TOP STUDENT SHOW HE’S A STAR OF BETHLEHEM
HIGHEST MARK EVER AWARDED TO A GRADUATE OF AN ENGLISH COURSE AT UNIVERSITY OF SUNDERLAND
A man who was born in Bethlehem on Christmas Day has achieved the highest mark ever awarded to a student graduating from an English course at the University of Sunderland.
Anas Mahmoud Ahmed Disi, 23, scored a record 98% for his dissertation and graduated this week from his English Master’s degree.
He has received the Sir Walter Scott Prize for Best MA English Studies Student for his incredible achievement, which has left a lasting impression on his academics and peers.
Academic supervisor Dr Alison Younger said: “We’ve never had a student like Anas before, he just blew us away with his lateral thinking.
“He has the kind of mind that allowed him to take huge imaginative leaps, he has such a passionate love of literature and engaged in every aspect of the course.
“When it came to grading his dissertation, we spent hours scrutinising the work thinking we must be missing something, to see a piece of work of this standard which is nearly flawless and work we’d expect to see written by an experienced Emiterus Professor.”
The Palestinian has now returned home to Amman, Jordan, working as an academic co-ordinator at a private language centre.
He hopes to further develop his professional career in teaching and research and start a PhD that builds on the work from his MA, as he aspires to become a literary critic and professor.
Despite missing his graduation ceremony at the Stadium of Light and not collecting his award in person, Anas said: “I feel honoured.
“Being awarded this prize was not only a personal milestone, but also a feat of pride for my family and the many beautiful friends who supported me enough to finish the dissertation in the form it was submitted.
“It was their unwavering support that led me here.”
Thedissertationforwhich he received his outstanding grading was a critical study between two schools of social and literary analysis – Marxist Theory and Postcolonial Theory.
Dr Younger added of his work: “We would encourage him to put it forward for publication, it’s certainly worthy.”
On living and studying in Sunderland, Anas said: “I got involved in a lot of activities – among them the Sunderland Literature Festival, the public reading of Spectral Visions literary works and visiting a lecture on Bram Stoker by Bram Stoker’s descendent in Newcastle.”
“He just blew us away with his lateral thinking” DR ALISON YOUNGER