Middle East Lecture Series | Spring 2009
Wednesday, January 21, 2009, 12:00 Noon - 1:30 PM
Gaza in Context: Background and Prospects from the Current Crisis
Duncan Kennedy, Carter Professor of General Jurisprudence, Harvard Law School
Naz K. Modirzadeh, Senior Associate, International Humanitarian Law Research Initiative
Program on Humanitarian Policy and Conflict Research, Harvard University
Location: Littauer Building, Room 280, Harvard Kennedy School
Co-Sponsored by the Outreach Center at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies
Friday, January 30, 2009, 12:00 Noon - 2:30 PM
The Challenges of Human Rights in the Arab World: Review of the first Annual Report on Human Rights in the Arab World
Bahey Eldin Hassan, Director, Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies
Saad Eddin Ibrahim, Visiting Professor, Harvard University
Location: Carr Center Conference Room (R219), Harvard Kennedy School
A panel discussing the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies' first Annual Report. The report analyzes developmental trends in human rights and democracy at both the country and regional levels.
Co-Sponsored by the Carr Center
Thursday, February 12, 2009, 4:00 – 6:00 PM
Jews, Arabs, and Government Officials: Power Relations Inside Israel
David Wesley, Israeli Anthropologist and Author
Location: Perkins Room, 4th Floor Rubenstein, Harvard Kennedy School
Co-Sponsored by the Middle East Forum at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies
Tuesday, February 24, 2009, 4:00 – 6:00 PM
Building Sustainable Cities: Masdar and New Architecture in the Persian Gulf
Nader Ardalan, President, Ardalan Associates, LLC and Fellow of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, Harvard University
Location: Center for Middle Eastern Studies – Harvard University
38 Kirkland Street, Room 102, Cambridge MA
Co-sponsored by the Outreach Center at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies
Thursday, April 9, 2009, 7:00 – 8:00 PM
Presentation and Book Signing: Mountain Against the Sea: Essays on Palestinian Society and Culture
Salim Tamari, Director, The Institute of Jerusalem Studies and Sociology Professor, Birzeit University, currently a visiting fellow at MIT
Location: The Harvard Coop, 3rd Floor, 1400 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
This groundbreaking book on modern Palestinian culture goes beyond the usual focal point of the 1948 war to address the earlier, formative years of 1918-1948.
Co-sponsored by the Outreach Center at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies
Thursday, May 7, 2009, 4:00 - 6:30 PM
Film, Music and Media: Mediums for Political Expression in the Middle East Region
Shamir Allibhai, Producer, An Islamic Conscience: The Aga Khan and the Ismailis, Founding Member and Commercial Director, Channel 4 British Documentary Film Foundation
Jackie Salloum, Director, Sling Shot Hip Hop
Location: Belfer Case Study Room, S020,
CGIS South Building,
1730 Cambridge Street, Cambridge MA
A discussion with two documentary film makers, Shamir Allibhai and Jackie Salloum, and a screening of Sling Shot Hip Hop, a documentary on Palestinian Hip Hop artists in the Occupied Territories and Israel.
Co-sponsored by the Outreach Center at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies and the Society for Arab Students at Harvard University
Special Events | Spring 2009
Wednesday, February 11, 2009, 6:00 – 7:30 PM
Forum Event: Is There a Road to Peace After Gaza?
Rashid Khalidi, Edward Said Professor of Arab Studies, Columbia University
Shai Feldman, Judith and Sidney Swartz Director, Crown Center for Middle East Studies at Brandeis University
Moderated by Ambassador R. Nicholas Burns, Professor of the Practice of Diplomacy and International Politics, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs; Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, U.S. Department of State (2005-2008)
This event is ticketed. To enter the lottery for tickets, please go to http://www.iop.harvard.edu/extension/forms/lottery.php?lottery=gaza. You must enter the lottery by Friday, February 6 at 12:00 PM.
Location: John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum, Littauer Building, Harvard Kennedy School
Co-sponsored by the Institute of Politics, The Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, HKS Jewish Caucus, HKS Palestine Awareness Committee, HKS Arab Caucus
Wednesday, March 18, 2009, 4:30 – 6:30 PM
Nowruz Celebration
Please join us as we mark the Persian New Year and the long-awaited beginning of Spring with traditional food, drink, and a cultural program!
Location: CGIS South, 1730 Cambridge Street, Room 020
Co-sponsored by the Outreach Center at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, the Outreach Program of the Davis Center for Russian & Eurasian Studies, the Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Islamic Studies Program and the Hassan Nemazee Fund
Thursday, May 7, 2009, 4:00 – 6:30 PM
Film, Music and Media: Mediums for Political Expression in the Middle East Region
Shamir Allibhai, Producer, An Islamic Conscience: The Aga Khan and the Ismailis and Founding Member and Commercial Director, Channel 4 British Documentary Film Foundation
Jackie Salloum, Director, Sling Shot Hip Hop, which premiered at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival-Documentary
Moderated by Ben Williams, Lecture Series Manager, Islam in the West Program, Harvard and MTS Candidate, Harvard Divinity School
Location: Belfer Case Study Room, S020, CGIS South, 1730 Cambridge Street, Cambridge
A public event featuring two documentary film makers, Shamir Allibhai and Jackie Salloum, and a screening of Sling Shot Hip Hop, a documentary on Palestinian Hip Hop artists in the Occupied Territories and Israel.
Co-sponsored by the Outreach Center at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies and the Society for Arab Students at Harvard University
Conferences | Spring 2009
January 22-24, 2009
North American Roundtable of the Persian Gender Network
Co-Sponsored by the Center for Arab Women Training and Research (CAWTAR) and the World Bank
Discussing Women’s Employment, Self-Employment and Entrepreneurship in Persian Speaking Countries
By Invitation Only
March 30-31, 2009
MIT/Harvard Gaza Symposium
The second annual Gaza symposium, this year jointly organized by MIT and Harvard, will host a series of panels
on the role of US and international actors, as well as
human rights and international humanitarian law in
the wake of recent events in Gaza.
Location: Wong Auditorium, MIT and Austin Hall, Harvard Law School
Co-Sponsors at MIT: The Center for International Studies; The Program for Human Rights and Justice
Co-Sponsors at Harvard: The Center for Middle Eastern Studies, Faculty of Arts and Sciences; University Committee on Human Rights Studies; Human Rights Program at the Harvard Law School
Middle East Film Series | Spring 2009
Tuesday, February 3, 2009, 6-8 PM
Caramel (Lebanon, 2007)
Location: Wiener Auditorium, Taubman building, Ground Floor, Harvard Kennedy School
The film will be shown on Tuesday, February 3rd from 6:15 to 8:00 pm. Complimentary pizza and soft drinks will be available starting at 6:00 pm.
Film Description: "Caramel" is a story that reveals tensions between duty and desire through the lens of five Lebanese women making sense of their daily lives as they negotiate social issues of age, sexuality, and responsibility.
Co-Sponsored by the Outreach Center at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies
Tuesday, March 3, 2009, 6-8 PM
A New Day in Old Sana'a (Yemen, 2007)
Location: Wiener Auditorium, Taubman building, Ground Floor, Harvard Kennedy School
The film will be shown on Tuesday, March 3rd from 6:15 to 8:00 pm. Complimentary pizza and soft drinks will be available starting at 6:00 pm.
Film Description: "A New Day in Old Sana'a" is the story of Tariq and Bilquis, two young lovers who are prohibited by family and tradition to be married. Tariq is made to confront his family's wishes with his own desire for choice and the unknown possibilities of love.
Co-Sponsored by the Outreach Center at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies
Tuesday, April 7, 2009, 6-8 PM
The Band's Visit (Israel, 2007)
Location: Wiener Auditorium, Taubman building, Ground Floor, Harvard Kennedy School
The film will be shown on Tuesday, April 7th from 6:15 to 8:00 pm. Complimentary pizza and soft drinks will be available starting at 6:00 pm.
Film Description: When a music band comprised of members of the Egyptian police force journeys to Israel to play at the inaugural ceremony of an Arab cultural center, they find themselves lost in the wrong foreign city. The film has won numerous awards from Israeli and international film festivals.
Co-Sponsored by the Outreach Center at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies
