The Middle East Studies Association (MESA) will be holding its forty-fourth annual meeting in Denver beginning this coming weekend, 17-20 November 2012. 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 2012 Annual Meeting panels in which one or more Jadaliyya Co-Editor 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.

Looking Beyond National Borders and Cultural Boundaries: Transnational Connections and the Reform of Islamic Education, 1820-1950
Saturday, 17 November, 5:30-7:30pm

Organized by Hilary Kalmbach

Chair: Nadya Sbaiti, Smith College

Discussant: Michael Laffan, Princeton University

Producing “Useful” Experts: The Egyptian Student Missions to France, 1826-1849
By Archana Prakash, University Illinois Urbana Champaign

The Transnational Reach of Cairo’s Dar al- ‘Ulum, 1890-1950
By Hilary Kalmbach, University of Oxford

Transnational Connections and Early Saudi Educational Reform: The Ma’had ‘Ilmi Sa’udi in 1920s Mecca
By Mike Farquhar, London School of Economics and Political Science

Changing Transnational Patterns and Connections within the Shi’ite Hawzas of Najaf in the Early 20th Century
By Miriam Younes, University of Basel

Ideology, Political Culture, and Authoritarianism in Ba`thist Iraq and Syria
Sunday, 18 November, 8:30am-10:30am

Organized by Joseph Sassoon

Chair/Discussant: Peter Sluglett, National University of Singapore

Ideology and Culture in Ba`thist Iraq
By Joseph Sassoon, Georgetown University

The Radicalization and Ruralization of the Ba`th Party
By Bassam Haddad, George Mason University

From beyond the Grave: The Legacy of the Ba’ath between Ideology and Power
By Fanar Haddad, National University of Singapore

Palestine and the Arab Revolutions
Sunday, 18 November, 11:00am-1:00pm

Organized by Sherene Seikaly

Sponsored by Palestinian American Research Center and Jadaliyya

Chair/Discussant: Sherene Seikaly, American University in Cairo

Does the Road to Freedom Begin in Cairo?: Palestinian Political Activism in Egypt
By Taheer A. Araj, American University in Cairo

The Arab Revolutions: Rethinking Women’s Activism in Palestine
By Halla Shoaibi, American University

The Rise of a New Generation of Palestinian Revolutionary Agents
By Fadi Quran, Birzeit Univertsity

Palestinian Refugees and the Arab Spring: Legal Regimes, Durable Solutions, and Outstanding Questions
By Noura Erakat, Georgetown University

State of the Field: Agriculture and Colonial Rule in Egypt, 1870-1952
Sunday, 18 November, 2:00pm-4:00pm

Organized by Aaron G. Jakes

Chair/Discussant: Sherene Seikaly, American U in Cairo

Floating Towards Crisis: Gresham Life Insurance and the Mortgage Boom in British Egypt
By Aaron G. Jakes, New York University

The Fictitious Commodity of Land and Egypt’s Grain Market, 1890-1939
By Samantha Iyer, UC Berkeley

State Securitization of Agriculture and Supply in Egypt, 1939-1952
By Eric Schewe, Universtiy of Michigan

The Evolving Properties of the Colonial State: Practicing Colonial Rule through Agriculture in Egypt’s South
By Jennifer Derr, Bard College

Popular Mobilizations and Political Sociabilities in the 1950s Arab World 

Monday, 19 November, 8:30am-10:30am

Organized by Ziad M. Abu-Rish and Rosie Bsheer

Discussant: Kaveh Ehsani, DePaul University

Economic Regimes, Social Conflict, and State Formation in Lebanon: 1943-1958
By Ziad M. Abu-Rish, UCLA

Making History, Remaking Place: Oil and Social Movements in Saudi Arabia
By Rosie Bsheer, Columbia University

Risky Business: Oil and the “Question” of Labor in the Arab Gulf
By Ahmed Dailami, St. Antony’s College, University of Oxford

Mobilizing Popular Anti-Colonialism: The Egyptian State and African Politics in the 1950s
By Pandora O’Mahony-Adams, Columbia University

Art, Resistance and Revolution Organized by Jennifer Pruitt and Dina A. Ramadan
Monday, 17 November, 5:00pm-7:00pm

Sponsored by Association for Modern and Contemporary Art of the Arab World, Iran and Turkey

Chair/Discussant: Elliott Colla, Georgetown University

The Global Street: The Rise of Cairene Street Art, 2011-2012
By Jennifer Pruitt, Smith College

When Artists Become Martyrs: Understanding Egyptian Art after “Revolution”
By Dina A. Ramadan, Bard College

Demanding Images: Documenting Revolution in Syria
By Anne-Marie McManus, Yale University

“King of Kings of Africa”: Racializing Gaddafi in the Visual Output of the 2011 Libyan Revolution
By Christiane Gruber, University of Michigan

Literary Performance
Tuesday, 20 November 1:30-3:30pm

Organized by Elliott Colla

Chair/Discussant: Elliott Colla, Georgetown University

Moroccan Stage Lights on ‘Abbasid Literature
By Samuel T. England, University of Wisconsin Madison

Wonder and Muhdath Poetry
By Lara Harb, New York University

Nabati Poetry as National Duty: Poetic Expressions of Tribal, National and Regional Allegiance in Qatari and Emirati Praise Poems
By Katrien Vanpee, Georgetown University