Filtering by: Conference

Palestine & Lebanon After October 7: Examining the Social and Spatial Impacts of a Regional War
Oct
23
12:00 PM12:00

Palestine & Lebanon After October 7: Examining the Social and Spatial Impacts of a Regional War

Date: Wednesday, October 23

Time: 12:00 PM - 1:30 PM

Location: Zoom Webinar (register below)

Join the Middle East Institute and the Center for Palestine Studies at Columbia University and the Center for Middle East Studies at Brown University for an online conversation examining the social and spatial impacts of the regional war in Palestine and Lebanon. The panelists, Lara Deeb, Elias Muhanna, and Ali H. Musleh will examine how the current violence intensifies the existing challenges that communities were already facing, as a result of past wars, conflict and systemic corruption. They will focus particularly on how communities and neighborhoods, across religious, ethnic, gender and class lines, are affected by the escalation of violence and displacement. What is the role of diasporic and global networks in advocating and supporting local communities? What role does the academy have in responding to the effects of violence in these impacted societies?

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MESA Special Workshop: The Political Economy and Ethics of Social Science Research in the Arab World
Oct
10
10:00 AM10:00

MESA Special Workshop: The Political Economy and Ethics of Social Science Research in the Arab World

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The Political Economy and Ethics of Social Science Research in the Arab World

This workshop introduces a project co-sponsored by the Middle East Institute at Columbia University, the Political Science Department of the American University of Cairo, the Rabat Social Studies Institute, and the Arab Council for the Social Sciences, examining the ethical implications of various approaches to research in the region. Among the issues that will be examined in the project are the role of uncredited research assistants, enumerators, “fixers” and other local aides; the use of intentionally ambiguous or misleading project descriptions or experimental conditions; the deployment of for-profit research firms; and the obligations researchers have to research subjects and communities under duress. The intent of the workshop is to introduce the project to the MESA membership at large and invite expressions of interest, particularly by social scientists, in the one or more of the workstreams being developed around these issues.

Given the timing of this Annual Meeting, this workshop will devote special attention to challenges of conducting ethical research under the extraordinary restrictions on local and international travel, social interaction and personal mobility imposed by the global COVID-19 pandemic.

Chair: Lisa Anderson, Columbia University

Rabab el-Mahdi, American University in Cairo

Sari Hanafi, American University of Beirut

Seteney Shami, Arab Council for the Social Sciences

Saloua Zerhouni, Mohammed V University

Discussants: Sarah Parkinson, Johns Hopkins University and Maria Eriksson Baaz, Uppsala University

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Apr
19
to Apr 21

CONFERENCE | The Cultural Turn in Arabic Literary Production

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The Cultural Turn in Arabic Literary Production

April 19-21

A conference in celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the Journal of Arabic Literature. Full program details to follow. 

Organized by Muhsin al-Musawi (Columbia), Elizabeth Holt (Bard), Tarek El-Ariss (Dartmouth College), Nizar F. Hermes (University of Virginia) and Anna Ziajka-Stanton (Penn State University). 


Sponsored by the Middle East Institute; the Department of Middle Eastern; South Asian, and African Studies; Society of Fellows, Heyman Center; the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures; Weatherhead East Asian Institute and Center for Chinese Literature and Culture; University Seminars; Division of Humanities in the Arts and Sciences; Dartmouth College; Brill Academic Publishers; Dr. Aziz Shaibani/Arab-American Educational Foundation, Executive Vice President and Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Columbia University.

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Feb
1
9:00 AM09:00

CONFERENCE | Turkey Today

  • International Affairs Building, Room 707 (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS
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Turkey Today, the 3rd Annual Graduate Student Conference

Organized by Columbia PhD students in collaboration with the Northeast Working Group on Turkish Studies

 9AM-10.45AM | Panel I: Gender and Generation
Discussant: Ceren Belge (Associate Professor of Political Science, Concordia University)

  • The Limits and Extent of Gender Reforms in the MENA: Experimental Evidence from Tunisia and Turkey | Tahir Kilavuz (University of Notre Dame) and Youssef Chouhoud (Christopher Newport University)

  • Gendered Influences of Labor Market Policies in Turkey – Elifcan Celebi (University of Cologne)

  • Millenials and Populism: Generational Dimension of Democratic Backsliding – Burcu Kolcak (Rutgers University) and Sevinc Ozturk (Rutgers University)

11:15AM-1PM | Panel II: Partisan Politics and Voting Behavior
Discussant: Lisel Hintz (Assistant Professor of International Relations, Johns Hopkins University, School of Advanced International Studies)

  • Expressive Partisanship in Turkey: Understanding the Content and Determinants of Partisan Identities | Melis Laebens (Yale University) and Aykut Ozturk (Syracuse University)

  • Informational Role of the Welfare State: Proximity to Healthcare and Votes | Serkant Adiguzel (Duke University), Asli Cansunar (University of Oxford), and Gozde Corekcioglu Ishakoglu (European University Institute)

  • Politics of Nostalgia and Populism: An Experimental Study | Ezgi Elci (Koc University)

2:15PM-4:15PM | Panel III: Democratic Backsliding 
Discussant: Jack Snyder (Robert and Renée Belfer Professor of International Relations, Columbia University)

  • Who Wants a Coup? A List Experiment of Turkey’s 2016 Coup Attempt | Sharan Grewal (Brookings Institution)

  • Democratic Backsliding in Hybrid Regimes over Time: Internal and External Factors Effect in Turkey and Montenegro Case | Can Zengin (Temple University)

  • Price of Liberal Democracy: The Role of Public Services in Democratic Backsliding | Serkant Adiguzel (Duke University)

  • Leaders, Media, and Regimes: The Logic of Media in Illiberal Regimes | Elizabeth Pertner (The George Washington University)

4:30PM-5:45PM | Keynote Address
Lisel Hintz (Assistant Professor of International Relations, Johns Hopkins University, School of Advanced International Studies)

 Sponsored by The Sakıp Sabancı Center for Turkish Studies and The Middle East Institute at Columbia University.

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Nov
9
2:00 PM14:00

CONFERENCE | Migration Symposium: Beyond Representation

  • International Affairs Building, 1501 (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS

A space for inclusive, vibrant, and essential conversation about people on the move around the world. Featuring representatives from grassroots organizations across New York, UN agencies, media, culture, and academia.

Opening remarks by Ravi Ragbir, Immigrant Rights Activist and Executive Director of the New Sanctuary Coalition of New York.

Reception and Concert by Faraj Abyad and his Classical Arabic Music Ensemble to follow.

For more information, contact sipa.migration@columbia.edu.

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SYMPOSIUM | What We CAN Do When There's Nothing To Be Done: Strategies for Change
Sep
28
9:30 AM09:30

SYMPOSIUM | What We CAN Do When There's Nothing To Be Done: Strategies for Change

  • The Forum at Columbia University (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS

The MEI co-sponsors an all-day symposium organized by the Center for the Study of Social Difference.

How can we imagine justice, practice solidarity and create change across barriers of social difference in today’s political landscape? As the acceptance of inequality has become the new norm to a degree we might have deemed unthinkable, and as public dialogue has reached an impasse, protest and resistance continue. This conference brings together scholars, artists, and activists from around the globe whose work can inspire new ways of thinking, seeing and listening, and productive strategies of intervention for our time.

Registration will be open HERE starting September 5th. .

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Apr
6
9:00 AM09:00

Sites Of Religious Memory In An Age of Exodus: Western Mediterranean

This day-long event is the third of a three-piece series that focuses on the movement of people across and along the Mediterranean and the emergence, re-signification, and use of sites of memory. It is organized by Seth Kimmel and Naor Ben-Yehoyada. Bringing together a mix of panelists from the humanities and social sciences, the day will include work by the following scholars: Avi Astor (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona), Nina Zhiri (UC San Diego), Isolina Ballesteros (CUNY), Eric Calderwood (University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign), and Charles Hirschkind (UC Berkeley).

Please note that this event has required registration. Please visit the Eventbrite page here to register, and to look at the full schedule: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/sites-of-religious-memory-in-an-age-of-exodus-western-mediterranean-tickets-44486264615 

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CONFERENCE | Sites of Religious Memory in an Age of Exodus: the Eastern Mediterranean
Nov
17
9:00 AM09:00

CONFERENCE | Sites of Religious Memory in an Age of Exodus: the Eastern Mediterranean

This day-long event is the first of a three-piece series that focuses on the movement of people across and along the Mediterranean and the emergence, re-signification, and use of sites of memory. Bringing together a mix of panelists from the humanities and social sciences, the day will include work by the following scholars. Emrah Yildiz (Northwestern University) will present his work on “The Ways of Zainab: Ziyarat & Maqam,Visitation and the Shrine, in the Syrian Age of Exodus.” Faiz Ahmed (Brown University) will discuss “Indo-Afghans and Religious Memory in the Ottoman Mediterranean: Jaffa to Jerusalem, Tripoli to Istanbul.” Columbia’s Dimitrios Antoniouwill talk about “Memories of a Spatial Imagination: The Athens Mosque and the Politics of Sacrifice.” And Adnan A. Husain (Queen’s University) will speak about “Miraculous Commemorations: The Easter Fire at the Holy Sepulchre in Medieval Jerusalem. ”

Respondents will include Leyla Amzi-ErdogdularNaor Ben-Yehoyadaand Avinoam Shalem.

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A History of Difference: Piety and Space in Early Modern West Asia. Keynote Speakers Fatma Müge Göçek and Carl Ernst
May
4
9:00 AM09:00

A History of Difference: Piety and Space in Early Modern West Asia. Keynote Speakers Fatma Müge Göçek and Carl Ernst

This conference brings together scholars working broadly in Ottoman and Mughal pasts to converse, consult, and present what ways of thinking and doing difference are recoverable to us. This workshop will take as its objective a grounded history of difference narrated in diverse textual and visual cultures. We aim to incorporate venues beyond the legal—histories, hagiographies, travel accounts, visual and material culture—into the discussions of the contemporary.

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Iranian Intellectuals: Contemporary Challenges and Future Prospects
Mar
24
to Mar 25

Iranian Intellectuals: Contemporary Challenges and Future Prospects

  • Butler Library Room 523 (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS

Please join the Middle East Institute and leading Iranian intellectuals from around the country for a special two-day Persica Forum. This conference includes critical discussions of controversial topics centered on religious and secular thought among some leading Iranian intellectuals. 

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Categories in Trouble: The Politics of Identity in North Africa, 19th-20th Centuries
Oct
7
10:00 AM10:00

Categories in Trouble: The Politics of Identity in North Africa, 19th-20th Centuries

  • Columbia Maison Francaise, East Gallery (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS

Over the past two centuries, North Africa has been transformed by momentous economic and political change as well as mass migration. This one-day conference will address how these developments have shaped conceptions of population and territory and, in turn, personal and collective identities.

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The Politics of Life and Death
Apr
21
10:00 AM10:00

The Politics of Life and Death

  • Lecture Hall, Columbia Journalism School (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS

The symposium engages intersecting imaginaries and histories that impact Palestinians, Kashmiris, and Tamils. Complex modes of power and history structure conquest, appropriation, and occupation across shifting colonial, (post)colonial, and decolonial moments. Peoples and landscapes are witness to monumental partitions, erasures, and Nakbas (catastrophes), producing states of exception organized through securitization, majoritarianism, and militarism.

The symposium is concerned with issues of subjugation, minoritization, and racialization; and persistent efforts to articulate/silence truth and practice resistance, freedom, and self-determination. We draw on the efforts of native-local and allied intellectuals, activists, artists, and scholars of colonized peoples and geographies to decolonize knowledge and facilitate counter-memory.

This event is co-sponsored by the Center for Palestine Studies and the Middle East Institute at Columbia University. 

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Alternative Narratives of the Middle East
Oct
17
9:00 AM09:00

Alternative Narratives of the Middle East

  • Graduate School of Journalism, Columbia University (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS


Times: 9am-12.30pm, 6-9pm

The Columbia Journalism School, in conjunction with the Brown Institute for Media Innovation, the Dart Center for Journalism & Trauma, and the Middle East Institute of Columbia University, is hosting a mini-conference on covering alternate narratives of the Middle East.

The event will highlight best practices and offer guidance on covering the region in ways that move beyond the recurring conflict motifs to reveal the diversity and complexity of world views and lived experiences of those in the region.

The conference will be comprised of two morning panel discussions (9am-12:30pm) with journalists and journalism educators and an evening event (6-9pm) with a panel discussion and concert with celebrated Lebanese indie band, Mashrou' Leila.

Speakers (confirmed so far) include: Ahmed Shihab-Eldin, Nina Ansary, Sheila Coronel, Nahed Eltantawy, Shahira Fahmy, Lonnie Isabel, Alia Malek, Souad Mekhennet.

Tickets for the Mashrou' Leila panel and discussion can be purchased here.

RSVP for the morning panels here

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Assia Djebar: Patterns of Resistance Conference
Oct
16
10:00 AM10:00

Assia Djebar: Patterns of Resistance Conference

  • Columbia Maison Francaise, 2nd Floor Buell Hall, Columbia University (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS

The death of the Algerian writer and filmmaker Assia Djebar in February 2015 represents the loss of a major voice of world literature and one of the last great literary representatives of the age of decolonization. For half a century, Djebar explored her country’s past and present in novels, essays and films that combine poignant lyricism with theoretical sophistication. Counter-narratives to official nationalism, her works highlight, above all, the experiences of Algerian women before, during and after colonialism. In this one-day conference an international group of leading scholars reflects on Djebar’s poetics and politics and the legacies of her writing in Algeria, France and beyond.

The conference will include three panels: Overtures and Departures; Memory and Mourning; and History and Fantasy; and a keynote address by Gayatri Spivak.

This event is co-sponsored by the Columbia Maison Française and the Middle East Institute at Columbia University. 

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Radical Increments: Toward New Platforms of Engaging Iraqi Studies
Apr
24
to Apr 25

Radical Increments: Toward New Platforms of Engaging Iraqi Studies

  • 203 Butler Library, Columbia University (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS

As the rift between theory and application in the field of Iraqi studies has grown over the past three decades for political, social, economic and security reasons, the Conference seeks to create an informed space to address major intellectual and political issues pertinent to Iraq in a manner that bears practical utility. To that end, the Conference will bring together a number of scholars and researchers in the field of Iraqi studies as well as Iraqi policy makers, journalists and novelists, with the hope that this platform will help modify, extend, or reposition existing frameworks of knowledge to allow for new possibilities of application and action.

Conference Co-Organizers:
Muhsin al-Musawi, Columbia University
Yasmeen Hanoosh, Portland State

For more details click here.

Register by emailing Joscelyn Shawn Ganjhara Jurich at jsj10@columbia.edu.

Sponsored by the Middle East Institute, the Middle East, South Asian and African Studies Department (MESAAS), Butler Library, and al-Shaybani Foundation.

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Teaching Religion: Pedagogy, Transmission, and Technology
Mar
27
8:00 AM08:00

Teaching Religion: Pedagogy, Transmission, and Technology

  • World Room (3rd Floor), Columbia School of Journalism (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS

Columbia University Religion Department Graduate Student Conference

Pedagogy, transmission, and technology transform the teaching of religion by shaping the movement of ideas. Often understood as distinct categories, pedagogy, transmission, and technology substantially overlap in discussions of how, why, and by what means religion is taught. By bringing to light both how religions themselves are so often pedagogical in nature and the ways the study of religion poses particular pedagogical problems, this conference aims to challenge popular modes of teaching religion. In this conference we will discuss fundamental questions of how religion can be studied and taught, how religious knowledge can be created and transmitted, and how new technologies enable new ways of imagining religion. By putting into conversation teachers of religion from both within and outside religious communities, this conference seeks to not only cultivate interdisciplinary conversation, but also transgress the boundaries between religion and its secular study.

For more information click here.

Sponsored by the Sponsored by the Department of Religion, the Institute for Religion, Culture, and Public Life, the Graduate Student Advisory Council, and the Middle East Institute. 

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Why Prayer? A Conference on New Directions in the Study of Prayer
Feb
6
to Feb 7

Why Prayer? A Conference on New Directions in the Study of Prayer

  • Italian Academy, Columbia University (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS

What can the study of prayer tell us about social life, religious institutions and practices, ethical self-formation, and our concepts of communication, both shared and unique? The Social Science Research Council's Program on Religion and the Public Sphere announces Why Prayer?

A Conference on New Directions in the Study of Prayer, a two-day gathering that will showcase the work of over 30 scholars and journalists who have explored these questions and more.

Please join us February 6-7, 2015, for panels and presentations on topics including religious technologies, embodiment, material culture, language, politics, and the mind. Beginning Friday afternoon, the conference will also feature the Prayer Expo-a pop-up installation of multi-media presentations and material objects that call attention to the myriad representations of prayer shaping discourse and practice. On Saturday, two plenary events will highlight the multiple registers of engagement occasioned by new, transdisciplinary research on the practice of prayer.

Presented by the Social Science Research Council, Program on Religion and the Public Sphere, and the following Columbia University co-sponsors: the Institute for Religion, Culture, and Public Life (IRCPL); the Middle East Institute; the department of Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies (MESAAS); and the departments Anthropology and Psychology.

For conference programs and detailed information visit the Social Science Research Council, Program on Religion and the Public Sphere.

REGISTER NOW

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The Concept of Authority in Muslim Societies: Political, Religious, Social and Literary
Sep
20
9:00 AM09:00
Mar
29
9:00 AM09:00

Hinge of the World: Connections, Networks, and Linkages in Inner Eurasia

  • 1512 International Affairs Building, Columbia University (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS

Seventh Annual OASIES Graduate Student Conference.

The Harriman Institute and the Organization for the Advancement of Studies of Inner Eurasian Societies at Columbia University, Princeton University, and New York University are pleased to announce its 7th Annual OASIES Conference. 

Inner Eurasia has been and continues to be particularly fertile terrain for thinking through ideas of connections, networks, and linkages across culture, space, and time. The very language of connecting and linking, however, can inadvertently simplify the complex and mutually constituting qualities of interactions at the point of impact. While the popular concept of globalization, for example, often highlights the entangled nature of politics, history and society, its theorizations also open up possibilities for more thorough investigation into the different elements of these entanglements. In other words, a productive engagement with connections and networks must be coupled with a re-interrogation of the basic units of analysis that might otherwise be too easily presupposed. Bearing this in mind, this year's conference asks: in what ways can rethinking connections, networks, and linkages not only reconfigure but re-conceptualize the categories that structure our scholarship on Inner Eurasia? 

The conference considers Eurasia past and present, spanning from the Black Sea to Mongolia, from Siberia to South Asia. Stressing multi-disciplinarity, submissions are welcome from a variety of departments, programs, and centers, including but not limited to: Anthropology, Archeology, Art History, Comparative Literature, Fine Arts, History, Political Science, Religion, Sociology, Caucasian Studies, Central Asian Studies, Inner Asian Studies, Middle Eastern Studies, the Middle East Institute, Mongolian Studies, Slavic Languages and Literature, South Asian Studies, and Tibetan Studies. 

For a full program, please visit:http://harriman.columbia.edu/files/harriman/OASIES_Conference2014_Program.pdf 

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