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- MEICON-BC Student Conferences
- MEICON-BC Faculty Symposium (UVic)
- CFP: Students
- CFP: PHD and Faculty
- Annual MESA Conference
Annual Student Conference
The MEICON student conference is an annual student conference open to undergraduate students in all departments whose work focuses on Islam or the Middle East.
MEICON-BC 2013: Fifth annual student conference
Click here for more information.
MEICON-BC 2012: Fourth annual student conference
Click here for more information
MEICON-BC 2011: Third annual student conference
Saturday March12, 2011
University of British Columbia
To view the program click here
MEICON-BC: 2010 Student Conference
Saturday March 27, 2010
University of Victoria
MEICON– BC: 2009 Student Conference
MEICON-BC: First Annual Student Conference, May 9, 2009
Simon Fraser University, Harbour Centre
To view the conference program click here.
The inaugural student conference was held at SFU's Harbour Centre campus on May 9, 2009. Twenty-six participants presented papers on eight different panels, ranging from "Negotiating the Everyday", through "Conceptualizing/Practicing Islam", to "Situating the State". The first prize went to Nawal Musleh-Motut (SFU) for “The Holocaust and Nakba: Contending Collective Memories in the Palestinian/Israeli Conflict,” and second prize went to Ezra Karmal (Victoria), “Eretz Yisrael or Islamic Waqf: Gush Emunium and the Rise of Religio-Political Movements.” An entertaining reception followed and featured the music of Gordon Grdina (oud) and Tim Gerwing (daf).
The keynote address (“Shia-Sunni Relations: Ideology, Rituals, and Communal Identity”) was provided by Dr. David Pinault, Director of the Arabic, Islamic, and Middle East Program at Santa Clara University. Dr. Pinault focused on the controversy surrounding Muharram lamentation rituals, especially their use to assert or deny communal identity.
The third annual MEICON-BC student conference was hosted on March 12, 2011 at Green College, UBC. The responsibility for hosting the event rotates annually among SFU, UBC, and the University of Victoria. In 2011, the conference featured eight panels, with subjects such as "Muslims Between East and West", "Women's Bodies: Past and Present", and "Reconfiguration in Iran and the Iranian Diaspora". In addition to providing a valuable opportunity for undergraduate and graduate students to share their work, the conference was open to the public.
Students are encouraged to consider participating in our 2012 Conference. Deadline for abstract submissions is January 15th, 2012.
Picture Gallery from the 2009 conference
The University of Victoria's chapter of MEICON-BC invites papers on the subject of Canada's contribution to Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies, seen in a larger perspective. Colleagues across disciplines who address the topic of the scholarship of Canadian institutions or of scholars who have written or taught in Canada are especially encouraged to participate. Is there something distinctively "Canadian" about these contributions to knowledge, especially in whether or not they promote or contain values, religious perspectives, or political postures associated with Canada, such as peace-building, peacekeeping, the social gospel, multiculturalism, and multilateralism, interculturalism? The workshop also wishes to strengthen the network of scholars and scholarship in Western Canada and beyond.
Travel and accommodation expenses will be covered for selected participants depending on the outcome of SSHRC grant application.
The deadline for receipt of paper proposals has been extended to September 30, 2012. For further information and application forms, see http://csrs.uvic.ca/Programs/meicon-bc.php or contact Mona Goode goodems@uvic.ca.ca
UVic MEICON faculty group
This is the site of the UVic MEICON group. News and information from the University of Victoria will be moderated and posted on this site.
Please forward information that you would like posted to the UVic MEICON coordinator Mona Goode (goodems@uvic.ca).
- Mona Goode (History, MEICON Coordinator)
- Eva Baboula (History in Art)
- Greg Blue (History)
- Martin Bunton (History)
- Marcus Milwright (History in Art)
- Peyman Vahabzadeh (Sociology)
- Andrew Rippin (History)
- Anthony Welch (History in Art)
Join MEICON. You may join the MEICON listserve by emailing meiconbc@sfu.ca. For more information visit the home site at MEICON-BC.
CALL FOR PAPERS
Islam and Conflict Transformation, University of Manchester, January 24-25, 2013
Keynote Speakers:
Professor Mohammed Abu-Nimer, School of International Service- American University
Dr. Qamar ul- Huda, Senior Program Officer- Religion and Peacemaking Center United States Institute of Peace
“Minorities of the Modern Middle East,”
The Middle East Studies Center (MESC) at Portland State University announces an intensive interdisciplinary two-day workshop on “Minorities of the Modern Middle East,” to be held April 26-27, 2013, at Portland State University in Portland, Oregon.
Political, ethnic, and religious divides intersect in the modern Middle East in ways that give form to various articulations of the term “minority.” While some of these minority groups are indigenous to the region with a collective presence that predates the creation of the modern nation-states, others are only now beginning to articulate their minority
identities in response to shifting political and social contexts. Since 9/11, and now more intensively amidst the upheavals of the “Arab Spring,” the simplistic political and media discourse that had previously portrayed the Middle East as a homogenous region has given way to an equally problematic discourse that casts the region and its societies as deeply
and essentially divided along ethnic, linguistic, and religious lines. Meanwhile, new articulations of minority and minoritized identities are forming within different Middle Eastern states, extending and contesting the conceptual boundaries of minority politics.
We encourage submissions that address one or more of the following questions: Conceptual: How are minorities in the Middle East defined by themselves and others? How are they perceived vis-a-vis majorities? What tropes, social/political projects, and narratives are working to promote and channel minority identities and interests in the Middle East?
Historical: What political, colonial, social, economic, or demographic factors have given rise to various “minorities”? How did the minority status of these groups transform over the years? How were minorities defined politically and legally in different parts of the Middle East over the course of the twentieth century? Political: How and for what purposes
do religious, ethnic, or linguistic minorities become politicized? How do they participate in the political/demographic processes in their countries of citizenship? How are they being affected by the rapid political transformations brought about by the recent uprisings across the Arab world? Transnational: In what ways does the “endangered minority” status
privilege certain ethno-religious groups legally? What are the patterns that characterize the relationship between minority status and the attainment of refugee/asylum status in western countries? What patterns can we discern in the movements of minority populations within the Middle East? To what extent does active networking of Middle Eastern minorities
in the diaspora influence human rights definitions and migration policies in the host countries? How do minority transnational political projects emerge (mostly) locally in diaspora? Can we examine the traditional
diasporic sites of the family, ethnic business, transnational marriage, church, etc. in their capacity as transnational (conceptual) social fields where minority identities are formed and maintained through the movement
back and forth between home and host countries? Can we explore minority privileges in light of dual citizenship policies?
Current: What are the conditions under which today's ethnic, religious, and linguistic minorities live in the Middle East? How do they navigate the social and cultural structures of their countries and regions? How are they affected by the post-colonial legacy in some of these countries?
We plan to publish selected essays arising out of the workshop as an edited volume or special journal issue. Funds for travel and accommodation may be available to participants.
Please send 250-word abstracts to Laura Robson, lrobson@pdx.edu, and Yasmeen Hanoosh, yhanoosh@pdx.edu, by September 15, 2012.
Society for Cinema and Media Studies Annual Conference, Chicago, March
6-10, 2013.
The SCMS Middle East Caucus is sponsoring the following call for
papers. Please send a 200-word proposal and a brief bio by August 5.
The “New” Middle East? Implications for Film and Media Studies
Rapid and often revolutionary in recent years, ongoing changes in the Middle East have catalyzed new debates about how to approach this geopolitical region’s past and present politics, media, and cultural
productions. While some accounts have declared the start of a new era that requires eschewing old frameworks for analysis, others have cautioned against hasty and celebratory claims. Similarly, these shifts raise a range of practical and theoretical questions about the production and reception of various forms of media within and about the Middle East. For example, what are the implications for archives,
curations, as well as local, regional, and international festivals? How are gender and sexuality functioning in the media texts of dueling parties in the landscape of the “new” Middle East? How are diasporas exerting their influence as active media consumers and participants?
Are there new modes of post-colonialism or Orientalism in film studies? How are interdisciplinary, independent, institutional, and/or state sponsored users expanding their reach and influence by deploying convergent media spaces? What is the current state of television channels as sites for constructing and re-imagining political alliances and social formations? Are some of these channels creating new models of representations?
Papers that engage these or other questions relevant to assessing the media and media scholarship on the Middle East are encouraged to submit to this call. Other related topics may include but are not
limited to:
-The popularity of non-American shows and films on Middle Eastern
television (e.g. Turkish series, Latin American Soap Operas, etc.)
-The anatomy and function of Television channels based in or
broadcasting primarily to the Middle East
-The appearance of the Middle East in the Indian subcontinent's film industries
-Media and conflict/Media and War
-The consequences of Non-local funding for media and cultural productions
-Commercial and political advertising
-Representations of labor, specifically migrant and domestic labor
-New forms of Documentary and documentation
-Minorities in the media of the Middle East
Please send your proposals to the Middle East Caucus Co-Chairs, Nezar Andary (nezarajaj@hotmail.com<mailto:nezarajaj@hotmail.com>) and Niki Akhavan (akhavan@cua.edu<mailto:akhavan@cua.edu>) by August 5.
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Call for Papers for Edited Volume on Postcolonial Comics*
*Postcolonial Comics: Texts, Events, Identities*
This edited volume will examine drawn comic strips (bandes dessinees) and
graphic texts as they relate to postcolonialism. In particular, we invite proposals that study the Middle Eastern and Arabic comic industries for the wide range of graphic interventions they seem to offer. Texts may include local stories, graphic war memoirs (Lebanon, Palestine, Afghanistan), new media serials (Cairo - Autostrade, Tok Tok; Beirut - Samandal). Subjects may include experiences and locations as diverse as post- revolutionary Egypt (Magdy El-Shafie), occupied Palestine (Rutu Modan, Naji Al Ali), the Iranian diaspora (Marjane Satrapi), or the Arab diaspora* *(Toufic el Rassi). Some helpful critical frames: Comics and the production of postmodern identities, the place of comics within global political communities, trauma, new visual technologies.
Please send abstracts of 400 words by June 15, 2012 to Pia Mukherji at
pia.mukherji@gmail.com, or Binita Mehta at inkamehta@gmail.com
Dharma-Dhamma International Conference, July 20-22, 2012, Sanchi/Bhopal
Dharma-Dhamma International Conference, 20th – 22nd July 2012, at Sanchi/Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India
Hosts: 1. Center for Study of Religion and Society, New Delhi, India; 2. Mahabodhi Society, Sri Lanka
The central theme of the Conference is Dharma-Dhamma which has been a pivotal and pervasive concept and overriding principle in Indian culture commonly shared by all religious traditions of India. It has played a dominant and cardinal role in shaping Indian view and way of life. It has covered every facet of human existence and cosmic life in so far as it has been the sustaining (dharaka), regulating (niyamaka) and life-enhancing (sadhaka) force in Indian cultural ethos. It has been the foundational tenet in Hinduism and Buddhism.
Aim
The Conference aims to focus on the essential identity between the Dharmma-Dhamma view points. We find that these thoughts are as relevant today as they have been over millennia of Pilgrims’ Progress, exemplified by the abiding continuum of Hindu and Buddhist Civilizations. We aim through this conference, to facilitate the cross-pollination of ideas and foster harmony between the two ancient Civilizations, so that Dharmma-Dhamma becomes a veritable celebration of freedom. It is all the more essential in view of the forces released by Globalisation today, to integrate the Orient through the common factor of Dharmma-Dhamma link provided by centuries of cultural and civilisational inter-connectedness.
This conference will explore the following subjects:
• Hindu Dharma – Bauddha Dhamma as Philosophia Perennis and Universalis – Perennial and Universal Philosophies
• Expression of Hindu and Bauddham thoughts in art and architecture
• Archaeological and Historical perspectives
• Sampradayas and patterns of worship in temples
• Renaissance in Hindu and Bauddham temples
• Areas for cooperation between Hindu and Bauddham scholars and prominent citizens
• Socio-economic cooperation among the Indian Ocean Rim countries
Indicative list of themes or topics at:
https://sites.google.com/site/dharmadhammaconference/scope-theme
The Abstracts and Papers may be sent by email in word.doc unicode format to:
dharmadhammaconference@gmail.com
Abstracts and Papers must be in English only (Participants interested in presenting Papers in languages other than English may contact the organisers at the contact details provided)
Poster Sessions are also available
Last Date for Submission of Abstracts: 30th April 2012
Last Date for Submission of Papers: 15th June 2012
Mr. Sandeep Kumar Rao
Ms. Rami Desai
Contact address:
Dharma Dhamma Conference
CSRS, India Foundation
C-1, Jangpura Extension
New Delhi- 110092,
India
Phone: +91 11 43012351 (10.30 A.M to 4.30 P.M on weekdays)
E-mail: dharmadhammaconference@gmail.com
Conference link: https://sites.google.com/site/dharmadhammaconference/about-us
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Comparative Perspective, Prague (29 August-1 September 2012)
DEPICTION AND CONSTRUCTION OF THE “OTHER”:
ISLAMIC CITIES IN THE EYES OF EUROPEAN TRAVELERS (Panel S7)
The Renaissance era is often said to be a significant turning point in
European history, as a period of cultural and economic reformations
that were shaping the identity of the “West.” This new identity was
based on a revolutionary shift in knowledge about the world in this
period. Cultural discovery of the non-Western lands, triggered after
the 16th century by European travelers, opened new doors for cultural
and economic exchanges. The “discovery” of new territories by the
Western-eye transformed the ‘mystical’ orient into immanent
geographies to be visited, explored, recorded, and something to be
depicted. The ‘voyage to the Orient’, once an exceptional adventure,
evolved into a habit of the Western intellectual. In the corresponding
period of time, the civilizations in Ottoman Turkey, Safavid Persia,
and Mughal India were experiencing diverse socio-political and
cultural developments. The complex layers of political, economic, and
religious struggles, alliances, and rivalries among these empires
gradually impacted on the development of cities in this region. The
progress in geographic discoveries and the ascending habit of
travelling led to inevitable result of the definition of the “other”
as opposed to the identification of the “self”. Following this
construction of the “other” and the creation of “non-Western”
cultures, some civilizations were sub-categorized under a homogenizing
term, “Islamic” and the cities in these territories were started being
defined as the “Muslim city”. Distinctions between the Muslim city and
the Muslim society against the European city and the European society
were sharply defined. Travelers’ accounts played a major role in the
split of the world into East and West. This session aims to discuss
the West/non-West divergence from a different perspective, which is
based on analyzing the travelers’ accounts on the “Orient” in the
early modern era. We are searching an answer for how the Muslim city
was defined and depicted by the Western gaze before the heyday of
Orientalism; and proposing to discuss the issues of urban
representation before the invention of photography.
The papers of this panel could address the following issues:
1. What tools were used for the depiction of urban fabric and how
these depictions were interpreted in the West and also in the East?
2. How “Islamic” cities responded to the developments taking place in
Europe in the post-Renaissance era?
3. How was the image of the “Muslim city” literally and symbolically
formed and transformed during this period with regard to the cultural
and political changes in the Western world?
4. What iconic representations were utilized and how these
formulations were transformed within the rapidly changing social,
political, and economical context of the period?
The papers can analyze the correspondences and discrepancies between
visual depictions and textual accounts and compare various forms of
representation of the cities. The papers could initiate new
comparisons among European and Muslim cities and encourage new
cross-cultural discussions on the underlying factors behind their
urban design and development.
Session chairs: Mohammad Gharipour, College of Architecture and
Planning, Morgan State University; mohammad@gatech.edu; and Nilay Ozlu,
Bogazici University; Department of History; nilay.ozlu@gmail.com.
All abstracts, maximum 500 words, and a brief CV should be submitted by
October 1, 2011. For more information, please visit the website of the
conference on http://www.eauh2012.com.
Call for Papers
Change and Continuity in the Middle East :
Rethinking West Asia, North Africa and the Gulf after 2011
11 of June, 2012
The London School of Economics and Political Science
London, United Kingdom
CONFERENCE CALL:
The fact that 2011 has been a year of momentous importance for West Asia, North Africa and the Gulf can hardly be disputed. For this reason, the Graduate Section of BRISMES hereby extends an invitation to all young researchers and PhD candidates to present research that addresses the political, economic, social and cultural transitions taking place across the region. We welcome submissions of papers and panel proposals from any disciplinary field which reflects on these events and the resilience displayed despite the pressure of mass uprisings, regime changes, and the emergence of new conflicts. Will the Middle East become more democratic? What is the role of political Islam? How do the events of 2011 influence the conflicts in the region? Is the Middle East finding a new civil conscience? How is the political economy of the region changing? To what extent were the arts, social networking, civil society or collective memory relevant factors of change in the region? What was the impact of foreign policies towards Middle Eastern states? Is the discourse of "resistance" outdated or is it a factor of change? Are human rights the new political vocabulary of the Middle East? Is women's emancipation really happening in the region?
The BRISMES Graduate Section and its co-host, the LSE Middle East Centre, look forward to welcoming you in London in June 2012 to address these and many other questions in its annual conference: "Change and Continuity in the Middle East: Rethinking West Asia, North Africa and the Gulf after 2011".
For more information and to submit your paper or panel proposals go to: https://sites.google.com/site/brismesgs2012/
Deadline for submissions: 13th of April 2012
45th Annual Meeting of the Middle East Studies Association
This year's meeting will be held in Washington, DC at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel, December 1-4, 2011.
The deadline for the call for papers for MESA's 45th annual meeting has passed. It is still possible to participate on the program as a panel chair. Information about volunteering to chair can be found at http://mesa.arizona.edu/annual-meeting/panel-chairs.html.
The Annual Meeting also features an Art Exhibit, Book Exhibit and Film Exhibit.
For more information about the annual meeting please click here
MESA's next call for papers will be for its 46th annual meeting to be held in November 2012 in Denver, Colorado. For that meeting, MESA will begin accepting submissions on January 1, 2012, and until the deadline of Wednesday, February 15, 2012. The call for papers will be posted here sometime in December 2011.
Questions about MESA's annual meetings may be directed to Mark Lowder at mlowder@email.arizona.edu.