Publications

Book

From Mission to Modernity: Evangelicals, Reformers and Education in Nineteenth-Century Egypt (London: I.B. Tauris and Company Limited, 2011).

Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles

“Copts and the Millet Partnership: The Intra-Communal Dynamics behind Egyptian Sectarianism,” Journal of Law and Religion 29, 3 (2014), 491-509.

“Reconstituting the Coptic Community Amidst Revolution,” Middle East Report 265 (winter 2012), 34-38.

“Exposure to the Eyes of God: Monitorial Schools and Evangelicals in Early Nineteenth-Century England,” Paedagogica Historica: International Journal of the History of Education 47, 3 (2011), 263-281.

“Writing the History of the Modern Copts: From Victims and Symbols to Actors,” History Compass 7, 3 (2009), 1049-1063.

“John Lieder and his Mission in Egypt: The Evangelical Ethos at Work Among Nineteenth-Century Copts,” Journal of Religious History 28, 3 (October 2004), 219-239.

“Imagining an Imperial Race: Egyptology in the Service of Empire,” Comparative Studies in South Asia, Africa, and the Middle East 24, 1 (2004), 249-259.

“Class Cleavages and Ethnic Conflict: Coptic Christian Communities in Modern Egyptian Politics,” Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations 10, 2 (July 1999), 219-235.

Chapters in Edited Volumes

“The Patriarch and His Project: Cultivating a Coptic Community in Nineteenth-Century Egypt,” in Ramez Boutros, ed. Journal of the Canadian Society for Coptic Studies 1 (Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias Press, 2010), 109-120.  [N.B. A revised and edited version of the chapter published in the 2007 Boudraa and Krause volume, requested for inclusion in the inaugural issue of this journal.]

“Missionaries, Peasants, and the Protection Problem: Negotiating Coptic Reform in Nineteenth-Century Egypt,” in Abbas Amanat and Magnus T. Bernhardsson, eds. US-Middle East Historical Encounters (Gainesville, Florida: University Press of Florida, 2007).

“Schooling for a Modern Coptic Subjectivity in Nineteenth Century Egypt,” in Nabil Boudraa and Joseph Krause, eds. North African Mosaic: A Cultural Reappraisal of Ethnic and Religious Minorities (Newcastle, UK: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2007), 196-213.

“The Journals of an Ottoman Student in England, July 1829 to January 1830,” in Camron Michael Amin, Benjamin C. Fortna, and Elizabeth Frierson, eds. The Modern Middle East: A Sourcebook for History (Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2006), 401-405.

“Observing Muhammad ‘Ali Pasha and His Administration at Work, 1843-1846,” in Camron Michael Amin, Benjamin C. Fortna, and Elizabeth Frierson, eds. The Modern Middle East: A Sourcebook for History (Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2006), 39-42.

“Modernity’s Mission: Evangelical Efforts to Discipline the Nineteenth-Century Coptic Community,” in Eleanor H. Tejirian and Reeva Spector Simon, eds. Altruism and Imperialism: The Western Religious and Cultural Missionary Enterprise in the Middle East, Middle East Institute Occasional Papers 4 (New York, New York: Columbia University Middle East Institute, 2002), 208-235.

“Ecclesiastical Warfare: Patriarch, Presbyterian, and Peasant in Nineteenth-Century Asyut,” in Abbas Amanat and Magnus T. Bernhardsson, eds. The United States and the Middle East: Cultural Encounters, YCIAS Working Paper Series Vol. V (New Haven, Connecticut: Yale Center for International and Area Studies, 2002), 290-314.

Encyclopaedia Entries

“Egypt,” Encyclopedia Britannica Book of the Year 2015 (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2015), 417.

“Interreligious Dialogue,” in Peter N. Stearns, ed. Encyclopaedia of the Modern World: 1750 to the Present (Oxford University Press, 2008).

Essays

“The Subversive Power of Grief,” MERIP blog (December 13, 2016), http://www.merip.org/subversive-power-grief.

“How Not to Understand Egypt’s Sectarianism,” Jadaliyya (December 12, 2016), http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/25659/how-not-to-understand-egypt%E2%80%99s-sectarianism.

“Whatever Happened to Middle Eastern Studies?” Mada Masr (October 11, 2015), http://www.madamasr.com/opinion/politics/whatever-happened-middle-eastern-studies.

“Quick Thoughts: Paul Sedra on the IS Massacre of Egyptian Copts in Libya,” Jadaliyya (February 17, 2015), http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/20877/quick-thoughts_paul-sedra-on-the-is-massacre-of-eg.

“Faten Hamama and the ‘Egyptian Difference’ in Film,” Mada Masr (January 20, 2015), http://www.madamasr.com/opinion/culture/faten-hamama-and-egyptian-difference-film.

“The Salaita Case and Middle East Studies,” Mada Masr (September 10, 2014), http://www.madamasr.com/content/salaita-case-and-middle-east-studies.

“Thinking about Egyptian Politics from the Bottom Up,” Mada Masr (May 27, 2014), http://www.madamasr.com/content/thinking-about-egyptian-politics-bottom.

“Quick Thoughts: Paul Sedra on the Pope’s Visit to the Middle East,” Jadaliyya (May 23, 2014), http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/17813/quick-thoughts_paul-sedra-on-the-pope%E2%80%99s-visit-to-t.

“Church-State Relations in Egypt,” Middle East Institute blog (February 24, 2014), http://www.mei.edu/content/church-state-relations-egypt.

“The Lies that States Tell,” Mada Masr (November 20, 2013), http://www.madamasr.com/content/lies-states-tell.

“Egypt’s History Problem,” Mada Masr (September 4, 2013), http://www.madamasr.com/content/egypt%E2%80%99s-history-problem.

“The ‘Sectarianization’ of Egyptian Society,” openDemocracy (August 22, 2013), http://www.opendemocracy.net/paul-sedra/%E2%80%98sectarianization%E2%80%99-of-egyptian-society.

Contribution to “On Egypt’s Day of Infamy,” MERIP Blog (August 20, 2013), http://www.merip.org/egypts-day-infamy.

“From Citizen to Problem: The New Coptic Tokenism,” Mada Masr (August 18, 2013), http://www.madamasr.com/content/citizen-problem-new-coptic-tokenism.

“Has Citizenship Got a Future in Egypt?” Jadaliyya (April 8, 2013), http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/11111/has-citizenship-got-a-future-in-egypt.

“Iraq Through the Lens of 1882,” OpenCanada (March 19, 2013), http://opencanada.org/features/the-think-tank/comments/iraq-through-the-lens-of-1882/.

“Pope Tawadros II and the Question of Egyptian Sectarianism,” Tahrir Squared (March 14, 2013), http://tahrirsquared.com/node/3349.

“Egypt’s State of Siege,” Egypt Independent (February 20, 2013), http://www.egyptindependent.com/opinion/egypt-s-state-siege.

“The Maspero Massacre: Adding Injustice to Insult and Injury,” Jadaliyya (February 14, 2013), http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/10188/the-maspero-massacre_adding-injustice-to-insult-an.

“The Dignity of Hamada Saber,” Jadaliyya (February 5, 2013), http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/10011/the-dignity-of-hamada-saber.

“The Tragedy of the Brotherhood,” Egypt Independent (February 3, 2013), http://www.egyptindependent.com/opinion/tragedy-brotherhood.

“The Revolution and History,” Jadaliyya (January 25, 2013), http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/9764/the-revolution-and-history.

“The Revolution Continues,” Egypt Independent (January 21, 2013), http://www.egyptindependent.com/opinion/revolution-continues.

“The Law as a Weapon,” Egypt Independent (January 11, 2013), http://www.egyptindependent.com/opinion/law-weapon.

“The Poison in Egypt’s Political Life,” Egypt Independent (December 28, 2012), http://www.egyptindependent.com/opinion/poison-egypt-s-political-life.

“The Brotherhood’s Politics of Fear and Division,” Egypt Independent (December 23, 2012), http://www.egyptindependent.com/opinion/brotherhood-s-politics-fear-and-division.

“The Battle for Sovereignty in Egypt,” Counterpunch (December 10, 2012), http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/12/10/the-battle-for-sovereignty-in-egypt/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-battle-for-sovereignty-in-egypt. [Republished by Egypt Independent.]

“Copts and the Power over Personal Status,” Jadaliyya (December 3, 2012), http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/8741/copts-and-the-power-over-personal-status. [Republished by Egypt Independent. Translated into Arabic and republished by Jadaliyya.]

“Assiut, Qursaya, Mohamed Mahmoud: Making the Connections,” Egypt Independent (November 19, 2012), http://www.egyptindependent.com/opinion/assiut-qursaya-mohamed-mahmoud-making-connections. [Republished by Jadaliyya.]

“The Ethics of Electioneering,” Egypt Independent (November 7, 2012), http://www.egyptindependent.com/opinion/ethics-electioneering. [Republished by Al Arabiya.]

“A New Pope, A New Approach?” Egypt Independent (October 28, 2012), http://www.egyptindependent.com/opinion/new-pope-new-approach.

“Egypt’s Constituent Assembly: Contempt and Counterrevolution,” Jadaliyya (October 26, 2012), http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/8059/egypt%E2%80%99s-constituent-assembly_contempt-and-counterr [Translated into Spanish and republished by Rebelión.]

“Martyrdom at Maspero: Searching for Meaning,” Egypt Independent (October 9, 2012), http://www.egyptindependent.com/opinion/martyrdom-maspero-searching-meaning. [Republished by Jadaliyya.]

“Where Is the ‘President for All Egyptians’?” Egypt Independent (October 5, 2012), http://www.egyptindependent.com/opinion/where-%E2%80%9Cpresident-all-egyptians%E2%80%9D.

“The Urgency of Peaceful Protest in Today’s Egypt,” Egypt Independent (September 22, 2012), http://www.egyptindependent.com/opinion/urgency-peaceful-protest-today-s-egypt.

“How to Lose Friends in the Middle East,” OpenCanada (September 18, 2012), http://www.opencanada.org/features/the-think-tank/how-to-lose-friends-in-the-middle-east/. [Republished by Jadaliyya.]

“Activism in the Coptic Diaspora: A Brief Introduction,” Jadaliyya (September 13, 2012), http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/7336/activism-in-the-coptic-diaspora_a-brief-introducti.

“September 11th, Islamophobia, and the ‘Persecution Industry’,” Egypt Independent (September 11, 2012), http://www.egyptindependent.com/opinion/september-11th-islamophobia-and-%E2%80%98persecution-industry. [Republished by Jadaliyya.]

“Islamists Took Over Years Ago,” Egypt Independent (September 9, 2012), http://www.egyptindependent.com/opinion/islamists-took-over-years-ago. [Republished by Jadaliyya.]

“The Cultural Project of the Revolution,” Egypt Independent (August 25, 2012), http://www.egyptindependent.com/opinion/cultural-project-revolution.%5BRepublished by Jadaliyya.]

“Time to Reject the Language of Coptic Victimhood,” Egypt Independent (August 10, 2012), http://www.egyptindependent.com/opinion/time-reject-language-coptic-victimhood.%5BRepublished by Jadaliyya. Translated into Arabic and republished by Midan Masr.]

“Why the Language of Revolution Matters,” Jadaliyya (July 23, 2012), http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/6548/why-the-language-of-revolution-matters.

“The Church, Maspero, and the Future of the Coptic Community,” Jadaliyya (March 19, 2012), http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/4735/the-church-maspero-and-the-future-of-the-coptic-co.

“The Pope’s Predicament,” Jadaliyya (March 17, 2012), http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/4711/the-popes-predicament. [Republished by Egypt Independent (March 18, 2012), http://www.egyptindependent.com/node/718951.%5D

“Copts as Egypt’s Conscience,” Al-Akhbar English (December 21, 2011), http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/copts-egypt%E2%80%99s-conscience.

“The Dignity Revolution,” OpenCanada (November 21, 2011), http://www.opencanada.org/features/sedra-sawiris-egypt-revolution/.

“Films for the Classroom: Silences of the Palace,” Jadaliyya (November 2, 2011), http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/3024/films-for-the-classroom_silences-of-the-palace.

“Sectarianism and the Revolution,” Jadaliyya (October 11, 2011), http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/2854/sectarianism-and-the-revolution-.

“Manoubia and Her Son,” Jadaliyya (October 8, 2011), http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/2825/manoubia-and-her-son [Translated into Spanish and republished by Rebelión.]

“The Long Shadow of the 1952 Revolution,” Jadaliyya (February 13, 2011), http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/635/the-long-shadow-of-the-1952-revolution [Translated into French and republished by A l’encontre.]

“No nation has ever rebuilt another,” The Toronto Star (July 23, 2009), http://www.thestar.com/comment/article/670352.

Published Interviews

“New Texts Out Now: Paul Sedra, From Mission to Modernity,” Jadaliyya (September 21, 2011), http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/2678/new-texts-out-now_paul-sedra-from-mission-to-moder.

“Les protestations de rues témoignent de la frustration des coptes à l’égard du gouvernement,” L’Orient-Le Jour (January 8, 2011), http://www.centre-catholique.com/newsdetails.asp?newid=44759.

Book Reviews

Alan Mikhail’s The Animal in Ottoman Egypt in International Journal of Turkish Studies (forthcoming).

Lucie Ryzova’s The Age of the Efendiyya: Passages to Modernity in National-Colonial Egypt in English Historical Review 131, 551 (2016), 961-963.

Saba Mahmood’s Religious Difference in a Secular Age: A Minority Report in Mada Masr (May 8, 2016).

Mériam Belli’s An Incurable Past: Nasser’s Egypt Then and Now in Arab Studies Journal 23, 1 (2015), 404-407.

Beth Baron’s The Orphan Scandal: Christian Missionaries and the Rise of the Muslim Brotherhood in International Journal of Middle East Studies 47, 2 (2015).

Raouf Abbas’s and Assem El-Dessouky’s The Large Landowning Class and the Peasantry in Egypt, 1837-1952 in International Journal of Middle East Studies 45, 2 (2013), 383-385.

Vivian Ibrahim’s The Copts of Egypt: Challenges of Modernisation and Identity in Arab Studies Journal 20, 1 (2012), 231-235.

Laura Robson’s Colonialism and Christianity in Mandate Palestine in Journal of Interdisciplinary History 43, 2 (2012), 346-347.

Robert Tignor’s Egypt: A Short History in Journal of World History 23, 2 (2012), 419-421.

Scott W. Hibbard’s Religious Politics and Secular States: Egypt, India, and the United States in Review of Middle East Studies 46, 1 (2012), 115-116.

Rachel Scott’s The Challenge of Political Islam: Non-Muslims and the Egyptian State in Comparative Studies in South Asia, Africa, and the Middle East 31, 3 (2011), 669-670.

Omnia el Shakry’s The Great Social Laboratory: Subjects of Knowledge in Colonial and Postcolonial Egypt in Comparative Studies in South Asia, Africa, and the Middle East 30, 1 (2010), 151-152.

Ussama Makdisi’s Artillery of Heaven: American Missionaries and the Failed Conversion of the Middle East in International Journal of Middle East Studies 42 (2010), 147-148.

Nancy Stockdale’s Colonial Encounters among English and Palestinian Women, 1800-1948 in International Journal of Middle East Studies 41 (2009), 509-510.

Tamir Moustafa’s The Struggle for Constitutional Power in Comparative Studies in South Asia, Africa, and the Middle East 28, 2 (2008), 373-374.

Avigdor Levy’s edited volume Jews, Turks, Ottomans: A Shared History, Fifteenth Through the Twentieth Century in Middle East and South Asia Folklore Bulletin 20, 1-2 (Winter and Spring 2004).

S. S. Hasan’s Christians Versus Muslims in Modern Egypt: The Century-Long Struggle for Coptic Equality in Middle East Journal 58, 3 (Summer 2004), 510-511.

André Raymond’s Cairo in Arab Studies Journal 9, 2 / 10, 1 (Fall 2001 / Spring 2002), 154-156.