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22. Bridging Political Engagement and the Arts
- Author:
- Isabel Roemer
- Publication Date:
- 12-2018
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Center for Contemporary Arab Studies
- Abstract:
- A new position at The Palestinian Museum combines MAAS alum’s professional and personal passions. In September, MAAS alum Dr. Adila Laïdi-Hanieh (’92) became Director General of The Palestinian Museum in Birzeit, Palestine—a position she says brings together her academic and artistic loves. “I was always interested in the interaction between artistic-cultural practice and political engagement,” says Laïdi-Hanieh. “So I’m happy to combine both pursuits in my job at The Palestinian Museum.”
- Topic:
- Politics, Arts, Culture, and Museums
- Political Geography:
- Middle East and Palestine
23. For the Love of Music
- Author:
- Isabel Roemer
- Publication Date:
- 12-2018
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Center for Contemporary Arab Studies
- Abstract:
- MAAS alum combines language skills, industry savvy, and a bit of “wasta” to bring Arab musicians to Washington audiences. In 2003, MAAS alum David Chambers (‘88) received a call from the family of the late Munir Bashir, the celebrated Iraqi musician widely regarded as “King of Oud.” Chambers had spent much of the 1990s in the entertainment industry in the Arab world—notably, for the Showtime Arabia satellite TV network. Now back in Washington, D.C., he faced a challenge: how to arrange a gig for Omar Bashir, Munir’s son, in the nation’s capital?
- Topic:
- History, Culture, Higher Education, and Music
- Political Geography:
- Iraq, Middle East, North America, Washington, and D.C.
24. The Big Takedown
- Author:
- Mary Margaret Ewens
- Publication Date:
- 04-2018
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Center for Contemporary Arab Studies
- Abstract:
- In an era marred by a barrage of fake news, sensational reporting, and corrupt business practices, the work of investigative journalists like MAAS alumna Dorothee Myriam Kellou (’12), who exposed one of the biggest cases of corporate greed and exploitative war-zone practices seen in recent years, is more important than ever. Kellou’s groundbreaking investigation, which began in 2014, found that French cement giant Lafarge-Holcim not only endangered employees at its Syrian branch, but also paid concessions to armed groups in Syria, including ISIS. Kellou’s work, published in 2016 in a three-part report by Le Monde and on the television station France 24, led to an ongoing judicial inquiry of Lafarge, the resignation of Lafarge’s CEO and criminal investigations of several top executives, and an overhaul of the company’s corporate practices.
- Topic:
- Crime, Media, Business, and Journalism
- Political Geography:
- Europe, Middle East, France, and Syria
25. Saudi Arabia’s Artists of Change
- Author:
- Sean Foley
- Publication Date:
- 12-2018
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Center for Contemporary Arab Studies
- Abstract:
- MAAS alum Sean Foley (‘00) discusses his forthcoming book, Changing Saudi Arabia: Art, Culture, and Society in the Kingdom.
- Topic:
- Civil Society, Gender Issues, Arts, Natural Resources, Culture, and Authoritarianism
- Political Geography:
- Middle East, Saudi Arabia, North America, United States of America, and Gulf Nations
26. Speaking Truth to Power, Giving Voice to the Voiceless
- Author:
- Tithi Patel
- Publication Date:
- 04-2018
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Center for Contemporary Arab Studies
- Abstract:
- Growing up in California, Dena Takruri, Senior Presenter and Producer at AJ+, the digital news channel of Al Jazeera Network, always knew she wanted to be a journalist. Summers spent in her parents’ native Palestine made an early and lasting impression about injustice in the world, while watching the nightly news with her family left her seeking better on-screen representation. As an Arab-American woman, she developed an early awareness of how marginalized communities are often misrepresented in the media. “As a minority in America, you see how people are reported on and how they’re often dehumanized and not given their fair shake,” said Takruri in an interview with Nieman Storyboard. “Seeing the really negative portrayal of Arabs, Muslims and Palestinians, which I also am, I wanted to correct that.”
- Topic:
- Media, Journalism, and Higher Education
- Political Geography:
- Middle East and Palestine
27. The Revolutionary Seeds of Mass Media
- Author:
- Sania El-Husseini
- Publication Date:
- 04-2018
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Center for Contemporary Arab Studies
- Abstract:
- The development and spread of mass media throughout the Middle East over the past two decades—starting with satellite television stations, which took national narratives out from under state control, and followed by social media, which gave voice to the masses—is widely considered a key factor leading to the eruption of the Arab revolutions.
- Topic:
- Science and Technology, Mass Media, Democracy, Internet, Arab Spring, Journalism, and Revolution
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, Iraq, Middle East, North America, Qatar, and United States of America
28. MESA and the Muslim Ban
- Author:
- Beth Baron and Judith Tucker
- Publication Date:
- 04-2018
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Center for Contemporary Arab Studies
- Abstract:
- The Middle East Studies Association (MESA) recognized early on that the “Muslim Ban”—so called for its banning of individuals from predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States—posed specific threats to its mission and its commitments to academic freedom, intellectual exchange, and the fostering of scholarly research. As the current and past presidents of MESA, we take great pride in the fact that the association decided to take a clear and active stand against all iterations of this ban.
- Topic:
- Government, Border Control, Courts, Trump, Borders, and Higher Education
- Political Geography:
- Middle East, North America, and United States of America
29. Preserving a Genre under Duress
- Author:
- Brittni Foster
- Publication Date:
- 12-2018
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Center for Contemporary Arab Studies
- Abstract:
- How a class assignment led to MAAS alum Dan Walsh’s lifelong passion for preserving Palestine’s visual heritage. When Dan Walsh (MAAS ’11) was serving as a Peace Corps volunteer in Marrakesh in the early 1970s, his language tutor encouraged him to practice his budding Arabic and Moroccan Darija skills by translating the posters that papered the buildings around town. Walsh, now the curator of the world’s largest collection of posters on Palestine, remembers how grateful he was for the break from verb conjugations but says he never could have imagined how that assignment would change the course of his career. He credits his hours spent walking the streets of Marrakech and Rabat reading posters—Arabic dictionary in hand—with not only improving his language skills, but also igniting what has become one of his life’s passions.
- Topic:
- Culture, Media, Peace Corps, and Higher Education
- Political Geography:
- Middle East, Israel, Palestine, North America, and United States of America
30. Literature Born of Captivity
- Author:
- Mohammad AlAhmad
- Publication Date:
- 12-2018
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Center for Contemporary Arab Studies
- Abstract:
- CCAS Professor Mohammad AlAhmad discusses how Arab prison literature goes beyond documenting the prison experience to serve as an instrument of resistance and to hold readers accountable for their silence.
- Topic:
- Torture, Prisons/Penal Systems, Authoritarianism, Political Prisoners, and Literature
- Political Geography:
- Middle East, Syria, Egypt, and Morocco