It should not have taken a string of tragic and highly visible incidents of police brutality in the middle of a suffocating pandemic to sharpen the need to recognize and reckon with anti-Black racism and the legacy of slavery, but it did. Watching or reading about the horrifying final moments of the murder of George Floyd, some of us were immediately reminded of Radio Raheem—how is that for a name with "Middle Eastern" resonances?—and his tragic end, "fictionalized" more than thirty years ago in Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing (1989).*

At least, on this occasion, Floyd...

Rosie Bsheer, Assistant Professor of History, and Cemal Kafadar, Vehbi Koç Professor of Turkish Studies, both core faculty members of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, recommend the following books on race and slavery that have special relevance for Middle East studies. For information on locating books at a library near you, visit www.worldcat.org...

"COVID-19 has shown that atypical, transnational security issues need to be taken seriously. Man-made threats are not the only forces that can devastate the globe and fundamentally disrupt daily life," writes second-year Center for Middle Eastern Studies AM student Margaret Dene, in an article for the Foreign Policy Research Institute, where she is a summer Research Associate. Read the complete article on the Foreign Policy...

In a recent joint statement, Harvard University Centers condemn recent police violence in the United States:... Read more about Center for Middle Eastern Studies Joins Other Harvard University Centers and Institutes Condemning Police Violence in the United States

The Middle East Research and Information Project (MERIP), whose Executive Director, Mandy Terc, is a 2004 graduate the Center for Middle Eastern Studies' AM program, has launched a new Q&A series called "Voices from the Middle East," including interviews with people on the ground describing how COVID-19 is threatening the MENA region's most vulnerable populations. There are interviews with an Iranian pharmaceutical executive trying to produce medicine under sanctions, an ER doctor in Gaza describing how the blockade makes medical resources scarce, a...

Social solidarity is a critical tool in the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, as political leaders call for major disruptive changes to everyday life and sacrifices for collective well-being. In a white paper for the COVID-19 Rapid Response Impact Initiative of the Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics at Harvard University, CMES faculty affiliate...

About 11 million Syrians have fled their homes since the outbreak of a civil war in 2011 – including a family that settled in Silver Spring. To bring awareness to the eight-year anniversary of the conflict’s beginning, the brother-sister duo of Mouhanad Al-Rifay and CMES AM candidate Oula Alrifai are screening their documentary about child refugees from their home country this month in the town that took them in 13 years ago. “Tomorrow’s Children,” released in 2018, was directed by Al-...

The 2019 Samuel L. and Elizabeth Jodidi Lecture, "Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Nadia Murad in Conversation with Jennifer Leaning," took place on April 3 at the Memorial Church at Harvard. Nadia Murad is the corecipient of the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize, and is a leading advocate for survivors of genocide and sexual violence. Murad’s peaceful life was savagely interrupted in 2014 when Daesh attacked her homeland in Sinjar, with the intention of ethnically cleansing Iraq of all Yazidis. Like many minority groups, the Yazidis have carried the weight of historical persecution. Women in particular...

Nadia Murad came to Harvard as a survivor of genocide under ISIS, an advocate for victims of sexual violence, and the first Iraqi citizen to win the Nobel Peace Prize. Her talk at the Memorial Church, as part of the Weatherhead Center’s Samuel L. and Elizabeth Jodidi Lecture Series, co-sponsored this year by the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, focused on her personal journey and how her ordeal turned her into an activist. Read more about her talk in the...

Anna Boots is a second-year student in the AM in Middle Eastern Studies program.... Read more about Q&A Anna Boots

In a panel conversation with experts and practitioners, this Advanced Training Program on Humanitarian Action (ATHA) podcast explores how the Syrian refugee crisis is reshaping host communities in the Middle East, what challenges remain for the protection of vulnerable populations, and opportunities for advancing humanitarian protection and the integration of refugees into host communities. The panel includes:

• Her Excellency Reem Abu Hassan, Lawyer, human rights advocate, and civil...