The Center for Middle Eastern & North African Studies (CMENAS) is pleased to announce the recipient of this year’s Mahfoud Bennoune Memorial Thesis Award. The recipient is recent graduate Batool Makki for her thesis titled "Fluidity of Sexuality, Language, and Music: Arabic Lyrics and Queer Arab Expression”. The award is given by CMENAS to support an outstanding master's thesis in memory of Dr. Mahfoud Bennoune, a beloved Algerian professor, author, teacher, human rights advocate, and father, who studied at the University of Michigan. Batool’s thesis emphasizes the values that Dr. Bennoune fought for, including tolerance, secularism, human rights, and women’s rights.
Batool Makki graduated in 2026 with a Master of Arts in International and Regional Studies (MIRS) with a specialization in Middle Eastern and North African Studies (MENAS). Her research interests include queer theory, language, identity, and Arab cultural expression. Her thesis examined how Eurocentric ideas about sexuality can limit understandings of queer Arab identity and explored how the gendered nature of the Arabic language creates space for fluid and potentially queer expression in music and lyrics. Batool will continue her studies at New York University, where she will pursue a master’s degree in education beginning in fall 2026.
Congratulations, Batool, on this outstanding achievement.
