The Middle East Studies Association (MESA) will be holding its annual meeting in Boston beginning this coming Thursday, 17-20 November 2016. Over a span of four days, scholars and researchers from across North America, the Middle East, and beyond will present their work via an impressive and diverse array of thematic panels (see complete program here).
In order to highlight some of the panels, below is a list of MESA 2016 Annual Meeting panels in which one or more members of the Arab Studies Institute (including Jadaliyya, Arab Studies Journal, Status Audio Journal, Forum on Arab and Muslim Affairs, and Knowledge Production Project) is involved in as an organizer, presenters, discussant, and/or chair. However, to appreciate the full spectrum of topics, themes, geographic areas, and disciplines represented, we encourage you to browse the entire program. All information, including registration information, can be found by clicking here.
Friday, 11/18/16 3:45pm
A Tribute to the Work of Mary Ann Tétreault (1942-2015)
Organized by Farah Al-Nakib
“The Politics of Occupation: Mary Ann Tétreault’s Take on the Iraqi Invasion of Kuwait”
by Al-Nakib, Farah
“From Stories of Democracy to Histories of the Margins: Enlarging the Spectrum of Kuwaiti Voices”
by Beaugrand, Claire
“Institutional Autonomy and Economic Change in Small States: Mary Ann Tétreault’s Contribution to the Study of Oil Politics”
by Martin, Geoff
“Gender and the Public/Private Sphere: Insights from Mary Ann Tétreault”
by Mitchell, Jocelyn Sage
Discussant: Gwenn Okruhlik
Roundtable on Global Arab America: Cosmopolitanism and Its Discontents
Organized by Suad Joseph and Pauline Homsi Vinson
Lisa Hajjar
Sarah Gualtieri
Bassam Haddad
Carol Fadda
Roundtable on Electrifying Middle East and North African Studies
Organized by Ziad Abu-Rish and Janell Rothenberg
Janell Rothenberg
Nida Alahmad
Ziad M. Abu-Rish
Omar Jabary Salamanca
Gokce Gunel
Pauline Lewis
Discussant: Laleh Khalili
Political, Social, and Religious Reform in the Age of Social Media
Organized by Nadia Oweidat
“Cairene Women, Graffiti, and Online Social Networks: Pinterest as a Platform for Social, Political, and Religious Reform Efforts”
by Bardhan, Soumia
“Rethinking State Control over Media Production in Egypt
by El Khachab, Chihab
“The Alpha and the Omega: Divination, Deliverance, and Delusion in Digital Egypt”
by Iskandar, Adel
“The New Generation of Islamic thought Reformists and their use of Social media: the cases of Bihiri, Nasr and Harqan”
by Oweidat, Nadia
Discussant: Linda Herrera
Saturday, 11/19/16 10:00am
Special Session on Explaining Divergent Outcomes: The Arab Spring Five Years On
Lisa Anderson
Val Moghadam
Joshua Landis
Amaney Jamal
Bassam Haddad
Shamiran Mako
Saturday, 11/19/16 2:00pm
Beneath and Beyond Gender and Sexuality: Cultures of Friendship, Sociality, and the Erotic in the Modern Middle East
Organized by Pelle Valentin Olsen
“My Dear Brother”: Bonds of Friendship in Ottoman Sports Clubs”
by Yildiz, Murat C.
“Joining the Effendiyya? The Case of Paulina Hassun”
by Efrati, Noga
“Cruising Baghdad: Masculinity, Sexuality, and Homoerotic Desire in The Works of Dhu al-Nun Ayyub”
by Valentin Olsen, Pelle
Discussant: Haytham Bahoora
Academic Freedom under Assault: A Roundtable on Recent Developments in Egypt and Turkey
Organized by Laurie Brand
Denying Academic Freedom by Law in Turkey
by Bali, Asli
The Precarious State of Academic Freedom in Egypt
by Fahmy, Khaled
Academic Freedom and Political Stability in Contemporary Turkey?"
by Igsiz, Asli Z.
Expanding the Borders of The Forbidden in Egyptian Universities
by Langohr, Vickie
Saturday, 11/19/16 4:00pm
Representations Respond to History & Trauma
“Asma’a (2011): Representing HIV/AIDS in Arab Cinema”
by Alawadhi, Hend
“Media Realism in Time of War: Identification, Interactivity, and Symbolism in Syrian Television Drama”
by Alhayek, Katty
“Draw Me a Gun: Children’s Books in the Trenches of the ‘Arab Hanoi’”
by Maasri, Zeina
“Turkic Muslims’ Literary Response to the Uninvited Russian “Guest””
by Okur, Jeannette E.
Sunday, 11/20/16 8:00am
Roundtable on Middle Eastern Sports Studies: The State of the Field
Organized by Andrea Stanton
James M. Dorsey
Andrea L. Stanton
Murat C. Yildiz
Danyel Reiche
The Crisis in Turkey
Organized by Val Moghadam
Fatma Muge Gocek
Yesim Arat
Asli Z. Igsiz
Huseyin Levent Koker
Sunday, 11/20/16 10:00am
Water and Power Politics: Palestine and Lebanon
“Reexamining the Lebanese State Through Water: Sect, Class, and Politics in Mount Lebanon”
by Boueri, Kevin
“When U.S. Aid didn’t Come to The Rescue: Nazareth, the Israeli State and Water Politics”
by Dallasheh, Leena
“The Human Right to Water and Sanitation: The Case of Palestine for Assessing the Opportunities and Potential Pitfalls of a Discourse”
by Gasteyer, Stephen P.
“Water Wars: The Battle over the Privatization and Monopolization of Israel`s Water Sector”
by Herzog, Donna
“Phase "A": Redesigning the Litani River, 1948-1956”
by Lawson, Owain
Coercive Apparatuses after the Arab Spring
“To Coup or Not to Coup: The Tunisian Military in 2013”
by Grewal, Sharan
“The Coercive Apparatus in Tunisia: Paradigms Lost?”
by Weirich, Sarah
“Coups and Nascent Democracies: Egypt and Tunisia in a Comparative Perspective”
by Bou Nassif, Hicham
“Follow the Money: How certain economic activities do (or don’t) generate political resources for the Egyptian Military”
by Marshall, Shana
Discussant: Eva Bellin
Sunday, 11/20/16 12:00pm
Controversy, Scandal and Rumor in Modern Algeria and Tunisia: The Role of Public Opinion in Instigating Political and Social Changes
Organized by M`Hamed Oualdi
“Martyr or Traitor? Economic Development and National Memory in Algeria”
by Davis, Muriam Haleh
“Blasphemy, Free Speech, or Political Affair, the Jabeur Mejri Affair in Tunisia”
by Marzouki, Nadia
“Embezzlement and Bribery in Late Ottoman Tunisia (1850s-1880s)”
by Oualdi, M`Hamed
“From “Qui tue qui” to “Bled Miki:” Controversies and Political Uncertainty in Post-Conflict Algeria”
by Serres, Thomas
The State and Social Conflict in Egypt under the Sisi Regime
Organized by Hesham Sallam and Dena Shehata
"The Officer Has Saved the Nation: Military Bureaucrats and Businessmen in Egypt"
by Abul-Magd, Zeinab A.
"Will the `taifas Neo-Mamluk state` end in Egypt?"
by El Sherif, Ashraf
"Patterns of political resistance and mobilization under the Sisi regime"
by Shehata, Dina
Discussant: Hesham Sallam
Sunday, 11/20/16 2:00pm
Infrastructure, Expertise, and Political Authority in the Middle East
“Science versus Sentiment: The Water Supply Controversy in British Colonial Cairo”
by Ismail, Shehab
“Managing Mobility: Railways, Cotton, and Anti-Colonialism in Interwar Egypt”
by Shokr, Ahmad
“Infrastructures of Modernization: Highways and Mobility in Postwar Turkey”
by Adalet, Begum
“Litter and the Shrug: Thinking the Politics of Infrastructure through Garbage in Twenty-First Century Palestine”
by Stamatopoulou-Robbins, Sophia
What are the Underlying Causes of Violent Conflicts? Syria`s War Five Years On
"The Syrian Uprising (2011): Revolution, Environment and Security"
by Daoudy, Marwa
"The Sectarianization of the Syrian Conflict: The Salience of Authoritarianism over Theology"
by Hashemi, Nader
"Physical Destruction and Human Displacement in Syria: Violence as a Mean of Warfare, Violence as a Political, Social and Economic (dis)Order"
by Vignal, Leila Marie Rebecca
Discussant: Bassam Haddad
Black Palestinian Solidarity and Anti-Blackness: A Way Forward
Organized by Noura Erakat
"Football Is Faster Than Politics: Sudan, Egypt, and FIFA Boycotts"
by Azeb, Sophia
"Comrades, Captivity and Sunlight"
by Thomas, Greg
Discussant: Noura Erakat