RONALD A. MESSIER

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 and Religious Studies at Vanderbilt University, 1993-Present

Eastern Michigan University, 1970-1972

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

"Sijilmasa: Five Seasons of Archaeological Inquiry by a Joint Moroccan-American Mission."  Archéologie Islamique. Paris: Editions Maisonneuve et Larose, 1997.

"Archaelogical Survey of Sijilmasa - 1988."  Bulletin d' Archéologie Marocain. Rabat:Institut des Sciences d'Archéologie et du Patrimoine, 1998.

"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).

CONFERRENCE PAPERS AND LECTURES  (last ten years)

"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.

GRANTS AND AWARDS

MTSU Distinguished Research Award: 1997

MTSU Summer Research Grant: 1996

MTSU Instructional Technology Grant: Summer 1996

MTSU Non Instructional  Assignment: Spring, 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: 1981, 1984, 1991, 1994, 1995

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)