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CMES is proud to announce that Zeena Haitham Hamed, a 4th year Sociology major, has been awarded the 2024 Nancy Gallagher Prize for best undergraduate essay in Middle East Studies. They wrote an essay on white spatial imaginary and a comparative analysis of systems of capitalist control in Chicago and Iraq through the prism of rap music. The faculty review committee appreciated Zeena’s thoughtful analysis, engagement with theoretical and secondary sources, and lucid writing. The prize is named in honor of UCSB Professor Emerita Nancy Gallagher, a historian of the Middle East and North Africa, who helped build the thriving intellectual community that is CMES.