CMES Outreach Program announces line-up for Spring 2014 Book Launch Series
In the spring 2014 semester the CMES Outreach Program will continue its successful book launch and author talk series with a line-up of seven talks by Middle East scholars and commentators who have recently released new work.
The seven books featured highlight the depth and diversity of Middle East studies today. As a leader in Moroccan studies, CMES is pleased to be hosting two book launches featuring new scholarship on the country: Jonathan Smolin's Moroccan Noir and Susan Miller's A History of Modern Morocco. The growing field of Gulf studies is well represented by Impossible Citizens by Neha Vora, Professing Selves by Afsaneh Najmabadi, and The Struggle for Iraq's Future by Zaid Al-Ali. Rounding out the program are two books on Israel and Lebanon: Ari Shavit's My Promised Land and Lara Deeb and Mona Harb's Leisurely Islam.
All talks are open to the general public, with Harvard undergraduate and graduate students especially encouraged to attend. A limited number of free copies of each book will be available at the talks to Harvard students on a first come, first served basis.
All talks will be held at CMES, Room 102, 38 Kirkland Street, unless otherwise noted.
| My Promised Land: The Triumph and Tragedy of IsraelAri Shavit, Israeli journalist, commentator, and columnist for Haaretz. Moderated by Susan Kahn, Associate Director and Director of the AM Program, CMES; Lecturer on Near Eastern Languages & Civilizations, Harvard University. |
| Impossible Citizens: Dubai’s Indian DiasporaNeha Vora, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, Lafayette College. Moderated by William Granara, CMES Director and Gordon Gray Professor of the Practice of Arabic, Harvard University. |
| Professing Selves: Transsexuality and Same-Sex Desire in Contemporary IranAfsaneh Najmabadi, Francis Lee Higginson Professor of History and Studies of Women, Gender, and Sexuality, Harvard University. Moderated by Michael M.J. Fischer, Andrew W. Mellon Professor in the Humanities and Professor of Anthropology and Science and Technology Studies, MIT. |
| Moroccan Noir: Police, Crime, and Politics in Popular CultureJonathan Smolin, Associate Professor of of Asian and Middle Eastern Languages and Literatures, Dartmouth College. Moderated by William Granara, CMES Director and Gordon Gray Professor of the Practice of Arabic, Harvard University. |
| The Struggle for Iraq’s Future: How Corruption, Incompetence and Sectarianism Have Undermined DemocracyZaid Al-Ali, Senior Adviser on Constitution Building, International IDEA. Moderated by Noah Feldman, Bemis Professor of International Law, Harvard Law School. |
| Leisurely Islam: Negotiating Geography and Morality in Shi’ite South BeirutLara Deeb, Associate Professor of Anthropology, Scripps College, and Mona Harb, Associate Professor of Urban Studies and Politics, American University of Beirut. Moderated by Susan Kahn, Associate Director and Director of the AM Program, CMES; Lecturer on Near Eastern Languages & Civilizations, Harvard University. |
| A History of Modern MoroccoSusan G. Miller, Professor, Department of History, University of California, Davis. |