CONFERENCES
1. Workshop Focusing on Arab TV Stations: "Media and Democracy", Munich, 7 February 2014
Of particular interest is the question of the role of the transnational and national satellite TV stations in the process of political transformation; or of the function they are ascribing themselves on the way towards a (more) democratic order respectively.
The focus here is on debates of the ideal but intricate relationships between (global) markets, (local) governments, societies and media; and on questions such as whether there is an universal concept of the democratic role of media or whether their position varies according to different socio-political contexts.
Everyone interested in Arab media is most welcome to participate in this workshop (no fee), advantageously with some knowledge of Arabic; for registration contact to David Arn (david.arn@lmu.de) until 6 February 2014. Information http://www.naher-osten.uni-muenchen.de/studium_lehre/promotion/bam/index.html
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2. Yemen Seminar and Annual Lecture: "Why Yemen Matters: A Society in Transition", SOAS, London, 17 February 2014
The British Yemeni Society and the London Middle East Institute at SOAS with the support of the MBI al-Jaber Foundation are organising this Seminar to mark the launch of an Annual Yemen Lecture to celebrate the publication of the edited volume of a selection of papers of year's conference on "Yemen: Challenges for the Future International Conference". This is followed by the Annual Yemen Lecture by Ambassador Amat al-Alim Alsoswa, former Minister of Human Rights and Member of the National Dialogue State Building Committee on "Yemen after the National Dialogue Conference, What Next?"
Program and further information http://www.soas.ac.uk/lmei/events/17feb2014-the-british-yemeni-society-yemen-seminar-and-annual-lecture.html
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3. Panel: “Immediate History of the Arab Revolutions”, MEHAT Conference, Chicago, 2-3 May 2014
This prearranged panel for the MEHAT conference aims to asses how relevant « immediate history » is in explaining the present events causing the Arab turmoils. The main epistemological requirement of the ‘immediate’ history approach is that the historian directly experiences the event, thus not being removed from it by time. We are looking for papers which draw chronological approaches and sequences on the current events, mostly in North Africa and the Middle East.
Deadline for proposals 5 February 2014 to chaymaahassabo@gmail.com and rey_matthieu@yahoo.fr Information on the conference http://cas.uchicago.edu/workshops/mehat/conference
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4. Panels at the 4th World Congress for Middle Eastern Studies (WOCMES), Middle East Technical University (METU), Ankara, 18-22 August 2014
4. a) Panel: “TV and Popular Culture in the Middle East: New Trends in the Aftermath of ‘Arab Spring’”
Papers focusing on changes in popular culture, translocality, and media reception, including TV shows and soap operas, along with the study of new trends appeared after 2009 are welcome. Papers addressing programming changes and their relationship with economic, political and social issues will also be considered. Papers can be framed in the analysis of national popular culture alone or can be based on transnational and transregional comparative approaches.
Those interested in participating in this panel please send an abstract (maximum 400 words) and a short bio (name, institution, country) until 7 February to
Marc Saurina: msaurina@metu.edu.tr
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4. b) Panel “Shared Resources and Regional Interdependence in the MENA Region: Factors of Conflict and Cooperation”
The panel aims at analyzing the influence of shared natural resources on dynamics of interstate conflict and cooperation in the MENA region. The research question that this panel seeks to address is which conditions determine whether shared natural resources become factors of conflict or cooperation. Natural resources are often trans-boundary in character. As a consequence, they may create situations of interdependence requiring interstate cooperation or provoking conflict. The panel welcomes proposals for case-study analyses focusing on the greater MENA region as well as including adjacent geopolitical areas such as the Sahel and the Caucasus.
Please send an abstract – max 250 words – before 13 February to Filippo Dionigi (London School of Economics) f.dionigi1@lse.ac.uk and Giorgio Musso (University of Genova), giorgio.musso@unige.it
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4. c) Panel: "The PLO Revisited: Culture, Politics, Diplomacy, and Legacy"
The Panel seeks to reconsider the conventional assumptions towards the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO); and to focus on distinct manifestations of social, societal, economic and cultural manifestations of this organization. Moreover, it attempts to keep up to date with the latest developments; both in respect to the status of primary and secondary literature, as well as to contemporary dynamics such as the implications of the Oslo Peace Process, and the Arab Spring movement.
Please send all abstracts as an MS-Word attachment, along a shot biography by 13 February 2014, simultaneously to: dr@philipp-amour.ch & cfp@philipp-amour.ch
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4. d) Panel: “The MENA Protest Movements and the Study of Middle East Politics”
Due to the lack of predictability of regime-toppling protests movements in MENA on late 2010, the theories and methodological tools used so far are being questioned. The need of systematic explanation and comprehension of the phenomenon is being desirable. Key challenges are to develop a dialogue between micro-meso-macro conditions, concept formation and the integration between case studies and comparative research under a multi-method approach. This panel will examine different methodological ways, theoretical and empirical needs and claims of different disciplines involved in the study of MENA protest movements and its contribution to the research of Middle East Politics as a scientific field.
Please email your abstracts by 12 February 2014 to Priscilla Álamos-Concha priscilla.alamos@student.uclouvain.be
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4. e) Panel: "The Modern Historiography of Iran: a Critical Approach"
The nationalist historiography of Iran starting in late19th and early 20th century tried to write the history of the nation based mostly on Persian ethnic and defining “Iran” as an Aryan nation. Recently there have been attempts to revise the Iranian history through questioning the nationalist historiography of Iran and problematizing its exclusions and inclusions. This panel intends to review this new revisionist and critical movement in modern historiography of Iran.
The presented articles will be in the following categories: a. Theoretical and methodological concepts and elaborations on the critical movement in the historiography of Iran. b. Original researches, including genetic history that reveal the exclusions and inclusions of the modern historiography of Iran and reconstructing of the history of the region. c. Researches about the second category.
If you are interested in participating please email your abstracts by 10 February 2014 to heydarshadi@gmail.com
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5. Workshop: "The Future of Yemen", Annual Gulf Research Meeting, University of Cambridge, 25-28 August 2014
The workshop is organized by Saud Al-Sarhan and Noel Brehony. See the Call for Papers at http://grm.grc.net/workshop/88_WS4%20-%20The%20future%20of%20Yemen.pdf. Most participants will be eligible for a travel grant (for details contact elsa@grc.net).
The deadline for submission of abstracts is 15 February. Details of how to submit are at http://grm.grc.net/index.php?pgid=NQ==#sthash.7ohyemSa.dpuf
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6. 48th Annual Meeting of the Middle East Studies Association (MESA), Washington, DC, 22-25 November 2014
6. a) Panel: “Electoral Sociology after the Arab Spring”
The Arab Spring led to a wave of free and fair elections in the MENA region. The transition period presents a unique opportunity to study emerging and changing political systems, political parties and their relationship with voters. This allows us to analyse some of the key phenomena of electoral sociology: political culture, electoral behaviour, party formation, and political participation after regime change. The emergence of public opinion polls also invites new methodological approaches to the emerging field of Middle Eastern electoral sociology.
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6. b) Panel: “Re-Imagining the Nation in the Arab Gulf”
Organizers: Jocelyn Sage Mitchell (Northwestern University in Qatar) and Natalie Koch (Syracuse University).
The general question is: "How can we conceptualize the use of nationalism in the Arab Gulf states?" The papers should touch upon the idea of nationalism in the Gulf as shifting (possibly contradictory) and political in its use of civic myth, ethnic heritage, reinvented symbols, and state-led narratives; within this broad idea, papers from a variety of disciplinary perspectives, methodologies, and subjects are welcome. Already submitted topics include the rewriting of archaeological heritage, and nationalist urban building narratives in the Gulf.
Please email your name, email address, academic affiliation, and a 400-500 word abstract to jocelyn.mitchell@northwestern.edu by 9 February, and be prepared to register with MESA no later than 15 February.
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POSITIONS
7. Associate Professorship in Hebrew and Modern Israel, Department of Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
Teaching and supervision will cover both BA, MA and PhD levels. The successful applicant must be capable of undertaking research, teaching, supervision, communication and administration in relation to the subject.The position is to be filled by 1 September 2014 or as soon as possible thereafter.
Qualification requirements: The applicant must be able to document proficiency in modern Hebrew. In assessing the applicant’s research qualifications, focus will be on research within cultural and/or social science studies of Israel’s modern history and contemporary conditions. Experience with IT based distance learning would be welcomed.
The closing date for application is 20 February 2014. Information http://academicpositions.eu/ad/university-of-copenhagen/2014/associate-professorship-hebrew-modern-israel/28345/
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8. Tenure Track Position in Middle Eastern Studies (Modern Arab World Studies) for Arab Scholar, Department of Middle Eastern History, University of Haifa
Successful applicants will be nominated to early-career fellowships for ARAB scholars holding Israeli citizenship. Fellowship winners will be granted a university position with full faculty responsibilities and are guaranteed tenure evaluation by the University.
Applicants must have the Ph.D. and a demonstrable commitment to both teaching and research. Primary teaching language: Hebrew. Position beginning October 2014.
Deadline for application 15 February 2014. Further information Dr. Mahmoud Yazbak myazbak@univ.haifa.ac.il
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9. Post-doc, PhD and Visiting PhD Fellowships on “Mobility, Empire and Cross-Cultural Contacts in Mongol Eurasia”, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
The European Research Council (ERC) project is offering Post-Docs, PhDs and Visiting PhD's fellowships beginning in 2014-15 for outstanding candidates fluent in Chinese, Arabic and Persian (at least one of the above) and with a sound knowledge of the history of the Mongol Empire.
Deadline extended to 27 February 2014. Information http://mongol.huji.ac.il/fellowships-and-funding-opportunities
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10. Further Positions:
- Arabic Instructor/Lecturer, Georgia State University , http://www.h-net.org/jobs/job_display.php?id=48347
- Visiting Faculty Position on Jewish History and Culture, Old Dominion University, http://www.h-net.org/jobs/job_display.php?id=48357
- Visiting Instructor/Lecturer, Georgia State University, http://www.h-net.org/jobs/job_display.php?id=46717
- Post-Doctoral Fellowship on 20th Century Business History/Middle Eastern History, University of Southampton, http://www.h-net.org/jobs/job_display.php?id=46688
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OTHER INFORMATION
11. International Summer Academy for Doctoral and Postdoctoral Researchers: "Conflict and Mobility in the City: Urban Space, Youth and Social Transformation", Rabat, 25 August – 5 September 2014
In the framework of the research program “Europe in the Middle East – the Middle East in Europe” (EUME) the Berlin-based Forum Transregionale Studien, the Max Weber Stiftung and the École de Gouvernance et d'Économie in Rabat invite scholars from the fields of Comparative Literature, Cultural Anthropology, Middle East Studies, Political Science, History, Geography, Urban Studies and Sociology.
24 doctoral and postdoctoral scholars from different countries will be given the opportunity to present and discuss their current research in an international and multi-disciplinary context. Intellectuals, writers and scholars from Morocco will also participate in the Summer Academy.
Participants receive a stipend covering travel and accommodation. The application should be submitted in English by 31 March 2014. Information http://www.eume-berlin.de/call-for-application-ausschreibung.html
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12. Research Grant on the “(Trans-)Formation of Religious Traditions in the Context of Intra- and Interreligious Contact”, Ruhr University Bochum, Germany
What we can offer during the academic year October 2014 through September 2015: Time and space for research in an interdisciplinary environment; up to 70,000 € (= about 95,000 $) (gross rate) either as a grant or as a salary for the fellow's substitute at his or her home institution; good infrastructure (libraries etc.); travel expenses related to research activities; means for organizing congresses or workshops.
We invite projects focusing on any period from ancient to contemporary, which address aspects of encounter, conceptual construction and historical reconstruction, mutual exchange, formation and transformation of religious traditions in comparative case studies and/or from systematic perspectives.
Applicants must at least hold a Ph.D. Application before 15 March 2014. Information http://www.khk.ceres.rub.de/en/news/all/en-20140128-cfa-tradition-fellowships/
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13. International Summer University (ISU) on “Europe and the Middle East in Transition”, University of Marburg, Germany, 19 July -16 August 2014
The summer study program is open to all candidates looking to combine their academic studies with an exciting intercultural experience. The program offers an intensive German course (also for beginners), specialized seminars in English, credits (up to 9 ECTS), weekend field trips to various destinations in Germany and France and more!
Information: www.uni-marburg.de/isu
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14. Eleventh Beirut Exchange, 22-29 March 2014
The Beirut Exchange program rests on two tracks:
Academic - Participants will attend a series of lectures and colloquia led by leading academics and public intellectuals in Lebanon. Topics will include: The Arab Uprisings; The Syrian conflict and its regional implications; The Special Tribunal for Lebanon; The United Nations as peacekeeper and mediator; Engaging political Islam; Asymmetrical conflict: The July 2006 Lebanon War; Human Rights in Lebanon and the wider Middle East; Sectarianism and its deployment, as well as a range of other topics.
Dialogue with Leaders - Participants will have the opportunity to meet, listen and engage leading social, political and economic leaders from across the spectrum in Lebanon - with a particular (though not exclusive) emphasis on exposure to Islamist and opposition currents.
Deadline for application 7 March 2014. Limited spaces available/Rolling acceptance. Information http://www.thebeirutexchange.com/
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15. Asfari Scholarships for Syrian, Palestinian and Lebanese Applicants for Selected Taught Masters Degrees in the UK, Starting September 2014
Each scholarship includes tuition fees and a stipend to cover accommodation and living costs. If necessary, the cost of travel to the UK will also be covered. The scholarship will be tenable for one academic year.
Scholarships are available at the following universities, and for the following courses:
• The University of Edinburgh – all full-time, one-year, taught Masters courses (non-laboratory based courses only)
• University of East Anglia – all full-time, one-year taught Masters courses
Information
scholarships@asfarifoundation.org.uk.
The deadline for applications to the Foundation is 14 April 2014.
