By Nada Sewidan

Features Editor

To love a subject so deeply that you become consumed by it, it’s no longer simply a job, but a

way of life. CSUSM Professor of history, Ibrahim Al-Marashi, reflects this exact sentiment.

As an assistant History professor with a teaching emphasis in Middle Eastern history, Dr. Al-
Marashi hopes to impart the same fascination and awareness of the past into his students.

He stresses that there is always a major event in the Middle East: Arab Spring, War of Libya

and the debate of whether the U.S. will strike Syria. He discussed how relevant Middle Eastern

studies is now and how important it is to learn, understand and address misconceptions in regards

to these global events.

“Students not only learn the history, but learn a lot about the regions that shape most American

foreign policy to this very day,” he said.

Professor Al-Marashi enjoys being a history professor because history is a reflection of the

human condition and of identity. He explained how it is an all-encompassing subject that looks at

the past in order to gain an understanding of the present.

“When you are a professor of history, you are always learning; it’s a continuous process,”

Professor Al-Marashi said. “I can honestly say no day of work is ever the same. I may be

teaching the same subject, but no matter what I am teaching, I’m teaching from a different

approach or different material from the present to tell these students why these events in the past

are important.”

Professor Al-Marashi’s family is originally from Iraq. However, he was born in Baltimore and

grew up in California.

He earned a B.A. from University of California, Los Angeles, his M.A from. Georgetown

University and eventually his Ph.D. from University of Oxford in the U.K.

He was motivated to become a history professor in order to learn and discover more about the

region of his ancestors. He explained that the time he was studying to become a professor of

Middle Eastern history was a different time than now–it was pre 9/11, pre Iraq.

After graduation he decided to travel to the Middle East and experience the region he was

studying. Among some of the places he lived includes Morocco, Yemen and Egypt.

“I felt like I needed to live there to really understand the culture and the region and apply what I

was studying to the places I was going to,” he said.

Professor Al-Marashi confessed how he is never in one place for more than seven weeks and

how he is continuously on the move, traveling for work and for conferences.

He is also currently working on writing another book on the ’91 Gulf War and as a side project,

he works with the local community to teach the history of Iraq to refugees still in high school.

Professor Al-Marashi currently teaches general history, War and Society, several courses on the

Middle East and a course on women in the Middle East.

Next semester he will be offering a class about Spain and the Middle East which explores the

Arabic influence in Spain and how a Catholic country deals with a Muslim past. The class will

be offered in the spring from 2:30 p.m to 3:45 p.m on Mondays and Wednesdays.

Teaching isn’t simply a job for Professor Al-Marashi, but a hobby as well. There is no

delineation between courses taught in classrooms and his way of living.

“History is not just something I teach; it’s a philosophy; it’s a way of life; it’s a way of living,”

Professor Al-Marashi said. “It’s not work for me; it’s something I am passionate about.”