Webshaykh’s Note: For the many people whose lives crossed those of BJ Fernea this is a sad note from the University of Texas, where she taught for many years.

It is with great sorrow that we report that Elizabeth Warnock Fernea, Professor Emerita of Comparative Literature and Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Texas at Austin, passed away on Tuesday afternoon, December 2, 2008, at the home of her daughter, Laila Stroben, in La Canada, California. She is survived by her husband, Robert A. Fernea (Professor Emeritus of Anthropology and Middle Eastern Studies), daughters Laura Ann and Laila and son David, and several grandchildren.

Known as “BJ” to friends and family, Mrs. Fernea’s interest and passion in the Middle East, especially in women’s issues, was clear to anyone who had the opportunity to work with her during her forty year career as a writer, lecturer, professor, and film maker. She served as an energetic, enthusiastic champion of the Middle Eastern Studies program at UT for many decades.

A graduate of Reed College in Oregon, BJ’s initial exposure to the Middle East came through trial-by-fire when she accompanied her husband on his doctoral field study to the village of al-Nahra in southern Iraq from 1956-1958. In her bestselling ethnographic memoir, “Guests of the Sheik: An Ethnography of an Iraqi Village” (1965, reprinted in 1969 and 1989), BJ recorded how she was able to navigate into the spheres of the village women, areas where her husband was unable to go. After Robert Fernea attained his doctorate from the University of Chicago, the couple moved to Cairo, where two of their children were born.

The Ferneas arrived in Austin in 1966, when Robert assumed the directorship of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Texas. BJ was hired as a Senior Lecturer in 1975 in the Comparative Literature Program in the Department of English and in the Center for Middle Eastern Studies. She was promoted to full Professorship in 1990. BJ retired from teaching in the spring of 1999, but continued to be active as Professor Emerita for the rest of her life. She was the recipient of numerous grants, awards, and honors, and also served as president of the Middle East Studies Association of North America from 1985-86.

Over the course of their forty years in Austin, BJ authored a number of books, some autobiographical–such as “A View of the Nile” (1970) and “A Street in Marrakech” (1975)–others more scholarly in nature, including the edited volumes “Middle Eastern Muslim Women Speak” (co-edited with Basima Qattan Bezirgan, 1977), “Women and Family in the Middle East: New Voices of Change” (1985), “In Search of Islamic Feminism: One Woman’s Global Journey” (1998), and “Remembering Childhood in the Middle East” (2002). She also co-authored two publications with Robert Fernea: “The Arab World: Personal Encounters” (1985, reissued as “The Arab World: Forty Years of Change” in 1997), and “Nubian Ethnographies” (1991).

In addition to her prolific career as an author, BJ produced several films about the Middle East, including “Saints and Spirits” (1979), “Reformers and Revolutionaries: Middle Eastern Women” (1984), “The Struggle for Peace: Israelis and Palestinians” (1992), “The Road to Peace: Israelis and Palestinians” (1994), and “Living With the Past” (2001).

We at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies fondly remember Elizabeth Fernea as a friend and colleague who created a warm, dynamic environment for visiting scholars, fostered an open forum for the discussion of Middle Eastern women’s issues, and helped to forge an international reputation for the University of Texas’s Middle East Studies program.

The Center for Middle Eastern Studies is planning a symposium on women in the Middle East in honor of Elizabeth Warnock Fernea to take place in 2009. A formal announcement be made after the winter holiday.

The Fernea family has announced that a memorial service will be held in Austin at St. Austin’s Catholic Church early next week. Specific information will be posted on the CMES Web site when it becomes available.

We extend our deepest sympathies to the Ferneas at this difficult time. We will greatly miss BJ’s enthusiasm and energy.