Language and Linguistics

Anti-Semitism: An Etymological Quandary  Jilani Warsi Webster, a reputable name in lexicography, defines Anti-Semitism as hostility toward or discrimination against Jews as a religious, ethnic, or racial group (“anti-Semitism”). Being consistent with its definition of anti-Semitism, Webster delineates the meaning of Semitism as policy or predisposition favorable to Jews. Following this definition, it follows logic then that any policy, statement, or action condescending and disrespectful toward Jews be considered anti-Semitic. Etymologically, the use of the term Anti-Semitism in political and public discourse with the intention of deploring misrepresentations and mistruths defaming and damaging Jewish people’s reputation would be consistent if the meaning of Semite only included Jews. However, Webster defines Semite as a member of any of a number of peoples of ancient southwestern Asia including the Akkadians, Phoenicians, Hebrews, and Arabs, indicating that these four et...

Fulbright-Nehru Distinguished Chair India Project Statement  by Jilani Warsi Opening Statement As a Fulbright Scholar, I plan to teach North American academic reading and writing skills to native Hindi speakers studying for a Master’s in English at a university in India. The proposed course would introduce Indian students to reading and writing as cognitive problem-solving processes by which readers and writers actively use phonological, syntactic, and semantic cues in order to comprehend written text and place it within a framework of their prior knowledge, expanding their knowledge further, and produce written work that adheres to the linguistic conventions of North American academic written discourse. I hope that the course would teach Indian students through the combination of holistic and skills-based approaches, to become independent, confident, and lifelong readers and writers. I intend to approach reading and writing skills with an applied linguistic perspective in wh...