Inaugurated in 2015, the CMENAS Annual Graduate Student Symposium was the initiative of a core committee of CMENAS MA students who came together to conceive of a forum where graduate students across the university and beyond can present original research concerning modern Middle East and North Africa.
9:00 am » Introductions (by Symposium Committee)and Welcome Remarks by Hakem-Al Rustom, Alex Manoogian Professor of Modern Armenian History, University of Michigan
9:30 am » Panel 1: Politics in the Middle-East and North Africa
Abed Kanaaneh, Tel Aviv University» Muqawamah and Jihad: Two Competing Political Theologies
William Boosalis, Boston College » Diverging Interests, Alliance Management, and Arms Control: Reacting to Allies Activities caused by Adversarial Arms Control Agreements
Erin Collins, University of Michigan » Justifications for the Political Approach to Human Dignity: A Case Study of the Tunisian Constitution
10:40 am » Panel 2: Art, Music, and Education
Mohamad Khalil Harb, Harvard University » Imagining a Nation: Discourses of Nationalism in Fairuz’s Music 1950s
Mohammad Al-Ansari, University of Michigan » Education in Qatar a Research Design: The Qatari Youth and the Future
Mina Talaee, Alzahra University » Iranian Post-revolutionary Figurative Sculpture with a Genealogical Approach
1:35 pm » Panel 3: Gender and Space
Dan Ward and Alissa Fromkin, The George Washington University » Rarely Intersectional: Experiences of Queer Palestinians in Israel
Starling Carter and Madelaine Assi,The George Washington University » Horsh Beirut and the Politics of Public Space
Sasa Tang, American University » Street Harassment and Political Participation in Morocco
3:10 pm » Panel 4: The Islamic State and Religion
Emily Dittmar, University of Michigan » ISIL, Culture, History, and Violence: A Working Title
Byron Maxey, University of Michigan » Roots, Returns, and a Revival of Religion: Classical Roots of Indigenized Islam in the Black Atlantic
