The Program in Middle East and North African Studies (MENA) will be holding its inaugural conference, “Theorizing Transformations in the Middle East and North Africa,” from October 21-24, 2015. During conference proceedings, national and international scholars will discuss scholarship of the modern Middle East, critiquing and expanding upon existing models in addition to proposing new approaches for understanding the rich and complex region through a wide variety of lenses and methodologies.
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22
Session 2: States, Territories, Citizens
10:00 am – 12:00 noon
Guild Lounge, Scott Hall, 601 University Place
Panel Chair: Katherine Hoffman, Associate Professor of Anthropology and MENA, Northwestern
Kevin Martin, Indiana University: “A State without Citizens: The Tragedy of Syrian History”
Mezna Qato, University of Cambridge: “Lessons in Exile: Palestinian Refugees, Territoriality, and Settler-Colonial Reverberations “
Michelle Campos, University of Florida: “‘Unmixing' the Holy City: Historicizing Urban Sectarianism in Jerusalem Digitally and Textually”
Session 3: Media, Politics
1:00 pm – 2:30 pm
Guild Lounge, Scott Hall, 601 University Place
Panel Chair: Hamid Naficy, Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani Professor in Communication, Professor of Radio/Television/Film and MENA, Northwestern
Ibtissam Bouachrine, Smith College: “Women, Islam, Film, and Privilege”
Roxane Farmanfarmaian, University of Cambridge: “Youth and Social Media Use in Political Transition in Tunisia and Turkey”
Session 4: Neoliberalism, Political Action
3:00 pm - 4:30 pm
Guild Lounge, Scott Hall, 601 University Place
Panel Chair: Wendy Pearlman, Associate Professor of Political Science and MENA, Northwestern
Sarah Tobin, Brown University: “Neoliberal Piety: From Islamic Economics to Economized Islam”
Zakia Salime, Rutgers University: “The Uprisings and Their Margins: Legible, Illegible Bodies”
Plenary: Asef Bayat, University of Illinois: “Revolutions of Neoliberal Times”
5:30 pm
Guild Lounge, Scott Hall, 601 University Place
Introduction: Dilip Gaonkar, Professor of Communication Studies, Northwestern
Cost: free