Flagg Miller
Description: Flagg Miller is the Chair of and Professor in the Religious Studies department at UC Davis, focusing primarily on the Middle East and South Asia. Professor Miller also serves as the president of the American Institute for Yemeni Studies, an organization which seeks to foster collaboration among international scholars, particularly those in Yemen. In this episode we talk about the history of Islam, how its major sects came to be, and its cultural impact. We also talk about the current civil war in Yemen, why it is so tumultuous, and the role of hunger strikes as a protest method.
Websites: Flagg Miller
Publications:
Terrorist violence and the enrollment of psychology in predicting Muslim extremism
Muslim Hunger Strikes as Secular Critique in Yemen
Resources:
The American Institute for Yemeni Studies
Students are able to join for just $10 a year. Membership includes access to podcasts about Yemen, a blog, monthly newsletters, a bi-annual “Yemen Update” publication featuring articles about research on Yemen, and so forth
Books:
The Moral Resonance of Arab Media: Audiocassette Poetry and Culture in Yemen
The Audacious Ascetic: What the Bin Laden Tapes Reveal About Al-Qa’ida
Favorite Yemeni Singers:
Fuad Al Kibsi (e.g. “Pleasurable Session” (Jalsah Ṭarabiyyah)
Abu Bakr Balfaqih; e.g., the song “Tell me, when will I see you?” (Qūllī matā ashūfik?)"
Favorite Yemeni Book:
Favorite Movie about Yemen:
Places to Donate:
Save the Children Organization
The American Institute for Yemeni Studies
Opportunities:
“As president of AIYS, I am looking for a UC Davis student researcher next year who can help me develop a page on our AIYS website about Yemeni Americans - their history, culture, stories, events, and so forth. Contact me if you are interested: fmiller@ucdavis.edu”
Show Notes:
[01:00] Background, how he got to Davis, and what got him interested in Islam, the Middle East, and specifically, Yemen.
[02:25] What made you want to specialize in Yemen?
[04:20] What is the broad history of the current Civil War in Yemen?
[08:00] Could you give us an oversimplified history of Islam and the different sects of Islam?
[18:20] What are the geographical differences between the different sects of Islam?
[22:30] How have the different sects influenced conflicts in the Middle East?
[24:20] What is the difference between the role of religion in governments in the Middle East vs the Western world?
[30:00] What is Jihad?
[37:00] What is Necropolitics?
[41:10] Could you describe some of your research in Yemen and how the current Civil War is impacting it?
[55:45] What is the goal of hunger strikes as a political tactic? Are they effective?
[1:00:00] Does foreign intervention negatively impact the conflict, especially when they only recognize one side as the legitimate government?
[1:06:00] How do we get more people to understand what is happening in Yemen?