Said was born in Jerusalem (then in the British Mandate of Palestine). His father was a wealthy ChristianPalestinian businessman and an American citizen, while his mother was born in Nazareth of Christian Lebanese and Palestinian descent. The historian and writer Rosemarie Said Zahlan was his sister. According to Said's autobiography, he lived between Cairo and Jerusalem until the age of 12 and, in 1947, he attended the Anglican St. George's Academy when he was in Jerusalem. According to Said, his extended family became refugees in 1948 during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War because the family home was in the affluent quarter of Talbiya in the western part of Jerusalem that was annexed by Israel. In 1998, Said wrote: "I was born in Jerusalem and had spent most of my formative years there and, after 1948, when my entire family became refugees, in Egypt." May 7, 1998.
At age 14, Said entered Victoria College in Cairo, and then Mount Hermon School in Massachusetts, the United States. He received his B.A. from Princeton University and his M.A. and Ph.D. from Harvard University, where he won the Bowdoin Prize. He joined the faculty of Columbia University in 1963 and served as a professor of English and Comparative Literature for several decades. Said became the Parr Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia, in 1977, and subsequently became the Old Dominion Foundation Professor in the Humanities. In 1992, Said attained the rank of University Professor, which is Columbia's most prestigious academic position. He also taught at Harvard, Johns Hopkins, and Yale universities. He spoke Arabic, English and French fluently and was literate in Spanish, German, Italian and Latin.
Looking Back on Jesse Helms' Life Fri, 04 Jul 2008 18:14:00 -0400 Sen. No, as he was often called, "was a real throwback," says Merle Black, a professor of southern politics at Emory University. One of a select group of politicians who helped solidify Republican control in the South, he had a loyal constituency of working-class whites in North Carolina. Financial Aid Woes Make Community College More Appealing Fri, 04 Jul 2008 16:05:00 -0400 Despite efforts by the Bush Administration and Congress to quell turmoil in the student loan market, some students are still struggling to find money for college. We examine the case of two recent high school graduates who have been promised financial aid, but don't know how much they can count on. When Did Flag Pins Become So Important? Fri, 04 Jul 2008 16:00:00 -0400 Sen. Barack Obama Obama was questioned about why he doesn't always wear a flag pin during a Democratic debate in April. His critics say his lack of pin casts doubt on Obama's patriotism, and recently the Democratic candidate has been wearing one.
The Talk of the Town
The Chill Nick Paumgarten Mon, 30 Jun 2008 04:00:00 -0000 If you had stumbled into Banjo Jim’s, in the East Village, on a recent Wednesday night and encountered a sixty-something guy leading a band through a fervent rendition of “Wild Thing,” for an audience of two dozen or so, you might have concluded, “This is lame,” and slipped back . . . Oily Speculations James Surowiecki Mon, 30 Jun 2008 04:00:00 -0000 When bad things happen, it’s always nice to have a scapegoat. So, with Americans furious about soaring oil prices, Congress has gone in search of someone to blame. There are a number of usual suspects to choose from, depending on your politics--OPEC, greedy oil companies, lily-livered environmentalists opposed . . . Obama’s Iraq Problem George Packer Mon, 30 Jun 2008 04:00:00 -0000 In February, 2007, when Barack Obama declared that he was running for President, violence in Iraq had reached apocalyptic levels, and he based his candidacy, in part, on a bold promise to begin a rapid withdrawal of American forces upon taking office. At the time, this pledge represented conventional thinking . . .
Edward Said - An obituary for the literary critic and advocate of the Palestinian cause by Malise Ruthven in the Guardian.
Out of the Shadows - Profiling Edward Said and refuting the allegations of critics who allege that he misrepresented his past.
Reviews of Edward Said's Works - A bibliographic index of offline scholarly reviews of the works of Edward Said, provided by the University of California, Irvine Library.
Salon.com: Ivory Tower - An ezine review of Said's memoir, Out of Place.
Meta Description: [ In his new memoir, ]
The Edward Said Archive - Unofficial site, presenting Dr. Said's writings and responding to his critics.
The New Criterion: Edward Said's Orientalism Revisited - Keith Windschuttle's critical review of the political themes underlying Said's Orientalism.
Meta Description: [ Orientalism revisited / by Keith Windschuttle ]
Edward Said discusses the themes of his classic work "orientalism", its implications and its place in the modern world ...