History

Video: 'Trauma, Magic, Love': a tribute to Osman Kavala on his birthday

October 2, 2019

On September 16, CMES welcomed Syrian-Armenian-American stage and film actress Sona Tatoyan and artist and puppet master Ayhan Hülagü to speak about finding her Armenian grandfather's Karagöz puppets in the abandoned family home in Aleppo, Syria. Ayhan then presented some of Sona's family's puppets in a short puppet show to close the event. For more on Sona and Ayhan and the event: https://bit.ly/2potIVR.

...

2019 Oct 15

'The Baghdad Clock': A Book Talk with the Author and Translator

4:30pm to 6:00pm

Location:

CMES, Rm 102, 38 Kirkland St, Cambridge, MA 02138

The Center for Middle Eastern Studies presents

The Baghdad Clock cover Shahad Al Rawi, author of The Baghdad Clock, short-listed for the 2018 International Prize for Arabic Fiction (IPAF), and

Luke Leafgren, translator The Baghdad Clock... Read more about 'The Baghdad Clock': A Book Talk with the Author and Translator

2019 Oct 09

A Contemporary Sufi Tradition: The case of the Late Ottoman Elite and Sufi Sheikh Ken'ân Rifâî

6:30pm to 8:00pm

Location:

CMES, Rm 102, 38 Kirkland St, Cambridge, MA 02138

The CMES Sohbet-i Osmani Lecture Series presents

Arzu Eylül Yalçınkaya
Lecturer, Institute for Sufi Studies, Üsküdar University, Istanbul... Read more about A Contemporary Sufi Tradition: The case of the Late Ottoman Elite and Sufi Sheikh Ken'ân Rifâî

2019 Nov 06

Arabic Classes and Classics in the Opera House

6:00pm to 7:30pm

Location:

Thompson Room, Barker Center, 12 Quincy St, Cambridge, MA 02138

The Committee on Medieval Studies presents

Samuel England scene from 'Garine'
Associate Professor of Arabic, University of Wisconsin-Madison... Read more about Arabic Classes and Classics in the Opera House

2019 Sep 16

Trauma, Magic, Love: Being In Aleppo with Karagöz Puppets, My Ancestors and the Spirit of Osman Kavala

5:00pm to 7:00pm

Location:

CMES, Rm 102, 38 Kirkland St, Cambridge, MA 02138

The Hrant Dink Memorial CMES Fund is pleased to present a talk and Karagöz puppet show featuring

Sona Tatoyan, stage & film actress, writer, and activist, and Ayhan Hülagü, journalist, actor, artist, and puppet master.

CMES welcomes Syrian-Armenian-American actress Sona Tatoyan as she presents her Armenian grandfather’s hand-made Karagöz shadow puppets,... Read more about Trauma, Magic, Love: Being In Aleppo with Karagöz Puppets, My Ancestors and the Spirit of Osman Kavala

Reflecting on the Many Faces of Mecca, the Lived City

June 28, 2019

“Mecca is lived, experienced, and documented differently by different people,” began Rosie Bsheer, Assistant Professor of History at Harvard and author of the forthcoming “Archive Wars: Spectacle, Speculation, and the Politics of History in Saudi Arabia,” in her keynote address to the colloquium Mecca: The Lived City, hosted in May by the Center for Middle Eastern Studies and organized by CMES Director William Granara and Gareth Doherty, Associate Professor of Landscape Architecture and Director of the Master in Landscape Architecture Program at the Harvard Graduate School of...

Roger Owen, My Mentor and My Friend

August 1, 2019

It is impossible to sum up the life of Professor Roger Owen in a few paragraphs; even Roger found it difficult to edit his life in his wonderful memoir. I will focus on being his student and then his friend, and how he taught me how to pass forward his special brand of mentoring.

As a graduate student working on the history of Egypt and Sudan, I made my pilgrimage to Oxford to see Roger and Albert Hourani and receive their wisdom on my project. Albert enjoyed its potential but Roger told me in no uncertain terms that it was too big and would be very difficult (I would like to...

2019 Sep 26

Representing Power at the Court of Ottoman Tunisia in the 19th Century

6:00pm to 7:30pm

Location:

Arthur M. Sackler Building, Room 422, 485 Broadway, Cambridge, MA

The 2019–2020 Harvard University Aga Khan Program Lecture Series: A Forum for Islamic Art & Architecture & CMES present

Ridha Moumni Ottoman court of Tunisia
Art historian and curator, 2019-20 CMES Tunisia Postdoctoral Fellow... Read more about Representing Power at the Court of Ottoman Tunisia in the 19th Century

2019 Dec 02

Book talk: 'The Lived Nile: Environment, Disease, and Material Colonial Economy in Egypt'

4:30pm to 6:00pm

Location:

CMES, Rm 102, 38 Kirkland St, Cambridge, MA 02138

CMES Modern Middle East Speaker Series presents

Jennifer L. Derr
Associate Professor, Department of History, University of California, Santa Cruz... Read more about Book talk: 'The Lived Nile: Environment, Disease, and Material Colonial Economy in Egypt'

2019 Oct 09

Book talk: 'Islands of Heritage: Conservation and Transformation in Yemen'

4:30pm to 6:00pm

Location:

CMES, Rm 102, 38 Kirkland St, Cambridge, MA 02138

CMES Modern Middle East Speaker Series presents

Nathalie Peutz
Associate Professor of Arab Crossroads Studies, NYU Abu Dhabi... Read more about Book talk: 'Islands of Heritage: Conservation and Transformation in Yemen'

2019 Sep 25

Book talk: New Authors on Palestine

4:30pm to 6:00pm

Location:

Tsai Auditorium, CGIS South Concourse, 1730 Cambridge St, Cambridge, MA 02138

CMES Modern Middle East Speaker Series presents

new authors on Palestine Noura Erakat: Justice for Some: Law As Politics in the Question of Palestine
Seth Anziska: Preventing Palestine: A Political History from Camp David to Oslo
Tareq Baconi: Hamas Contained: The Rise and Pacification of Palestinian Resistance

2019 Sep 18

Book talk: 'City of Black Gold: Oil, Ethnicity, and the Making of Modern Kirkuk'

4:30pm to 6:00pm

Location:

CMES, Rm 102, 38 Kirkland St, Cambridge, MA 02138

CMES Modern Middle East Speaker Series presents

Arbella Bet-Shlimon
Assistant Professor, Department of History, University of Washington... Read more about Book talk: 'City of Black Gold: Oil, Ethnicity, and the Making of Modern Kirkuk'

2019 Nov 21

In Name Only: Dismantling Citizenship & Human Rights Across the Arab World

4:30pm to 6:00pm

Location:

CGIS Knafel 262, 1737 Cambridge St, Cambridge, MA 02138

The WCFIA/CMES Middle East Seminar presents

Denis Sullivan
Director, Boston Consortium for Arab Region Studies (BCARS), and Professor of Political Science & International Affairs, Northeastern University... Read more about In Name Only: Dismantling Citizenship & Human Rights Across the Arab World