| Seeds in the Rubble: Cultural Vitality in the Arab World |
This seminar was delivered at the Middle East Centre on Thursday 20 November by Sultan Sooud Al-Qassemi, founder of the Barjeel Art Foundation, and was chaired by Professor Eugene Rogan, St Antony’s College. |
Sultan Sooud Al-Qassemi, Eugene Rogan |
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| Egypt’s Role, Identity, and Foreign Policy in a River of De-Nile |
This MENA Politics Series Seminar was delivered on Tuesday 18 November in the MEC’s Boardroom by Dr May Darwich (University of Birmingham) and was chaired by Professor Neil Ketchley (St Antony’s College). |
May Darwich, Neil Ketchley |
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| Morocco’s Party of Justice and Development in Government: The Experience and the Future |
This seminar was delivered on Thursday 13 November in the MEC’s Investcorp Lecture Theatre by Mustapha El Khalfi (Former Minister of Communications, Morocco) and was chaired by Professor Michael Willis (St Antony’s College). |
Mustapha El Khalfi, Michael Willis |
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| NGOization of the Palestinian civil society post-Oslo: our community-based ways out |
This seminar was delivered on 28 May 2025 by St Antony’s George Antonius Birzeit Visiting Fellow, Dr Amal Nazzal, and Palestinian political and feminist organizer at Rawa, Soheir Asaad. |
Soheir Asaad, Amal Nazzal, Maryam Alemzadeh |
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| Gaza Genocide as a Symptom: Fragile World Order and Regional Impacts |
The MEC’s opening Thursday seminar of the 2025-26 academic year was delivered by the former Prime Minister of Türkiye, Ahmet Davutoğlu, and chaired by Professor Eugene Rogan |
Ahmet Davutoğlu, Eugene Rogan |
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| Big Tech and the Automation of Genocide in Gaza |
This seminar was delivered at the Middle East Centre on 30 May 2025 by Dr Samer Abdelnour, University of Edinburgh Business School, and Chaired by St Antony’s George Antonius Birzeit Visiting Fellow, Dr Amal Nazzal. |
Samer Abdelnour, Amal Nazzal |
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| The Devaki Jain Lecture - Empowered voices: Jordanian women shaping their future |
The Middle East Centre was honoured to host the 2025 Devaki Jain Lecture. This year’s lecture was delivered by Rana Husseini, Jordanian activist, journalist and author. |
Rana Husseini, Eugene Rogan |
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| Liberation Theology in Palestine |
A paper delivered by Rev. Dr Mitri Alraheb at the Palestine Research Centre symposium held at the MEC on Friday 9 May 2025. This paper was part of a panel chaired by Professor Eugene Rogan. |
Mitri Alraheb, Eugene Rogan |
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| Towards an Inclusive Narrative, History, and Methodology |
A paper delivered by Dr Hamdan Taha at the Palestine Research Centre symposium held at the MEC on Friday 9 May 2025. This paper was part of a panel chaired by Professor Eugene Rogan. |
Hamdan Taha, Eugene Rogan |
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| After the End of the World: Another Season of War in South Lebanon |
In this talk anthropologist Munira Khayyat revisits the South Lebanon borderland, where she has conducted long term fieldwork in the wake of its almost total destruction after the latest season of war there. |
Munira Khayyat, Pascal Menoret |
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| The Archaeology and History of Palestine - Book introduction |
A paper delivered by Dr Iman Saca at the Palestine Research Centre symposium held at the MEC on Friday 9 May 2025. This paper was part of a panel chaired by Professor Eugene Rogan. |
Iman Saca, Eugene Rogan |
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| History of the British Mandate in Palestine |
A paper delivered by Dr Issam Nassar at the Palestine Research Centre symposium held at the MEC on Friday 9 May 2025. This paper was part of a panel chaired by Professor Eugene Rogan. |
Issam Nassar, Eugene Rogan |
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| New Critical Assessment of the Archaeology and History of Palestine During the Early and Middle Islamic Periods |
A paper delivered by Dr Mahmoud Hawari at the Palestine Research Centre symposium held at the MEC on Friday 9 May 2025. This paper was part of a panel chaired by Professor Eugene Rogan. |
Mahmoud Hawari, Eugene Rogan |
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| Palestine Research Centre symposium at the MEC – Opening remarks |
Speech delivered by H.E. Dr Mohammad Shtayyeh, Chairman of the Palestine Research Centre and former Palestinian Prime Minister, at a symposium held at the MEC on Friday 9 May 2025. |
Mohammad Shtayyeh, Eugene Rogan |
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| The Prehistory of Palestine |
A paper delivered by Dr Ghattas Sayej at the Palestine Research Centre symposium held at the MEC on Friday 9 May 2025. This paper was part of a panel chaired by Professor Eugene Rogan. |
Ghattas Sayej, Eugene Rogan |
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| Philip Michael Wolfson on Dame Zaha Hadid and the 10 Year Anniversary of the Investcorp Building |
Former head of design for Dame Zaha Hadid, Philip Michael Wolfson, reflects on her work and career in the first of two lectures marking the 10-year anniversary of the Investcorp Building. |
Philip Michael Wolfson, Eugene Rogan |
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| The chaos (fawḍà) Bashshar al-Asad warned against – Damascus University 10th November 2005 – and present-day Syria |
On Friday 21 February 2025, Professor Johannes Waardenburg gave the Middle East Centre’s Friday seminar |
Johannes Waardenburg, Walter Armbrust |
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| Israeli Public Opinion, War and Prospects for Peace |
Political strategist and public opinion researcher, Dr Dahlia Scheindlin, shares her analysis of public opinion surveys before and during the war in Gaza. |
Dahlia Scheindlin, Eugene Rogan |
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| The Axis of Resistance |
A panel with Kamran Matin (University of Sussex), Yasmeen al-Eryani (Tampere Peace Research Institute) and Neil Ketchley (University of Oxford). Chaired by Raihan Ismail (University of Oxford). |
Kamran Matin, Yasmeen al-Eryani, Neil Ketchley, Raihan Ismail |
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| WRRS: Rethinking Masculinity Through Men's Sexual Experiences in Tehran |
A Women’s Rights Research Seminar (WRRS) with Dr Nafiseh Sharifi, Research Fellow at the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, University of Exeter. |
Nafiseh Shafiri, Maryam Alemzadeh |
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| Sudan's current war: a longer view on peacemaking and prospects |
A talk from Dr Richard Barltrop, Visiting Senior Fellow at the LSE Middle East Centre, reflecting on the current war in Sudan and exploring lessons from the longer history of peacemaking in Sudan and other recent civil wars. |
Richard Barltrop, Walter Armbrust |
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| Lebanon and Syria Amidst Regional Turmoil |
A talk from Joseph Bahout, Director of the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs (IFI) at the American University of Beirut (AUB) and Associate Professor of Practice in Political Studies. |
Joseph Bahout, Eugene Rogan |
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| Defining antisemitism: what is the point |
In this talk, Dr Klug and Professor Lavi explore the following questions, among others: What useful role can definitions play in this controversy? Can the IHRA definition perform this role? Does the JDA give better guidance? |
Brian Klug, Shai Lavi, Eugene Rogan |
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| Regional dimensions of the Gaza crisis, and the Arab role in the UN Security Council |
Mouin Rabbani and Hasmik Egian discuss the impact the crisis in Gaza has had on the Arab world, with a particular focus on the UN Security Council. |
Mouin Rabbani, Hasmik Egian, Eugene Rogan |
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| From the Cradle to the Street: Family and the 1979 Revolution in Iran |
Professor Naghmeh Sohrabi, Charles (Corky) Goodman Professor of Middle East History and Director for Research at the Crown Center for Middle East Studies, Brandeis University, describes the role of the family in the 1979 Revolution in Iran. |
Naghmeh Sohrabi, Maryam Alemzadeh |
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| What Gazans Think Before and After October 7th |
Professor Amaney A. Jamal discusses findings from surveys in Gaza and the West Bank, as the 46th Annual George Antonius Memorial Lecture. |
Amaney A. Jamal, Eugene Rogan |
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| Reflections on Tunisian Women's Continued Fight for Respect, Dignity and Rights: Focus on Women in the Labour Movement |
MEC Women's Rights Research Seminar delivered by Dr Heba El-Shazli (George Mason University) Chaired by Dr Maryam Alemzadeh (St Antony's College) |
Heba El-Shazli, Maryam Alemzadeh |
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| Webs of oppression’ in everyday organizing in Palestine: An Intersectional Feminist Analysis |
This talk delves into the multifaceted challenges Palestinian women activists face, revealing how intersecting oppressions within a settler-colonized society shape their organizing efforts and experiences, challenging singular analyses of patriarchy. |
Amal W Nazzal, Maryam Alemzadeh |
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| The Gender Effect in Intra-Party Meritocracy (with Rabia Kutlu) |
This lecture explores how parliamentary activity affects the candidacy list placements of MPs in closed-list PR systems, particularly focusing on the interaction between gender and candidacy list decisions. |
Rabia Kutlu, Tugba Bozcaga, Maryam Alemzadeh |
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| Is a Binational State Possible After 7 October? |
In this podcast, Oxford Emeritus Professor Avi Shlaim compares notes with Exeter University Professor Ilan Pappé on the prospects for a binational state in the aftermath of the events of 7 October and the Gaza War. |
Ilan Pappe, Avi Shlaim |
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| Panel Discussion: Recognizing Palestinian Statehood: European views |
A discussion of European initiatives to recognize the State of Palestine to advance the prospects for a two-state solution. |
Alon Liel, Haizam Amirah-Fernández, Chris Doyle |
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| Genocide and Accountability in Gaza: The Limits and Potential of International Law |
Prof Noura Erakat explores the significance of South Africa's application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in the Gaza Strip before the International Court of Justice, and the Court's decision to hear the case. |
Noura Erakat |
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| The Settler Movement, Political Impasses, and Beyond |
Dr Hagar Kotef from SOAS examines the current situation of Israeli settlers both in the West Bank and in the Cabinet to assess the impact of the settler movement in political options following the Gaza War. |
Hagar Kotef, Raihan Ismail |
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| Considering the Political Options in Gaza After Three Months of War |
In the opening meeting of the Middle East Centre’s Hilary Term seminar series, the Fellows of the Centre led a panel discussion to set out the agenda for the series examining the political options following the Gaza War. |
Eugene Rogan, Walter Armbrust, Maryam Alemzadeh, Raihan Ismail |
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| Israeli Public Opinion and Political Options after 7 October |
Professor Yuli Tamir considers Israeli public opinion following the 7 October 2023 attack and the constraints that public opinion imposes on the political options moving forward. |
Yuli Tamir, Elizabeth Suzanne Kassab |
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| Modern Arab Kingship - Remaking the Ottoman Political Order in the Interwar Middle East |
Adam Mestyan argues that post-Ottoman Arab political orders were not, as many historians believe, products of European colonialism but of the process of "recycling empire." |
Adam Mestyan, Eugene Rogan |
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| Stories to Connect: The Reza Hosseini Memorial Lecture Series on the past and present of the Middle East |
Join Professor Ghassan Salamé for his Lecture on 'Lessons from 2003 Iraq: Twenty Years Later.' |
Ghassan Salamé, Eugene Rogan |
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| Reconsidering the 60s generation in the Arab world and beyond |
Professor Yoav di Capua offers a comprehensive empirical, theoretical, and methodological reassessment of the Arab 60s as a global pursuit with lessons that transcend the geography of the Middle East - the fruit of a decade of research on Arab thought. |
Yoav di Capua, Eugene Rogan |
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| What have the Arab Uprisings done to "Contemporary Arab Thought"? |
Professor Elizabeth Suzanne Kassab offers some reflections on the challenges that a post-2011 Arab critique might be facing. |
Elizabeth Suzanne Kassab, Eugene Rogan |
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| Zionism and the Jews of Iraq: A Personal Perspective |
Professor Avi Shlaim gives the George Antonius Memorial Lecture 2023, examining the Jewish exodus from Iraq in the aftermath of the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, and arguing the Zionist movement played an active part in the uprooting of Iraqi Jews. |
Avi Shlaim, Eugene Rogan |
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| Memorial in honour of Derek Hopwood OBE and Celia Kerslake |
The Director and Fellows of the Middle East Centre, St Antony’s College convened a memorial in honour of Derek Hopwood OBE, Emeritus Fellow in Middle Eastern Studies (1933-2020) and Celia Kerslake, Emeritus Fellow in Turkish (1946-2023). |
Eugene Rogan, Roger Goodman, Gina Rowland, Rosie MacGregor, Michael Willis, Dimitris Antoniou, Linda Schilcher, Laurent Mignon, Ahmed al-Shahi |
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| Women’s Movements and Citizenship in the Middle East |
Women's Rights Research Seminar where guest speaker, Dr Roel Meijer (Guest Lecturer in Islam Studies, Radboud Universiteit) presents on Women’s movements and citizenship in the Middle East. |
Roel Meijer, Maryam Alemzadeh, Marilyn Booth |
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| The Conflict in Syria, A Personal Story |
Dr Haytham Alhamwi draws on his personal experiences to explain the story of the conflict in Syria. |
Haytham Alhamwi |
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| 'The Transformation of Iraq since the 2003 Invasion: From "The Dodgy Dossier", to Human Security, Gender, and the Nation's Future in the Face of Climate Change' |
This lecture examines the resilience of the Iraqi state and nation before and after the 2003 invasion. |
Ibrahim al-Marashi, Walter Armbrust |
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| Iraq 2018-2019: The Rule of Law: a perspective |
The Rt Hon Sir Peter Gross (Formerly, Lead Judge for International Relations) shares his insight into the Judicial and Rule of Law developments in Iraq. |
Peter Gross, Michael Willis |
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| Cheaters Dilemma: Iraq, WMD and the path to the 2003 war |
Why did Iraq fail to prove its WMD absence before the 2003 invasion? This seminar examines new evidence from Iraq and United Nations sources to shed light on the internal debates leading up to the 2003 war. |
Målfrid Braut-Hegghammer, Neil Ketchley |
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| The Popular Mobilisation Units and their Pursuit of Power and Legitimacy within the Iraqi State |
This talk examines the Shi‘ite political parties linked to Iraq's Popular Mobilisation Units (PMU) and their influence over the state, exploring their strategies for legitimacy in politics, religion, and society. |
Inna Rudolf, Maryam Alemzadeh |
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| The Iraq Invasion and Transnational Jihadism |
This talk explores the impact of the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 on militant Islamism using new evidence. |
Thomas Hegghammer, Neil Ketchley |
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| Clerics in the time of Tishreen |
The evolution of religion-civil society relations in post-2003 Iraq. |
Marsin Alshamary, Maryam Alemzadeh |
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| The International Thought of Turkish Islamists: History, Civilization and Nation |
Katerina Dalacoura will presents her research project entitled ‘The International Thought of Turkish Islamists’, funded by a Leverhulme Trust Major Research Fellowship. |
Katerina Dalacoura, Michael Willis |
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