Critical Language Scholarship

Muriel Grubb is a registered professional archaeologist and anthropologist. She currently works as an archaeologist for WSP Inc. based in Kansas City, Missouri, on a variety of infrastructure projects for both public and private clients. She uses skills gained from her Critical Language Scholarship experience regularly in her anthropological work, which has taken her to Israel, Turkey, Cyprus, Mexico, and Belize, in addition to several U.S. states. In her archaeological work, she highlights relationships between infrastructure and daily life, focused particularly on agricultural contexts and the midwestern United States, where Muriel was raised. She believes that people on the margins do not personally experience history in a marginal way, and she strives to incorporate this perspective in all her projects.

Muriel has consistently sought opportunities to combine her digital and anthropological skill sets, and she especially enjoys projects that increase the accessibility of information. She has worked on collections management strategies for the City of Coralville, the National Czech and Slovak Museum and Library, Second Harvest Heartland, the University of Iowa Office of the State Archaeologist, Labconco Corporation, and East Carolina University.

Muriel obtained her bachelor’s degree in archaeology with a minor in anthropology from Cornell College, and her master’s degree in anthropology emphasizing historical archaeology from East Carolina University. She also holds a certificate in Geographic Information Sciences and Technology from East Carolina University.

Azerbaijani-American musician, Jeiran Hasan enjoys a multi-faceted career as a flutist and educator. Currently based in Iowa City, Iowa, she is the principal flutist of the Knox-Galesburg Symphony, a flute instructor at the Quad City Symphony, and recently served as the flute instructor at Western Illinois University. She has been a prizewinner or finalist in over 20 national and international competitions and gave her debut at Carnegie Hall. Jeiran has given masterclasses and performances around the globe, teaching in Azerbaijani, Russian, Spanish, and Arabic.

Jeiran serves as the music contributor of “Caspian Vibes,” an Azerbaijani-American magazine. She spent the summers of 2010 and 2011 as a recipient of the Critical Language Scholarship Program (CLS) in Baku and studied at the national folk academy, learning the traditional folk instrument, Balaban. She was invited to perform at the CLS closing ceremony and at the U.S. Embassy. An active researcher in Azerbaijan, she wrote her dissertation on the Azerbaijani flute compositions of Amirov, Bakihanov, and Melikov. Jeiran has an upcoming performance with the Azerbaijani-American Music Foundation and recently was a featured artist on the Peace for Karabakh virtual recital.

Jeiran is the co-founder and mentor of the National Flute Association’s Young Artist Mentorship Program, which serves to provide career opportunities for traditionally marginalized flute students. A champion for new music, she is commissioning and premiering new works for flute by female Azerbaijani composers and working on a solo debut CD of their pieces. Jeiran holds degrees from the University of Iowa and the Cleveland Institute of Music.