Live with ASI, hosted by MK Smith and Bassam Haddad, is a new monthly broadcast program that showcases recently published content from the Arab Studies Institute’s numerous branches. This content includes articles, reviews, pedagogical resources, podcasts, and more. Also featured in the broadcast are brand new interviews and discussions with various authors and contributors.

All of the materials mentioned in the Live with ASI broadcast are listed here, categorized by their themes. Also listed are additional recent materials we highly recommend. Pieces that are relevant to multiple themes are listed under each applicable theme below. 

Watch the broadcasts!

Part A – 8 September 2020

00:00 Content on COVID-19

03:43 Bassam Haddad interviews Robert Vitalis on Oilcraft 

10:10 Content on Lebanon, Carly Krakow interviews Mona Harb

20:38 Status Podcast & Syria Content 

26:45 Content on The Maghreb 

34:05 Content on Palestine, Carly Krakow interviews Beshara Doumani 

46:00 Closing Words & Production Team

Part B – 10 September 2020 

00:00 Introduction 

01:10 Content on Egypt 

02:18 Content on Iran 

06:04 Roundtable on “Is Abolition Global?” with Arash Davari, Golnar Nikpour, Naveed Mansouri, and Omid Tofighia 

20:46 Arabic Content Overview with Sinan Antoon

23:56 Pedagogy Content Overview with Mekarem Eljamel 

30:11 Content on Turkey 

33:01 Pedagogy and Secondary Education Module with Susan Douglass

35:53 Internship Opportunities and Closing Words

Read, watch, and listen to content featured in the broadcasts!

Part A – 8 September 2020

COVID-19

Jadaliyya’s new Environment Page has produced content discussing how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the region. Engaging both contemporary and historical perspectives, these pieces offer critical analyses of the relationship between the pandemic, public health, and environmental justice. Also listed are other recent Jadaliyya pieces on the pandemic, including a bouquet on COVID-19 and social mobilization.  

• Middle East History in the Time of COVID-19: A Roundtable on Disease, Environment, and Medicine by Joelle Abi-Rached, A. Tylor Brand, Christopher Rose, Seçil Yılmaz, and the Environment Page Editors

• Quick Thoughts: Carly A. Krakow on the COVID-19 Pandemic and Environmental Racism by Carly A. Krakow

• Water Scarcity, Climate Change, and COVID-19 in Yemen: An Interview with Helen Lackner by Carly A. Krakow and Helen Lackner

• As the Hirak in Algeria Goes Online Due to COVID-19, so Does Repression by Youcef Oussama Bounab

• Introduction to the Bouquet on COVID-19 and Social Mobilization by Kylie Broderick

• Roundtable: Protest and Social Mobilization in the Time of COVID-19 by Anthony Alessandrini, Zahra Ali, Kylie Broderick, Juan Doe, Nadim El-Kak, Rhea Rahman, and Ghiwa Sayegh

• “This is the Voice of Algeria:” Radio Corona International Carries the Torch of the Hirak by Muriam Haleh Davis

• The Algerian Healthcare System in the Time of COVID-19 by Thomas Serres

• COVID-19 and Feminism in the Global South: Challenges, Initiatives, and Developments by Nadje Al-Ali

• Time to Strike: Academic Workers and the Tactic of Withholding Gradesby UCSC Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) Agitation Committee

Lebanon

The August 4th explosion in Beirut left the city devastated, and many are still trying to make sense of the catastrophe. In several Jadaliyya pieces and events, our Lebanon experts have grappled with the latest developments. They address the role of Lebanon’s political class in the crisis, relief efforts, how the explosion affected Beirut's urban landscape, unanswered questions about the cause of the explosion, and much more. Also included are two NEWTON (New Texts Out Now) pieces. Watch the episode to hear from Mona Harb! Dr. Harb discusses her Quick Thoughts piece on the aftermath of the Beirut explosion, in conversation with Carly Krakow. 

• Quick Thoughts: Mona Harb on the Aftermath of the Beirut Explosion by Mona Harb

• Conversation on Lebanon’s Calamity: Background, Accountability, Consequences by Jadaliyya Interviews

• Quick Thoughts: Ziad Abu-Rish and Maya Mikdashi on Lebanon’s Multiple Crises by Ziad Abu-Rish and Maya Mikdashi

• Compound Crises: Ziad Abu Rish Reports on the Chemical Explosion in Beirut by Ziad Abu-Rish

• Disruptive Situations: Fractal Orientalism and Queer Strategies in Beirut (NEWTON) by Ghassan Moussawi

• Armenians Beyond Diaspora: Making Lebanon Their Own (NEWTON) by Tsolin Nalbantian

Status/الوضع

Our Audio-Visual Magazine, Status/الوضع, launched a new podcast series with Jadaliyya’s Environment Page titled “Environment in Context,” and two recent episodes are listed here. Also listed is a Status/الوضع episode on the relationship between gender and Islamic studies, an interview with Ziad Abu-Rish on the Beirut explosion, and an episode on political prisoners and proletarian feminism. 

• Environment in Context Podcast Series: Cement, War, and Toxicity: The Materialities of Displacement in Iraq with Kali Rubaii, hosted by Huma Gupta and Gabi Kirk

• Environment in Context Podcast Series: Green Energy Colonialism in the Occupied Syrian Golan Heights with Wael Tarabieh and Muna Dajani, hosted by Malihe Razazan

• Gender and the Politics of Islamic Studies by Kecia Ali

• Compound Crises: Ziad Abu Rish Reports on the Chemical Explosion in Beirut by Ziad Abu-Rish

• 1979 Generation: EP. 2 - Shahla Talebi on Political Prisoners & Proletarian Feminism with Shahla Talebi, hosted by Manijeh Nasrabadi

Syria

Though Syria appears less and less in the news, ASI has continued to keep track and analyze developments there. Most recently, ASI has produced content that reflects on the last two decades of Bashar al-Asad’s rule, summarizes latest developments, and calls for revitalizing an ongoing conversation in the context of these developments. 

• Roundtable Conversation: 20 Years After Bashar al-Asad's Succession (Parts 1 and 2) by Jadaliyya Reports

• Engaging Syria Today by Syria Page Editors

• Syria Quarterly Report Issue 5: Jan/Feb/Mar 2019 by Salon Syria and Jadaliyya

• Launching of Justice to Transcend Conflict Report – Syria by Jadaliyya Reports

Maghreb

Jadaliyya’s new Photography and Audio-Visual Narratives Page, and the Arab Studies Journal, have published several pieces on the Maghreb, ranging from Algerian history and film, to the Moroccan Green March, to post-Qaddafi Libya.

• Battle of Algiers Film Discussion by Photography and Audio-Visual Narratives Page Editors

• Photographing Confinement by Samia Henni

• Militia Soundscapes in Post-Qaddafi Libya by Leila Tayeb

• In Search of Algeria: Between Literature, History, and Cultural Studies by Idriss Jebari

• Morocco’s Double Infallibility: The Intergenerational Peril of the 1975 Green March by Gabriel Davis

• Tin Zaouatine, Marginalisation et Militarisation aux Confins des Frontières Algériennes by Raouf Farrah

• “This is the Voice of Algeria:” Radio Corona International Carries the Torch of the Hirak by Muriam Haleh Davis

• The Algerian Healthcare System in the Time of COVID-19 by Thomas Serres

Palestine

ASI’s team grappled with new developments in Palestine and Palestinian Studies, analyzing the implications of Israel’s intended formal annexation of the West Bank, Israel’s extrajudicial killing of Ahmad Erakat, as well as the more hopeful news regarding the creation of the first endowed chair for Palestinian Studies in the US. Also listed are collections of materials regarding Palestinian history and politics. Watch the episode to hear from Beshara Doumani! Dr. Doumani discusses the Mahmoud Darwish Chair in Palestinian Studies, in conversation with Carly Krakow. 

• Reflections on Palestinian Studies: Jadaliyya Co-Editor Sherene Seikaly interviews Beshara Doumani by Jadaliyya Interviews

• Quick Thoughts: Mouin Rabbani on Israeli Annexation by Mouin Rabbani

• Paradise Lost: Land and Labor in 1950s Galilee by Lily Eilan 

• Urgent Appeal: 83 Groups Urge UN Special Procedures re Israel’s Willful Killing of Ahmad Erekat by Jadaliyya Reports

• Essential Readings on The Left in Mandate Palestine by Musa Budeiri

• The Palestinian Idea: Film, Media, and the Radical Imagination (NEWTON) by Greg Burris

• Palestinian Theatre in the West Bank: Our Human Faces (NEWTON) by Gabriel Varghese

• Palestinian Chicago: Identity in Exile (NEWTON) by Loren Lybarger

Independent Content

Robert Vitalis’s new book, Oilcraft, takes on conventional beliefs on oil, and offers a corrective analysis that dispels predominant mystifications in economic, military, and diplomatic policy. By exposing suspect fears of oil scarcity and conflict, Vitalis investigates the geopolitical repercussions of those false beliefs. Watch the episode to hear from Robert Vitalis! Dr. Vitalis discusses Oilcraft in conversation with Bassam Haddad. 

• Robert Vitalis, Oilcraft: The Myths of Scarcity and Security That Haunt U.S. Energy Policy (NEWTON) by Robert Vitalis

   

  
  

 

Part B – 10 September 2020

Peadagogy

ASI’s Middle East Studies Pedagogy Initiative, or MESPI, is an educational resource that curates and collects Middle East studies material for both educators and students of a variety of levels. Listed here are MESPI’s initiatives and recent publications. Watch the episode to hear more about MESPI’s work!

• Peer-Reviewed Articles Review (PRAR) Bouquet on Race

• Palestine, Israel, and Race: Peer-Reviewed Articles 1979-2019 by MESPI

• Race in the Middle East and North Africa: Peer-Reviewed Articles 1979-2019 by MESPI

• Race and the Middle East in the United States: Peer-Reviewed Articles 1979-2019 by MESPI
  
  

• Essential Readings on the Left

• The Left in Mandate Palestine by Musa Budeiri 

• Marxism and the Left in Egypt by Joel Beinin

• Iranian Socialism and Communism by Eskander Sadeghi-Boroujerdi
  
  

• New Texts Out Now (NEWTON) 

• Genocide in Libya: Shar, a Hidden Colonial History (NEWTON) byAliAbdullatif Ahmida 

• Brill Publishers Selections on Muslim Minorities by Engaging Books Editors

Egypt

Recent materials published include a New Texts Out Now (NEWTON) piece regarding the issues of market-based development, as well as an Essential Readings collection on the Left’s history in Egypt.

• Cleft Capitalism: The Social Origins of Failed Market Making in Egypt (NEWTON) by Amr Adly

• Review of Cleft Capitalism: The Social Origins of Failed Market Making in Egypt by Hesham Shafick

• Essential Readings on Marxism and the Left in Egypt by Joel Beinin 

• Nonsense and Morality: Interwar Egypt and the Comedy of Najib al-Rihani by Carmen Gitre

• The Autocratic Parliament: Power and Legitimacy in Egypt, 1866-2011 (NEWTON) by Irene Weipert-Fenner
  
  

Iran

Jadaliyya’s Iran Page published material addressing the history behind the translation of Frantz Fanon’s work into Persian. Other recent publications include a review for a new book addressing the development of Iranian pop music in Southern California, and a roundtable conversation on Iranian prison politics. Also listed are materials on socialism, communism, and feminism in Iran. Watch the episode to hear from the authors of the “Is Abolition Global?” roundtable! 

• Who Translated Fanon’s The Wretched of the Earth into Persian? by Eskandar Sadeghi-Boroujerdi

• Review of Tehrangeles Dreaming: Intimacy and Imagination in Southern California’s Iranian Pop Music by Ida Yalzadeh

• 1979 Generation: Shahla Talebi on Political Prisoners and Proletarian Feminism by Shahla Talebi

• Roundtable: Is Abolition Global? Iran, Iranians, and Prison Politics (Part 1) by  Arash Davari, Omid Tofighian, Golnar Nikpour, and Naveed Mansoori

• Roundtable (Part 2)

• Essential Readings on Iranian Socialism and Communism by  Eskandar Sadeghi-Boroujerdi

• The Mural Merry-Go-Round: The Vali Asr Billboard and Propaganda in Iran by Kevin L. Schwartz and Olmo Gölz
  
  

Turkey

Jadaliyya’s Turkey Page addressed the question of populism in the recent move to reconvert the Hagia Sophia into a mosque. Other recent publications include a piece on the implications of recent campaigns to address femicide in Turkey. Below you will also find two New Texts Out Now (NEWTON) pieces on masculinity, disability, and political violence in Turkey; and on urban activism, coup d'état, and memory. 

• Challenge Accepted? Systematic Erasures in Femicide Narratives from Turkey by Ronay Bakan and Seda Saluk

• What Is in a Place? Hagia Sophia in the Affective Topography of Populism in Turkey by Spyros A. Sofos

• Sacrificial Limbs: Masculinity, Disability, and Political Violence in Turkey (NEWTON) by Salih Can Açıksöz

• Transformative Justice & Anti-Carceral Politics (Video) by Jadaliyya Reports

• Istanbul, City of the Fearless: Urban Activism, Coup D’État, and Memory in Turkey (NEWTON) by Christopher Houston
  
  

Independent Materials

• Quick Thoughts: Lisa Hajjar on Executive Excess in the United States by Lisa Hajjar

• Quick Thoughts: Jamie Stern-Weiner on Anti-Semitism and the British Labour Party by Jamie Stern-Weiner

• On Shimon Ballas (1930-2019)  by Ammiel Alcalay 
  
  

Call for Interns

ASI is looking for candidates who are self-motivated, prone to collaborative efforts, and eager to develop their skills in a variety of respects. Despite specialization in particular areas, ASI interns will be trained to develop various sets of skills (including writing, typesetting, editing, networking, managing, and/or administrating), especially if they remain on board for more than one term.

Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis. Internships involve a ten- to fifteen-hour weekly commitment, mostly via cyberspace. The location of applicants need not be in Washington DC in most cases. Inquiries may be sent to info@ArabStudiesInstitute.org.

For more information on ASI’s branches and positions available, go to our website.