The 13th Nordic Conference on Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies
A new world order - a new Middle East?
University of Oslo, 25-27 September 2025
DRAFT PROGRAM AT A GLANCE (subject to changes)
All activities take place in the University Library Building
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Day One |
Thursday 25 September |
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08:30-16:00 |
Registration (takes place in the Hall) |
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09:15-10:45 |
Panels 1 |
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11:00-11:15 |
Welcome and practical information (auditorium 1) |
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11:15-11:30 |
NSMES MA thesis award presentation (auditorium 1) |
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11:30-13:00 |
Keynote 1: Marc Owen Jones (auditorium 1) |
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13:00-14:00 |
Lunch break |
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14:00-15:30 |
Panels 2 |
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15:30-15:45 |
Break |
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15:45-17:15 |
Panels 3 |
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19:00-20:30 |
Reception at Oslo City Hall (subway stop “Nationaltheatret”). |
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Day Two |
Friday 26 September |
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08:30-16:00 |
Registration (takes place in the Hall) |
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09:00-10:30 |
Panels 4 |
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10:30-10:45 |
Break |
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10:45-12:15 |
Panels 5 |
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12:15-13:15 |
Lunch break |
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13:15-14:45 |
Panels 6 |
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14:45-15:00 |
Break |
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15:00-16:30 |
Keynote 2: Bjørn Olav Utvik (auditorium 1) |
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16:30-16:45 |
Break |
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16:45-18:15 |
Panels 7 |
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19:30-23:00 |
Party (TBC) |
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Day Three |
Saturday 27 September |
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09:00-10:30 |
Panels 8 |
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10:30-10:45 |
Break |
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10:45-12:15 |
Keynote 3: Dana El Kurd (auditorium 1) |
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12:15-13:00 |
Lunch break |
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13:00-14:30 |
Panels 9 |
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14:30-14:45 |
Break |
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14:45-16:15 |
Panels 10 |
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16:15-16:30 |
Break |
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16:30-17:30 |
NSMES General Assembly (auditorium 1) |
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17:30 |
Conference ends |
FULL PROGRAM
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Day One |
Thursday 25 September |
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08:30-16:00 |
Registration (takes place in the Hall) |
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09:15-10:45 |
Panels 1 |
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Aud 1 |
Gender, Patriarchy, and Legal Reform |
Chair: Rania Maktabi (Østfold University College) Ido Shahar (University of Haifa) – Maintaining Patriarchal Hegemony in the Face of Gender-Equalizing Reforms: Performative Acts and ‘Patriarchal Moments’ in a Contemporary Shari‘a Court Jean Allegrini (University College London) – Giving Up or Changing Battlefields? Lebanese Women’s Political Engagement in Flux Zeineb Alsabeehg (University of Edinburgh) – Struggles for Citizenship by Gulf Women Didem Unal Abaday (University of Helsinki) - The “Two-Level Game” Of Islamist Anti-Gender Actors in Turkey Haru Menard (University of Portsmouth) – Material Belongings: LGBTQ+ Survival in Neocolonial Lebanon |
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Aud 2 |
ROUNDTABLE: Persian and Iranian Studies in Scandinavia: Diagnosing the Field and Assessing Our Future |
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Chair: TBC K. Soraya Batmanghelichi (University of Oslo) Samad Alavi (University of Oslo) Rouzbeh Parsi (Swedish Institute of International Affairs) Rasmus Christian Elling (University of Copenhagen) - Jonathan M. Feldman (Stockholm University) Hashem Ahmadzadeh (Uppsala University) |
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underv-rom 1 |
ROUNDTABLE: Doing Islamic Studies: From Sweden to MENA |
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Chair: Sami Al-Daghistani (Lund University) Karin Aggestam (Lund University) Suzanne Olsson (Stockholm University) & Jenny Berglund (Stockholm University) Pernilla Myrne, (University of Gothenburg) Oliver Scharbrodt (Lund Unviersity) Mohammad Fazlhashemi (Uppsala University) Jonas Svensson (Linnæus University) |
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underv-rom 2 |
Palestinian Identity, Politics, and Resistance |
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Chair: TBC Ferdoos Alissa and Mahasin F. Saleh (Doha Institute for Graduate Studies) – Exploring and Preserving Palestinian Family History Anja Zorob (Helmut Schmidt University) – The Securitization of and Shrinking Space for Palestinian Civil Society Organizations Anne Heikkinen (University of Helsinki) - A New Middle East: What is the future for Palestinian Christianity? Andrea Pizzinato (Geneva Graduate Institute) - Oslo, Thirty Years After: Indigeneity and Trajectories of Palestinian Identity in Israel |
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underv-rom 3 |
Football and Religion in the Middle East: Exploring New Intersections I |
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Chair: TBC Dag Tuastad (University of Oslo) - Football in Gaza under Hamas Idun Fjeld (University of Bergen) - Football and Social Veiling in Muscat, Oman Khalil Dahbi (The German Institute for Global and Area Studies, GIGA) and Yasmine Zarhloule (University of Oxford) - Faith in the Stands: Unpacking the Religious Content of Moroccan Ultras’ Cultural Production John Konuk Blasing (Independent Scholar) - Corporatism or Nationalism? The Story of the Turkish National Team’s Football Shirt |
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grupperom 1 |
Sudan: From Revolution Through War, the Complexity of Life on the Edge(s) |
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Chair: Mari Norbakk and Munzoul Assal Munzoul Assal (Chr. Michelsen Institute, CMI) and Aroob Alfaki (University of Khartoum) - To What Extent Civilians are “Civilian”? Unpacking the Dynamics of Contentious Politics in Sudan Wars Liv Tønnessen (Chr. Michelsen Institute, CMI) and Samia Elnager (Independent researcher) - Revolution and Feminist Reimaginations in Sudan Abdelmageed Yahya (Sudan Open University/Dilling University) and Mari Norbakk (Chr. Michelsen Institute, CMI) - Rubble Investments: the Blocked, Broken, and Redirected Flows of Capital from Sudan Randa Gindeel (Ahfad University for Women) and Ann Cathrin Corrales-Øverlid (University of Bergen) - “When I come in here, I forget everything”: Forcibly displaced women coping with war, reproducing class privilege and challenging gender relations through business ownership." |
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grupperom 7 |
Sailing without an Anchor? Understanding Regimes, Coalitions and Informal Alliances across the MENA |
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Chair: Clive Jones Clive Jones (Durham University.) - 'Orders out of Chaos? Israel, alliances, and the enduring appeal of ‘tacit security regimes.' Rory Miller (Georgetown University, Doha.) - 'African States in the Saudi-led Islamic Military Counter-Terror Coalition (IMCTC) : Explaining extra-regional participation in informal security coalitions in the Middle East Shorooq al-Zaabi (Durham University) - 'Navigating Complexity: The Evolving Dynamics of the formal and informal alliances in the Arab Gulf States - the case of the UAE' Hana Alshehaby (Middle East Centre for Global Affairs, Doha, Qatar) - 'Gulf Security Alliances Amidst a Global Order in Flux' |
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11:00-11:15 |
Welcome and practical information (auditorium 1) |
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11:15-11:30 |
NSMES MA thesis award presentation (auditorium 1) |
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11:30-13:00 |
Keynote 1: Marc Owen Jones (auditorium 1): Digital Superpowers: Networks of Disinformation and Dysinfluence in the Middle East |
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13:00-14:00 |
Lunch break |
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14:00-15:30 |
Panels 2 |
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Aud 1 |
Football and Religion in the Middle East: Exploring New Intersections II |
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Chair: TBC Charlotte Lysa (University of Oslo) and Hans Kristian Hognestad (University of South-Eastern Norway) - The Football Missionary: Jimmy Hill and the transformation of Saudi football Ehsan Kashfi (University of Copenhagen) - Football Beyond Borders: Iranian Diaspora Activism and the Politics of Team Melli Bjørn Olav Utvik (University of Oslo) - Football, Religion and State Power in Morocco |
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Aud 2 |
The Palestinian Resistance, Quo Vadis? |
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Chair: Sune Haugbølle Francesco Saverio Leopardi (University of Padova) - The Palestinian left after October 7 Leila Seurat and Carep Paris (Center Arabic Research and Studies Politiques) - Hamas after October 7 Erik Skare (University of Oslo) - Palestinian Islamic Jihad after October 7 Erling Lorentzen Sogge (University of Oslo) - Fatah after October 7 |
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underv-rom 1 |
Feminist Solidarities Across the Arabian Peninsula |
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Chair: Alessandro Gori Amal Alqawasmi (Copenhagen University) - Gulf Women and Transnational Solidarity: Socio-Legal Perspectives on Supporting Palestinian Resilience During the Gaza Genocide Jihan Zakarriya (Copenhagen University) - Gaza war and Global Solidarities: A Decolonial Feminist reading of academic boycotts, and activisms in Arabian Peninsula and Beyond Sumaiya Al-Wahaibi (Copenhagen University) - Feminist Praxis and Anti-Imperialism: Reimagining Gender Solidarity in the GCC |
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underv-rom 2 |
“The Modern Rupture”: Islamic Law in History and Historiography |
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Chair: Ulrika Mårtensson Ulrika Mårtensson (NTNU) - The Qur’an, al-Sanhuri and Tariq al-Bishri: Theorising Relations between Legal Reform and History Writing Knut S. Vikør (University of Bergen) - Sharia practices in pre-colonial and colonial Africa - was there a rupture? Christian Mauder (Freie Universität Berlin) - Training Tomorrow’s Political Elite in Islamic Law: The Mamluk System of Legal Education for Slave Soldiers |
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underv-rom 3 |
The Second Century of an Ostensive Democracy in the Middle East: Turkey in the 21st Century |
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Chair: Kumru F. Toktamis Convener:
Isabel David, University of Lisbon Cem Özatalay (Galatasaray University) - Hybrid Regime, Hybrid Unions’ Field, and Hybrid Struggles Louis Fishman (Brooklyn College, CUNY) - The Erdogan Years: from Politics of Hope to a neo-Kemalist State Zeynep Savaşçın (Galatasaray University) - Refugees and citizenship: challenge or opportunity for authoritarianism Iclal Ayse Kucukkirca (Orient Institute, Istanbul) - Homelessness and Homemaking at the Intersection of Public and Private: Nusaybin in Post-Conflict, 2016-2023 |
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grupperom 1 |
Great Power Rivalry and the New Middle East Order: The Case of Syria and Iraq |
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Chair: Shirin Zakeri Francesco Anghelone (Institute of Political Studies "S. Pio V" - Mediterranean Observatory – OSMED) - Turkey’s role in the evolving geopolitical landscape of the Middle East Shirin Zakeri (UnitelmaSapienza University of Rome) - Iran’s Religious Diplomacy: Reshaping Shia Identity in Iraq and Syria Giuseppe Dentice (Institute of Political Studies "S. Pio V" - Mediterranean Observatory – OSMED) - The Gulf scramble in Syria: the Emirati perspective Diego Pagliarulo (John Cabot University) - Iraq, Syria, and the Evolution of US Strategy in the Middle East |
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grupperom 7 |
State-Religious Relations in the Arab World After Covid-19 |
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Chair: Bjørn Olav Utvik Théo Blanc (Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Pisa and European University Institute, Florence) - ‘More Religion, not Less’: Rethinking the Role of Religious Governance in Generating vs. Countering Violent Radicalization in Tunisia Neil Russell (Glasgow Caledonian University) and Mohamed S. Mohamed (George Washington University) - Statizing Islamic Charity: the case of Bayt al-Zakat in Egypt Neil Russell (Glasgow Caledonian University) and Georges Fahmi (European University Institute) - The Jurisprudence of Priorities: Al- Gam‘iya Al-Shar‘iya’s oscillation between the Muslim Brotherhood and the State Tine Gade (NUPI) - A Tale of Two Legal Systems? Lawyers and Judges in the New Saudi Arabia |
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15:30-15:45 |
Break |
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15:45-17:15 |
Panels 3 |
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Aud 1 |
New Histories, New Futures of Zionism |
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Chair: Toufoul Abou Hodeib Yaacov Yadgar (University of Oxford) - The problem of Zionism’s relation to Judaism Pelle Valentin Olsen (University of Bergen) - Delayed and Reluctant Departures: The Iraqi Jewish Sawda’i Family’s Ecounters with Zionism Eirik Kvindesland (University of Oxford) - Jews of the Empire: Zionism as imperial attachment and protection Nadim Khoury (University of Inland Norway) - Binationalist ideas and binational realities in Palestine/Israel |
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Aud 2 |
UNRWA – The Catastrophe and the Implications on the Ground |
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Chair: Jørgen Jensehaugen Trude Strand (Middle East Historian) - Erasing Palestine: Israel’s Attack on UNRWA through a Settler-Colonial Lens Kjersti G. Berg (Høgskolen NLA) - In the absence of UNRWA? Jørgen Jensehaugen (Peace Research Institute Oslo, PRIO) - A tragedy wrapped in a catastrophe inside a disaster |
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underv-rom 1 |
The Cultural Politics of Saudi Nationalism |
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Chair: Bader Al-Saif Kristin Diwan (AGSIW) - A Picture of Saudi Arabia's New Nationalism through its Visual Arts Sultan Alamer (Harvard University) - Debating “Constitutional Monarchy” in Saudi Arabia Mohammed Alsudairi (The Australian National University) - Thought Security in Saudi Arabi. Bruno Schmidt-Feuerheerd (University of Cambridge) - The grassroots origins of Saudi nationalism |
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underv-rom 2 |
Comparative History of State Formation and Nation Building in the Middle East - Updating the Rokkan Legacy |
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Chair: Nils Butenschøn OR Susanne Dahlgren Rania Maktabi (Østfold University College) - Women’s rights and the role of family law in a comparative, Rokkanian perspective Roel Meijer (Radboud University, Nijmegen) - The rise and fall of post-war populist pacts in the Middle East Lars Mjøset (University of Oslo) - A revised conceptual map for the post-war Middle East, with special emphasis on the role of Israel’s settler colonial state building from 1948 on |
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underv-rom 3 |
Regional (Dis)Order in the Wake of the Gaza War – Global, Regional and Domestic intertwinements |
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Chair: Maria Josua Courtney Freer (Emery University) - Gulf States Foreign Policy: Mediation amidst Regional Reordering Simon Mabon (Lancaster University) - The Shifting Contours of Regional Order in the Post 2023 Landscape Edward Wastnidge (The Open University) - Regional (dis)order and alliance building in the Middle East: nomoi as a principle of contending visions on the region’s geopolitics André Bank (GIGA) and May Darwich (Birmingham University) and Morten Valbjørn (Aarhus University) - The Gaza War and Regime-People Dynamics in the Middle East and North Africa |
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grupperom 1 |
Alternative Archives? Sites of Narrative Production in Post-Colonial Egypt |
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Chair: Bushra Hashem Mayada Madbouly (Groningen University) - Al-Shamandoura: (Hi)stories of Displacement and Anti-Colonial Resistance Fayrouz Kaddal (Duke University) - Silence and Absence in Nubia’s Salvaged Heritage: A Look into Anna Hohenwart-Gerlachstein’s Sound Archive Khaled Hafiry (Independent Researcher) - Nubian Periodicals as Alternative Archives: When Memory Becomes Readable Iman Afify (University of Oslo) - |
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grupperom 7 |
Prisonscapes: Living, Imagining and Narrating Prisons in the SWANA region |
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Chair: Samad Alavi Teresa Pepe (University of Oslo) - From Prison to the World. A Comparative Reading of Naji’s Hirz Mikamkim (Rotten Evidence, 2020) and Abd el-Fattah’s You Have Not Yet Been Defeated (2021). Anne-Marie McManus (Forum Transregionale Studien) - The Liberation of Sednaya Prison, December 2024 Elena Chiti (Stockholm University) - The Citadel Prison Museum of Cairo: Through the Guards’ Eyes Brahim El Guabli (Johns Hopkins University) - Outrageous “Truths”: Rumors, Political Prisons, and the Strive to Mobilize Empathy |
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19:00-20:30 |
Reception at Oslo City Hall (subway stop “Nationaltheatret”). |
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Day Two |
Friday 26 September |
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08:30-16:00 |
Registration (takes place in the Hall) |
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09:00-10:30 |
Panels 4 |
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Aud 1 |
Nuancing the Concept of Relics in Islamic Contexts: Historical and Theoretical Perspectives |
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Chair: Susanne Olsson Ingvild Flaskerud (Oslo University) - Relics and other barakat-transporting objects: Connecting lived life with the sacred Susanne Olsson (Stockholm University) - Hagiographic Use of Relics and Veneration to Establish Traditionalist Islam Martin Riexinger (Aarhus University) - Reestablishing Islam as a “counter reigion”: Muḥammad b. ʿAbd al-Wahhāb’s Mukhtaṣar sīrat al-rasūl Jonas Svensson (Linneaus University) - The Contagious Muhammad: Addressing Prophetic Relics in Islam from the Perspective of the Cognitive Science of Religion |
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Aud 2 |
Technology and Settler Colonialism in Israel/Palestine |
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Chair: Pelle Valentin Olsen Antti Tarvainen (University of Helsinki) - Necroventures: Speculating on Death and Startups in Palestine/Israel Heba Taha (Lund University) - Radioactive Colonialism in Palestine/Israel Johanna Adolfsson (Stockholm University) - Surveillance technology in regional planning of homes and agricultural structures as a tool against the Naqab Bedouins Wassim Ghantous (Tampere University) - Homological correspondence: Israel as a frontier of global domination |
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underv-rom 1 |
The Lives and Afterlives of Indian Ocean Seafaring Cultures in the Middle East |
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Chair: Nefissa Naguib Susanne Dahlgren (Finnish Institute in the Middle East, Beirut - The Afterlife of a Global Sea Route: The Houthis and the Ship Sinking Game Mattias Gori Olesen (Aarhus University) - The Dawoodi Bohras as Pan-Islamic Seafarers, 1880s to Present Day Thomas Fibiger (Aarhus University) - “Mumbai is domestic”. Dubai as an Indian, Persian and Arab City |
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underv-rom 2 |
New Cinema Groups and Alliances in a Revolutionary Age |
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Chair: Tamara Maatouk Tamara Maatouk (City University of New York, CUNY) - “We Were Making Socialist Films before Socialism!” Jeremy Randall ( The Graduate Center, CUNY) - New Horizons of Revolutionary Palestinian Cinema: Capitalism, Occupation, and Revolution Sara Hussein (University of California) - Cinema Circuits of the South: The Afro-Asian Film Festival Against Empire Claire Begbie (Concordia University) - Documenting and Resisting Zionist Settler Colonial Violence in 1970s Palestine Solidarity Cinema |
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underv-rom 3 |
Fatwas as Expressions of Order: Analyzing Fatwas, Great and Small |
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Chair: Lena Larsen Jakob Skovgaard-Petersen (University of Copenhagen) - The State Mufti and the Prophet Sehra El-Khodary (Independent ) - Fatwas in Practice: Insights from the Department for Oral Fatwa Issuance at Egypt’s Dār al-Iftā' Andreas Nabil Younan (University of Cambridge) - Sharīʿa and Societal Stability: Egyptian Fatwas on Ḥudūd Punishments in the 1970s Saer El-Jaichi (Danish Institute of International Studies) - Defensive Jihad and the Authority of Fatwas: The Case of Ayatollah Sistani's 2014 Fatwa Against ISIS |
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grupperom 1 |
Engaging Iran beyond Iran: Diasporic Politics, Transnational Entanglement and Digital Publics |
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Chair: TBC Rasmus Christian Elling (University of Copenhagen) - Tracing the history of Iranian diaspora politics in Denmark Ehsan Kashfi (University of Copenhagen) - Minority Within: Negotiating Space, Identity, and Belonging in the Iranian Azeri Diaspora K. Soraya Batmanghelichi (University of Oslo) - Diasporic Tangled Webs: Iranian Women’s Activism, Incorporated |
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grupperom 7 |
From the Nahda to Kuwaisiana: A Century of Middle Eastern Independent Music |
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Chair: Sean Foley Ingvild Tomren (University of Oslo) - Counterculture and pop songs in the Egyptian Nahḍa Douglas Mattsson (Södertörn University) - The Multiple Functions of Blasphemy in Turkish Black Metal Erling Lorentzen Sogge (University of Oslo) - Heavy metal as a subculture in Lebanon Sean Foley (Middle Tennessee State University) and +Aziz - “The Future is made”: +Aziz and the New Musical Order—from Kuwait’s Diwaniyyahs to the Emerald City |
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10:30-10:45 |
Break |
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10:45-12:15 |
Panels 5 |
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Aud 1 |
V(V)ines from Terroir to Table in the Middle East and North Africa: Exploring the Intersections of Geography, Economy, and Culture (Session I) |
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Chair: Christian Steiner Steffen Wippel (German Institute for Global and Area Studies, GIGA. Institute for Middle East Studies, IMES & Philipps-Universität Marburg) and Nessim Znaien (Philipps Universität Marburg) - A Short Introduction: Old and New Research on Viti- and Viniculture in the Middle East and North Africa Peter Heine ( Humboldt University in Berlin) - On the History of Viticulture in the Middle East and North-Africa Dieter Haller (Ruhr-Universität Bochum) - Here We Don’t Drink Alcohol, We drink Spirits – So We Are Not Alcoholic, We Are Spiritual |
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Aud 2 |
Green Transitions on the Arabian Peninsula: State Visions, Local Dynamics, and Global Ambitions |
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Chair: Morten Valbjørn Martin Hvidt (University of Southern Denmark) - Green Transition in Oil-Rich Gulf Countries: A State-Centric Perspective Fannie Agerschou-Madsen (Roskilde University/ Danish Institute for International Studies, DIIS) - Financing the Future: Saudi Arabia’s Dual Strategy in the Green Energy Transition Sune Haugbølle (Roskilde University) - Greening the Desert: Energy and Future in the Saudi Green Initiative Maria-Louise
Clausen (Danish Institute for International Studies, DIIS) - |
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underv-rom 1 |
ROUNDTABLE: The Politics of Late Ottoman Literary Translation |
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Chair: Nefise Kahraman Roberta Micallef (Boston University) Ipek Sahinler (University of Texas) Burcu Karahan (Stanford University) |
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underv-rom 2 |
ROUNDTABLE: Teaching Arabic as a second or foreign languages in the Era of AI |
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Chair: Carla El Khoury Ulla Prien (University of Copenhagen) June Dahy (University of Copenhagen) Kræn Kielsgaard Hansen (University of Copenhagen) Stephan Guth (University of Oslo) Erling Lorentzen Sogge (University of Oslo) Zehad Mohamed Sabry (University of Oslo) Ludmila Ivanova Torlakova (University of Bergen) |
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underv-rom 3 |
Middle Eastern Diasporas in the Nordics |
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Chair: TBC Ali Bedir (Mardin Artuklu University) - Norwegian Turks Lejla Sunagic (Lund University) – Syrian refugees in Europe: Trade-off between existential and physical mobility Alice Al Maleh (Lund University) – Futural orientations and diasporic becomingsamong Syrians in Denmark Fanny Christou (Swedish Institute of International Affairs) – The Plural Mosaic of the Palestinian and Kurdish Diasporas’ Mobilization in Sweden Emine Neval (University of Helsinki) - The Evolution of the Abilik System in the Hizmet Movement Post-2016: A Case Study of Finland |
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grupperom 1 |
Political and Social Transformations in the Gulf States I |
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Chair: TBC Eyup Ersoy (King’s College London) – The Evolution of the UAE-Turkey Relations: Relational Volatility in an Uncertain Middle East Yunnan Ye (Leiden University) – Chinese Labor Migration in the United Arab Emirates since the 1970s Oksana Didyk (University of Copenhagen) - Political Branding and Citizen Engagement in the Gulf: A New Model for Democracy Perception? Altea Pericoli & Karin Aggestam (Lund University) - Regionalisation of Conflict Responses: Political Shifts and Humanitarian Priorities of the Gulf States |
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grupperom 7 |
Conflict, Armed Groups, and Governance in Syria |
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Chair: TBC Marie Kortam (Ifpo) – Shaping Rebel Behavior of Non-State Armed Groups in Northern Syria Rawia Altaweel (Chiba University) – Community and Islamist Governance in Syria Post 2011- A Case Study of Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham Tiina Hyyppä (University of Helsinki) – Civil governance. Local councils in the Syrian war Silvia Carenzi (Scuola Normale Superiore) - The divergent trajectories of Islamist armed groups in Syria: A social movement approach Orwa Ajjoub (Malmö University) - Understanding Radical Religious Rhetoric: How Sunni Jihadi Leaders Mobilize Support and Legitimize Intra-Jihadi Violence |
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12:15-13:15 |
Lunch break |
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13:15-14:45 |
Panels 6 |
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Aud 1 |
ROUNDTABLE: Down-to-Earth: Environmental Labor and Care in the Middle East and North Africa |
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Chair: Nefissa Naguib Ersilia Francesca (University of Naples, l'Orientale) Brahim al Guabli (Williams College) Teresa Pepe (University of Oslo Mounira Soliman (University of Cairo) Marita Lindberg Furehaug (University of Oslo) |
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Aud 2 |
Artificial Intelligence and Security |
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Chair: TBC Gökhan Ereli (Middle East Technical University) – Artificial Intelligence and the UAE's National Security: Strategic Transformations and Practical Implications Arash Beidollahkhani (University of Manchester) – From Surveillance to Suppression: AI’s Role in Middle Eastern Authoritarianism Muhammad Arshad Zia (Ghouisa Muslim Society) - Artificial Intelligence and Middle Eastern Governance: Opportunities and Risks in a Changing World Order Irfan Ibrahim (Islamic University, India) – AI weapons and impact on Middle East |
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underv-rom 1 |
Environmental and Ecological Challenges I |
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Chair: TBC Ataur Rehman (Aarhus University) – Climate Crisis and Energy Transition: Navigating Sustainability in the Petro-States of the Middle East Laura Wickström (Åbo Akademi University) – Ecocide as Nonviolent Environmental Activism in Climate Justice and Governance in the Mediterranean Moustapha Itani (University of Helsinki) – Governance, Sectarian Geography, and Environmental Sustainability in Lebanon's Fragile Ecosystems Idunn Lüllau Holthe (University of Oslo) – Reviving Ruins: Abandonment, Sustainability, and Mudbrick Architecture in the Red Sea Region |
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underv-rom 2 |
Diaspora Identity and Politics |
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Chair: TBC Hossam Sultan (Linköping University) – Imaginaries of the Future Home Among the Palestinian Diaspora in Germany Liina Mustonen (University of Helsinki) - (Re-)negotiating belonging: Arab minorities in Berlin Bouchra Mossmann – Global Crises, Northern Solidarities: Northern Muslims and Gaza Solidarity Joseph Prestel (Roskilde University) – Cities That Bind: How Urban Histories of Migration Bridged the Arab Middle East and Western Europe in the Twentieth Century |
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underv-rom 3 |
Authoritarian Civil Society |
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Chair: TBC Maria Josua (GIGA) – Taking Audiences of Authoritarian Discourses Seriously: Justifications of Repression and Their Reception in the Arab Uprisings Adam Almqvist (Lund University) – Minding Others’ Business: Regime-Organized Civic Activism and Youth Governance in Jordan Fatima Dhanani (SOAS) – Pluralism in Action: Civil Society as a Pillar of Governance in Lebanon Lars Berger (Berlin) – Democratic Commitment and the Limits of Authoritarian Soft Power: Evidence from Arab Public Opinion Hamza Belhmmidi (University of Mohammed V of Rabat) - Constitutionalization of the Amazigh language in Morocco (2011): The constitutional policy of recognition of linguistic rights |
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grupperom 1 |
Current Gulf Politics |
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Chair: TBC James Worrall (University of Leeds) – Making Ourselves Useful: Understanding Omani Engagement in Yemen Since 2011 Matthew Hedges (Independent Researcher)– Data is the New Oil: UAE Techno-Statecraft Umer Karim (University of Birmingham) – Evolution of Saudi Arabian Palestine Policy: Impact of Changes in Saudi Strategic Culture and Rise of Saudi Nationalism Tore Petersen (NTNU) and Clive Jones (Durham University)– "Please stop beating our national": Britain, the Gulf Monarchies and the incarceration of UK nationals |
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grupperom 7 |
Colonialism and its Legacy I |
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Chair: TBC Firoozeh Kashani-Sabet (University of Pennsylvania) – British Maneuverings: The Ethnic Remapping of the Post-WWI Middle East Rand Saleh (University of Toronto) – Contextualizing the Mosul and Kirkuk Massacres in British Mandated Iraq Mattia Serra (Geneva Graduate Institute) - Everyday Acts of Partition: Bordering Palestine and Lebanon during the Mandates Period Louis Fishman (Brooklyn College) - The Looming Shadow of the Post-Ottoman Middle East |
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14:45-15:00 |
Break |
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15:00-16:30 |
Keynote 2: Bjørn Olav Utvik, University of Oslo: Islamism as key to understanding the Middle East (auditorium 1) |
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16:30-16:45 |
Break |
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16:45-18:15 |
Panels 7 |
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Aud 1 |
Women’s Activism |
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Chair: TBC Mitra Shamsi (Center for Advanced Internet Studies) – Shaping Digital Feminist Discourses: The Rise of Iranian Popular Feminism Hasan Karakilinc (University of Iceland) – “Not Your Turkish Delight”: Feminist Punk Counter-Spaces and Resistance in Türkiye Shima Tadrisi (Kadir Has University) – From Resistance at Homes to Struggle in the Streets: “Ordinary Women” in the Iranian Women’s Movement Mahdi Tourage (King's University College) - The Ayatollah and I: Iranian Women Poets Reading Their Erotic Poems for the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic |
|
Aud 2 |
Environmental and Ecological Challenges II |
|
|
Chair: TBC Noor AlShaikh (Independent Researcher) – (Un)Living by an Oil Refinery: Experiences of Living with Toxicity in Bahrain Moustapha Itani (University of Helsinki) - Adaptive Communities, Complex Governance: Pastoralism at the Crossroads of Ecology and Rural Politics in Lebanon Anas Chakkala (University of al-Qarawiyyin) – The Role of Islamic Jurisprudence in Shaping the Middle East’s Response to the Global Climate Crisis Tilde Rosmer (Zayed University) - Teaching Sustainability: Environmental Education in the United Arab Emirates |
|
underv-rom 1 |
East of the Middle East |
|
|
Chair: TBC Ahammed Ishac Chembırıka Ebrahım (Sakarya University) – India and the Middle East: Shifting Geopolitical Alliances in the New World Order Mohammed Afzaal (Shanghai International Studies University) & Shiekh Osama Tariq (Roots University) – Saudi-China Relation Mirrored in Saudi Diplomatic Discourse: A KeyATM-based Analysis Mojtaba Mahdavi (University of Alberta) – Middle East Looks to the East? Sino-Middle East Relations in a ‘Multiplex World’ |
|
underv-rom 2 |
State and Governance |
|
|
Chair: TBC Karim El Taki and Kaoutar Ghilani (University of Groningen & University of Cambridge) – Rethinking State and Regime in the MENA Andrew Leber (Tulane University) – Audible Accountability? Podcasting and Saudi Vision 2030 Faris Al-Sulayman (London School of Economics) – Super Autonomy and the Emergence of an SOE-led Development Model in the Arab Gulf States Anton K. Marcussen (Copenhagen University) - Outside-in pressures on Jordan’s political reform process: The acute permeability of Jordan’s domestic sphere in a time of regional and global flux Amal Bourhrous (Uppsala University)– Building Peace in Contexts of Incomplete State-Building: Insights from Libya and Iraq Olivia Glombitza (Autonomous University of Barcelona) – At the Nexus of Iranian Pop Culture & Foreign Policy: Television Series as a Means to Educate & Mobilize Public Opinion |
|
underv-rom 3 |
Palestine/Israel Conflict |
|
|
Chair: TBC Konstantinos Papastathis (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki) – Land, Law, and Religion: Property Administration in the Jerusalem Church Kensuke Yamamoto (University of Shizuoka) – Judaization in Its Final Phase: Israel’s Policy Shift on Palestinian School Curricula in East Jerusalem Sefer Korkmaz (University of Bern) - From Deep-Learning to Digital Analysis of the Ottoman World – Creating, Evaluating, and Critiquing Workflows through Jerusalem Court Records (Sijills) Hannu Juusola
(University of Helsinki) and Antti Tarvainen (University of Helsinki) -
Reviewing literature on Israel/Palestine and the question of 'Israeli
democracy': liberal, settler colonial, and a global view |
|
grupperom 1 |
Refugees, Camps, and the Governance of Displacement |
|
|
Chair: TBC Jasmin Paananen (University of Helsinki) – The State-Like Role of a Non-Sovereign: Exploring Expectations Placed on UNRWA Amid Increased Uncertainty Bayan Arouri (Tampere Peace Research Institute) - Beyond the Development Lens: Ethnographic Insights into Refugee Women's Social Practices in Camps Maja Janmyr (University of Oslo) – Transit Beirut: UNHCR and the Covert Resettlement of Armenians during the Cold War Lovise Aalen (Chr. Michelsens Institute, CMI) and Adam Babekir (Gedarif University) - 'When Refuge is Home: Sudan’s war-affected IDPs in Gedarif State, Eastern Sudan Omar Sayfo (Utrecht University) - Irregular Migration on Arab Screens |
|
grupperom 7 |
Political and Social Transformations in the Gulf States II |
|
|
Chair: TBC Anke Reichenbach (Zayed University Dubai) - Cosmopolitan Appetites: Young Emiratis’ Engagement with Culinary Difference Yafa Shanneik (Lund University)– A New Gulf Through Pre-Marital Genetic Testing? William Gueraiche (Abrahamic Family House) – Interfaith, Tolerance, and Coexistence in the GCC Countries Ariel Admoni (Bar-Ilan University) – Archaeology, Nationalism and the Question of Qatari Religious Identity |
|
19:30-23:00 |
Party (TBC) |
|
Day Three |
Saturday 27 September |
|
09:00-10:30 |
Panels 8 |
|
Aud 1 |
Digitization and the future of archival work |
|
|
Chair: Prof. Jacob Høigilt Albrecht Hofheinz (University of Oslo) - # From Sudan to UNESCO: Leveraging ATR and AI to Analyze the Hofheinz Manuscript Collection Ingrid Austveg Evans (Freie Universität Berlin) – The Digital Future of Arabic Manuscripts: Ethics, Methods, and Actors Eirik Kvindesland (University of Oxford) - Mapping silence: Using spreadsheet databases in historical research Lucia Carminati (University of Oslo) - A Mono-Lingual Press in Polyglot Egypt: Stampa
Migrante and the British Library Endangered Archives Program |
|
Aud 2 |
Impossible Borders: Levantine Imaginaries, Memories, and Publics |
|
|
Chair: TBC Toufoul Abou-Hodeib (University of Oslo) - Of Prophets and Miracles: Sacred Imaginaries across Levantine Borders Ghenwa Hayek (University of Chicago) - Lebanese Cinema at the Border Crossing Sune Haugbølle (Roskilde University )- The Past as Common Ground? Arab Intellectual Debates in Times of Genocide Omar al-Ghazzi (London School of Economics) - Publics as borders: Mediated violence and history in the Levant |
|
underv-rom 1 |
V(V)ines from Terroir to Tablein the Middle East and North Africa: Exploring the Intersections of Geography, Economy, and Culture (Session II) |
|
|
Chair: Stephan Guth Frank Faverzani (Brown University) - Unraveling the Declensionist Narrative: Wine, Colonialism, and Modern Lebanon Markus Ritter (University of Vienna) - Visions of Vine in Abbasid Mosques Philippe Bourmaud (Université Jean Moulin/Institut Français d’Etudes Anatoliennes, IFEA) - Indigenous Vineyards, International Markets: Discourses on Wine and Commercial Network Building in the Ottoman Empire in the Revue Commerciale du Levant (1890-1922) Daniel Monterescu (European University) - Liquid Indigeneity, Terroir and Territory: Wine, Science and Colonial Politics in Israel/Palestine |
|
underv-rom 2 |
Colonialism and its Legacy II |
|
|
Chair: TBC Magnus Halsnes (University of Bergen) – Mapping a New Middle East: Imperial Desert Cartography in the Mandate Period Kesmat Taha Riyad Nassar (University of Oslo) - Freemasonry in Egypt (1890-1940): The liminality of Freemason lodges at the intersection of nationalism and imperialism Ada Lucia Ferraresi (University of Seville) - Submarine Sovereignty in the Mediterranean: The Case of the Libyan Submarine Telegraph Cafer Sarikaya (Bogazici University) – In Search of a Vanished Performance: 'The Kurdish Drama' in the Chicago World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893 |
|
underv-rom 3 |
ROUNDTABLE: Middle Eastern Refugees in Iceland: Reports on New Research |
|
|
Chair: Hanna Ragnarsdóttir Lara Wilhelmine Hoffman (University of Iceland) Susan Rafik Hama (University of Iceland) Zulaia Johnston da Cruz (University of Iceland) Hrafnhildur Kvaran (University of Iceland) Muhammed Emin Kizlikaya (University of Iceland) Gudbjorg Ottosdottir (University of Iceland) |
|
grupperom 1 |
Evolving Political Dynamics |
|
|
Chair: TBC Cyrus Roedel (Durham University) - Typology of the Arab Left Mohammed Othman (Freie Universität Berlin) – Beyond Nationalism: Societal Transformation and Ideological Competition Paul M. Esber (Copenhagen University – At the Gates of Damascus: An Institutional Reappraisal of Ibn Khaldun in the 21st Century Itzchak Weismann (University of Haifa) - Is Salafism in Decline? Carmen Fulcao (King’s College London) - Organizational and Mobilization Strategies in the Tunisian Youth Protest Movement (2021-2025) |
|
grupperom 7 |
Jihadi Movements in the Middle East and Beyond |
|
|
Chair: Dag Henrik Tuastad Truls H. Tønnessen (Norwegian Defence Research Est) - Ally or hegemon? Understanding jihad insurgent groups alliances in Syria and Iraq Anne Likuski (Norwegian Defence Research Est) - Salafi-jihadism after the Arab Spring: A case study of Ayman al-Zawahiri’s ideology and revolutionary praxis Vidar Benjamin Skretting (Norwegian Defence Research Est.) - Explaining the Proliferation of Jihadism in the Sahel Prof. Brynjar Lia (Department of Culture, Religion, Asia and Middle Eastern Studies, University of Oslo.) - Whither Contemporary Jihadism? Al-Qaida and Daesh jihadists in the contemporary Middle East and North Africa |
|
10:30-10:45 |
Break |
|
10:45-12:15 |
Keynote 3: Dana El Kurd, University of Richmond (auditorium 1): Academic Responsibility in the Wake of Mass Violence |
|
12:15-13:00 |
Lunch break |
|
13:00:14:30 |
Panels 9 |
|
Aud 1 |
State and Society in Türkiye |
|
|
Chair: TBC Gizem Zencirci (Providence College) - De/colonial Politics of Civilizationism and Turkey's New Presidential Complex Büke Koyuncu (Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University) - Navigating Turkey's Evolving Moral Landscape: Intersections of Politics, Religion, and Reconciliation Bahar Baser (Durham University) – Reconceptualizing Diaspora Mobilization in the Global South: The Case of the Russian Diaspora in Turkey Ayca Alemdaroglu (Stanford University) - Turkey in the Shadow of the Cold War: Intermediary actors and political transformations Ekavi Athanassopoulou (University of Athens) - Turkey's Changing Roles in the Middle East |
|
Aud 2 |
Religious Minorities Through History |
|
|
Chair: TBC Koby Yosef (Bar-Ilan University) - Mamlūks of Christian Origin in the Mamluk Sultanate (1250-1517): Perhaps European Travelers did not Exaggerate That Much? Gizem Kazzaz (Central European University) - A Glimpse into the World of Muhajirs: Circassians in Ottoman Syria Maryam Ayad (University of Helsinki) – The Qur'an, Critical Discourse Analysis, and the Others: Jews and Christians in Islamic Thought |
|
underv-rom 1 |
ROUNDTABLE: What Can We Learn from Reading Literature? |
|
|
Chair: Stephan Guth Adéla Provazníková (Charles University) Antonio Pacifico (Université Jean Moulin Lyon 3, France, in cotutorship with Università di Napoli "L'Orientale") Bushra Hashem (University of Oslo) Giulia Aiello (University of Bologna) Safinaz Saad (Otto-Friedrich-University of Bamberg) |
|
underv-rom 2 |
ROUNDTABLE: Shifting Allegiances: China's Growing Influence in the Middle East and the region’s Quest for Strategic Autonomy |
|
|
Chair: Maria Papageorgiou Ibrahim Al-Marashi (California State University of San Marcos) Naser Al-Tamimi (Doha Qatar) Stefan Lukas (Middle East Minds, Berlin, Germany) Sandra Fernandes (Center for Political Science, Portugal) |
|
underv-rom 3 |
Critical cultural production |
|
|
Chair:TBC Suja Sawafta (University of Miami) - The Day After: Narrating Dystopia in Emile Habibi’s The Secret Life of Saeed and Ahmed Saadawi’s Frankenstein in Baghdad Elisa Andrea Viteri Márquez (Stockholm University) – Much More Than Humans in Arabic Speculative Fiction: New Scenarios of Becoming Susanne Kranz (Zayed University) – Voices on the Wall: Street Art and UrbanSpace in Amman, Jordan Justin Malachowski – On the Limits of Decolonization in the Arts: Tunisia Goes to Documenta 15 Andrew Simon (Dartmouth College) - “A Thieves’ Uprising”: Imam, Sadat, and Recomposing the Recent Past |
|
grupperom 1 |
Contemporary Issues in Islamic Thought |
|
|
Chair: TBC Naeema Halim – Eating Pure (Ṭayyib) – Islamic Perspectives on Contemporary Food Challenges Mendim Akiti (Florida State University) - The Favored Sect: Bektashism and the Production of Religious Hierarchy in Albanian Islam Giulia Gozzini (Lund University) - The Thawra and the Sheikhs: Salafi Perspectives on the 2019 Lebanese Uprisings Scott Bursey (Florida State University) - On the Modalities of Ignorance: Muḥammad and Sayyid Quṭb on Contrasting Conceptions of jāhilīya |
|
grupperom 7 |
ROUNDTABLE: Political Engagements at Nordic Universities Since the 7th October Attack: Challenges and Prospects |
|
|
Chair: Oliver Scharbroudt Tiina Hyyppä (University of Helsinki) Helena Lindholm (University of Gothenburg) Somdeep Sen (Roskilde University) Kjersti Gravelsäter Berg (Chr. Michelsen Institute, CMI) |
|
14:30-14:45 |
Break |
|
14:45-16:15 |
Panels 10 |
|
Aud 1 |
Religious Contention in History |
|
|
Chair: TBC Nargiz Mammadli (Stockholm University) - Heresy and Political Authority: A Historical Perspective on the Execution of Religious Dissidents in Islam Hüseyin Göcen (University of California) - One Event, Multiple Times, Many Connections: A Revisitation of the Puritan Preachers’ Incident in Bursa and Its Repercussions in the Ottoman Empire Kubra Nugay (University of Bergen) - Caliphate Discussions in the Late Ottoman Empire |
|
Aud 2 |
V(V)ines from Terroir to Table in the Middle East and North Africa: Exploring the Intersections of Geography, Economy, and Culture (Session III) |
|
|
Chair: Christian Steiner Nessim Znaien (Philipps Universität Marburg) - Drinking under the Bombs: Wine Distillation and Political Power in Tripoli (Libya) in 1942 Brahim El Fasskaoui (Moulay Ismaïl University) - From Visible Terroirs to Hidden Tables: Evolution of the Wine Sector in Morocco Steffen Wippel (German Institute for Global and Area Studies, GIGA/Institute for Middle East Studies, Hamburg/ Philipps-Universität Marburg) - An Exploration Attempt Ending at Closed Doors: Invisibilisation and Dissociation in the North African Wine Industry Katharina Lange (Leibniz-Zentrum Moderner Orient) - Ambivalent Grape-scapes: Accounts of Grape Cultivation and Marketing in Afrin, Syria |
|
underv-rom 1 |
Saudi Arabia’s Multifaceted Transformations – Domestic and Regional Dimensions |
|
|
Chair: Sune Haugbølle Tine Gade (NUPI) - Gender, law and society in New Saudi Arabia Fannie Agerschou-Madsen (Roskilde University/ Danish Institute for International Studies, DIIS) - Rewriting history through investments in the cultural heritage: the Saudi state’s new religious identity Maria-Louise Clausen (Danish Institute for International Studies, DIIS) - Peace negotiations as reshaping Yemen’s society Morten Valbjørn (Aarhus University) - Saudi Scenarios – 3*3 narratives on the Saudi reform process |
|
underv-rom 2 |
Perspectives on Current Political Turmoil |
|
|
Chair:TBC Marianne Laanatza (Lund University) - The rise and fall of the Iranian New World Order in the Middle East Dr Mona Saleh (University of Duisburg-Essen) and Dr James Worrall (University of Leeds) - Rebuilding Bridges: Trust, Diplomacy and Cooperation Between the European Union and Arab League in the Aftermath of the Gaza Crisis Kota Suechika (Ritsumeikan University) - Reconsidering Citizens’ Support for the Axis of Resistance: Evidence from Experimental Surveys in Palestine, Lebanon, Iraq, and Yemen |
|
underv-rom 3 |
Literature and Society, Past and Present |
|
|
Chair: TBC Lovisa Berg (Dalarna University) – al-Raqqa through shifting world orders – fictional testimonies from contemporary Syrian literature Amin Ghodratzadeh (Utrecht University) - Aṭṭār’s Ilāhī-nāma (“Book of Divine”) and the Wise-Fool Guy Ron-Gilboa (Bar-Ilan University) - Solomon, the ʿAnqāʾ, and the Two Lovers: The Transformations of a Tale Alice Königstetter (University of Vienna) - Reclaiming the Narrative: Postcolonial Re-Writing of Kuwaiti History in Munā al-Šammarī’s Lā Mūsīqā fī l-Aḥmadī (2016) Limor Lavie (Bar Ilan University) - In Other Words: Egyptian Translations of Israeli Literatures Post-1948 |
|
grupperom 1 |
Islam Outside the MENA Region |
|
|
Chair: TBC Zoltan Pall (Independent Scholar) – Neo-Traditionalist Trends in South Thailand and the Philippines Mendim Akiti (Florida State University) – Bektashism, Intra-Faith Islam, Islamic Identity, Secular vs. Religious Controversy Balkan Nora S. Eggen (University of Oslo) – Diplomatic Knowledge Production on Islam in 19th Century Sweden Reem Fatthelbab (University of Cambridge) - Sufism, Ecology, and Becoming Muslim: Trajectories of Muslim Converts in Spain |
|
grupperom 7 |
Religion and Society in Iran |
|
|
Chair: TBC Leila Chamankhah (Thapar Institute) - Messianism, Sectarianism and the Politics of Disorder in Contemporary Iran Nima Lashkari (York University) - The pivotal 1891-92 Tobacco Protest in Qajar Iran |
|
16:15-16:30 |
Break |
|
16:30-17:30 |
NSMES General Assembly |
|
17:30 |
Conference ends |