center
for Near East and North African Studies, 1992
In the Shadow of Shields: a
Story of the Almoravids. (Under
Submission).
Sijilmasa: an African
Eldorado De-Mythicised.
(In Progress).
Chapters in Books
"Re-Reading Texts
through Multi-Disciplinary Glasses." The
Maghrib in Question. Ed. Kenneth J. Perkins.
Austin: The University of Texas Press, 1997.
"Sijilmasa:
l'intermédiaire entre la Méditerranée et l'Ouest de
l'Afrique," L'Occident Musulman et l'Occident
Chrétien au Moyen Age. Ed. Mohammed Hammam.
Rabat:Publications de la Faculté des Lettres, 1995.
"The Almoravids and Holy
War," Jihad and its Times. Co-editors
Hadia Dajani-Shakeel and Ronald A. Messier. Ann Arbor:
Michigan Center Series on the Middle East, IV, Center
for Near East and North African Studies, 1992.
"The Christian Community
of Tunis at the Time of St. Louis' Crusade." The
Meeting of Two Worlds. Ed. Vladimir P. Goss,
Kalamazoo: Medieval Institute Publications, 1986.
"Selection Criteria and
Methods of Utilizing Audio Visual Resources." The
Middle East, the Image and the Reality. Ed.
Jonathan Friedlander. Berkeley: University of
California, 1980.
Articles
(Selected)
"Sijilmasa: Five Seasons
of Archaeological Inquiry by a Joint Moroccan-American
Mission." Archéologie Islamique, 7
(1997), Paris: Editions Maisonneuve et Larose.
"Empires of Ancient
Morocco" Ground Truth:Research and Exploration.
Boston: a publication of Earthwatch (1995).
"Local Economy and Long
Distance Trade in Medieval Sijilmasa." Usur
al-Wusta (April, 1993).
"Moroccan-American
Expedition to Sijilmasa, Morocco." National
Geographic Research 13 (Spring, 1991): 134.
"Quantitative Analysis
of Almoravid Dinars." Journal of the Economic
and Social History of the Orient 23 (1980).
"The Almoravids and West
African Gold." Journal of the Economic and
Social History of the Orient 17 (1974).
Book Reviews
Riding to Jerusalem by
Bettina Selby. In Middle East Materials for
Teachers, Students, and the Non-Specialist. Ed.
Catherine Jones, Center for Middle East Studies,
Harvard University, 1988.
Soldiers of the Faith:
Crusaders and Moslems at War
by Ronald C. Finucane. In Materials for Teachers,
Students, and the Non-Specialist. Ed. Catherine
Jones, Center for Middle East Studies, Harvard
University, 1988.
Corpus of Early Arabic Source for West African
History by Nehemia Levtzion and J.F.P. Hopkins,
Eds. In The Middle East Studies Association
Bulletin, Spring, 1983.
CONFERENCE PAPERS AND
LECTURES (Selected)
"The City Plan of
Sijilmasa Revealed by GIS." Les Premiers Jours
d'Archéolgie Marocaine, Rabat, July 1-4, 1998.
"The Sijilmasa
Mosque." International Conference on Adobe
Architecture sponsored by Mohammed V University in
Rabat, Morocco: November, 1996.
"The Grand Mosque of
Sijilmasa--Four Stages of Development." Middle
East Studies Association, Providence, RI: November
1996.
"The African Gold Trade
from Romans to Arabs." The Parthenon Lecture
Series, Nashville, Tennessee: November, 1995.
"Le role de Sijilmasa
comme intermédaire entre la Méditerranée et l'ouest
Afrique." International Conference on the
Medieval Western Mediterranean sponsored by Mohammed V
University in Rabat, Morocco: November, 1994.
"Special Session on
Sijilmasa." The Middle East Studies Association,
Research Triangle, NC: November, 1993.
"The Archaeology of
Sijilmasa." Vanderbilt University: November 1992;
Northeastern University, February 1993; Old Dominion
University, March 1993.
"Local Agriculture and
Water Resources of Medieval Sijilmasa."
Earthwatch Annual Conference, Boston, MA: February
1993.
"In Search of Medieval
Sijilmasa--the Archaeological Record." The Middle
East Studies Association, Portland, Oregon: October
1992.
"Sijilmasa--Testing an
Historical Model through Archaeology." Earthwatch
Annual Conference, Boston, MA: March 1991.
"Sijilmasa--the
Archeology of an Islamic City." Third Annual
Sijilmasa Conference, Rissani, Morocco: December 1990.
Member of the American
Delegation to the Maghrib Historiography Seminar in
Oran, Algeria: June 5-9, 1989.
Invited speaker at the
Symposium on Saharan Archaeology, Northwestern
University: April 8, 1989.
"Sijilmasa, Nerve Center
of the Medieval Gold Trade." American
Archaeological Society, Nashville Chapter, Vanderbilt
University: December 13, 1988.
"Sijilmasa - Report of
the First Season of Excavation," Morocco Forum at
Harvard University: December 9, 1988.
"The Search for
Sijilmasa - One Year Later." Transylvania
University: November 17, 1988.
"An Historical and
Archaeological Survey of Sijilmasa." Morocco
Forum at Harvard University: December 4, 1987.
"The Search for
Sijilmasa - Nerve Center of the Medieval Gold
Trade." South East Regional Middle East and
Islamic Studies Seminar, Boone, NC: September 2, 1987.
"The Relationship of the
Term 'Almoravid' to the Concept of the Jihad."
Presented in honor of the retirement of Professor
Andrew S. Ehrenhreutz at the University of Michigan:
May 30, 1987.
"The Almoravids."
South East Regional Middle East and Islamic Studies
Seminar, Fall, 1986.
"Daily Life of Medieval
Mediterranean Jews." Guest Lecture at Purdue
University, Spring, 1986.
"Scientific Analysis of
Coins." History Department Seminar, University of
Wisconsin at Eau Claire: Fall, 1982.
"The Christian Community
of Tunis at the Time of St. Louis' Crusade, A.D.
1270."
International Symposium:
Cultural Exchange Between East and West During the
Period of the Crusades, Kalamazoo, Michigan: Spring,
1981.
"State of the
Art--Teaching Medieval North African History."
Middle East Studies Association, Salt Lake City, Utah:
Fall, 1979.
GRANTS AND AWARDS
MTSU Summer Research Grant:
1998
Earthwatch Grant: 1998
MTSU Outstanding Research
Award: 1997
MTSU Summer Research Grant:
1997
MTSU Summer Research Grant:
1996
MTSU Instructional Technology
Grant: Summer 1996
MTSU Non Instructional
Assignment: Spring, 1996
Earthwatch Grant, 1996
MTSU Summer Research Grant:
1995
National Geographic Research
Grant: 1994
Earthwatch Grant: 1994
Council for Advancement and
Support of Education (CASE) 1993 Tennessee Professor
of the Year
Earthwatch Grant: 1993
Fulbright Serial Grant:
1992-1994
Max Van Berchem Foundation
Grant: 1992
National Geographic Research
Grant: 1992
Earthwatch Grant: 1992
MTSU Non-Instructional
Assignment: Fall, 1988
National Geographic Research
Grant: 1988
Social Science Research
Council Fellowship: 1988
American Institute for
Maghribi Studies Grant: 1987
MTSU Faculty Research Grant:
1987
MTSU Outstanding Honors
Faculty Award: 1978
MTSU Outstanding Teacher
Award: 1976
Fulbright-Hays Fellowship in
Tunisia: 1969-1970
National Defense Language
Fellowships: 1966-67, 1967-68, 1968-69
ACADEMIC PUBLIC SERVICE
(Since 1990)
Guest Lecturer for the Santa
Barbara Museum of Art Tours in Morocco, Turkey, Egypt,
Israel, Syria, and Jordan: 1992-Present
Southeast Regional Middle
East and Islamic Studies Seminar Summer Institute for
Secondary School Teachers: 1991, 1994, 1995
Faculty Advisor to Phi Alpha
Theta (Honorary History Society), Middle Tennessee
State University: 1995-Present
NSEF Grant Committee, Middle
Tennessee State University: Spring 1995
Faculty Research Committee,
Department of History, Middle Tennessee State
University:1992-1995, 1997-present.
Faculty Senate, Middle
Tennessee State University: 1992-1994
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS
Middle East Studies
Association (MESA)
American Institute for
Magribi Studies (AIMS)
South East Regional Middle
East and Islamic Studies Seminar (SERMEISS)
