Cal State Fullerton alum Mary Chammas wants students to gain a deeper understanding of the culturally diverse SWANA — Southwest Asia and North Africa — region.
As founding president of the SWANA student organization and Lebanese Student Association, Chammas was a driving force behind creating the new SWANA minor, which begins this fall.
“The minor exposes students to a wide range of diverse cultures, languages, religions and rich historical influence, providing them with an understanding of international affairs and cross-cultural competencies,” said Chammas, a 2023 first-generation graduate who earned a bachelor’s degree in international business.
“It was important for me to help create the minor to educate the campus community about the uniqueness of SWANA countries, which bring an abundance of trade, architecture designs, hospitality and food influence on American society.”
The SWANA region, often referred to as the Middle East from a Western lens, stretches from Morocco in the west to Afghanistan in the east, Turkey in the north and Yemen in the south, and plays a crucial role in global economics, history and culture, said Zakyi Ibrahim, chair and professor of religious studies.
“SWANA is perceived to be a more precise and politically correct description of the region than the previous ones,” Ibrahim said.
The 15-unit SWANA minor, housed in the Department of Religious Studies, offers cross-discipline courses such as Issues in Contemporary Islam, Women in Islam, Economies of the Middle East and American Immigrant Cultures. Other course offerings are religion classes in Islam, Judaism and Christianity, and Arabic and Persian languages.
Chammas and fellow students initiated the minor and met with Jessica Yirush Stern, dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, in the spring of 2022. The students provided her with a list of existing classes needed to launch the program.
Stern said the minor was developed collaboratively between SWANA students and faculty members from the Religious Studies, Modern Languages and Literatures, History and American Studies departments.
In addition to Chammas, other students instrumental in helping to create the minor include business administration major Talia Boukhalils, current SWANA president who plans on earning the SWANA minor, and former student government leader Kira Dawson ’22 (B.A. American studies, B.A. communications-entertainment studies).
“A goal of mine is to create courses and curriculum that directly meet students’ needs,” Stern said. “I’m excited that this minor will provide students with a way to learn deeply about the SWANA region.”
Ibrahim said students declaring the minor as a secondary academic discipline could help them land positions in national and global settings requiring expertise about the SWANA region. Professional positions include careers at the United Nations, U.S. Department of State, U.S. security services and international businesses.
Chammas, who studied global trade, is entering her second year at Southwestern Law School in Los Angeles and aspires to a career in civil litigation. As an undergraduate student, she led initiatives and advocated for resources and programs to enhance opportunities for the SWANA student community on campus.
These activities included writing resolutions for adoption by the student government, starting the SWANA Inter-Club Council to fund events, lobbying for a SWANA ethnicity option for California State University applications and spearheading the opening of a student resource center.
Plans are underway for a new SWANA Resource Center in Pollak Library as part of Diversity Initiatives and Resource Centers’ expansion efforts. SWANA Student Services held an inaugural cultural recognition celebration for the Class of 2024 grads in May.
“It’s rewarding for me that SWANA students on campus feel seen and heard and embrace their identity,” Chammas said. “Students now have a community they can be part of — and I’m glad I helped to pay it forward.”