College of Arts

The Department of English at the College of Arts held a public defense for a Master’s thesis titled “Non-Place Spaces: A Study of Non-Place in Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man, Buchi Emecheta’s Second-Class Citizen, and V.S. Naipaul’s Half a Life.”

The defense, held on Wednesday, December 24, 2025, was attended by the Dean of the College of Arts, Professor Dr. Hatim Fahad Al-Taie, along with several faculty members and scholars.

Thesis Overview

The study, submitted by graduate student Mayada Thamer Abdul-Ghafoor, aims to understand how the concept of “Non-Place” manifests in modern literature. Grounded in the theoretical framework of Marc Augé, who argues that certain spaces lose their identity and generate a sense of alienation, the thesis analyzes three novels from diverse cultural backgrounds. It explores how these “non-place” environments impact characters and reshape their relationships with themselves and the world around them.

The Defense Committee

The committee was composed of distinguished scholars who evaluated the academic rigor and findings of the research:

• Assistant Professor Marwan Mahou Abdi (College of Languages, University of Duhok) – Chair

• Assistant Professor Ali Hamada Mukhlid (College of Arts, University of Mosul) – Member

• Assistant Professor Shaimaa Zuhair Hamoodi (College of Arts, University of Mosul) – Member

• Assistant Professor Dr. Saleh Abdullah Abdul-Rahman (College of Arts, University of Mosul) – Member and Supervisor