The Center for Middle Eastern Studies, Harvard University

Members of the CMES community will offer contributions to 20 panels during the Middle Eastern Studies Association (MESA) 2007 Annual Meeting in Montreal. Panels featuring Harvard faculty, graduate students, alumni, and others are listed below. Names of people in the CMES community are in all caps for easy reference. For information on the locations of these panels, see the full MESA 2007 Annual Meeting Program.

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 17
5:00PM-7:00PM

(P082) Christians of the Middle East: Interrogating Identities from Orientalism to the Diaspora
Organized by Hakem Rustom, London School of Economics
Chair: ANTHONY SHENODA, HARVARD UNIVERSITY

Magi Abdul-Masih, St. Mary's University
Jesus, a Palestinian Jew? Christian Theology and the Palestine/Israel Conflict
Hakem Rustom, London School of Economics
The Armenian Church: From an Ottoman Millet to the Diaspora
Adel Iskandar, University of Texas at Austin
Indigenizing Orientalism? Reflections on the Mediated Self-Portrayal of Coptic Orthodox Christian Identity


SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 18
8:30AM-10:30AM

(P040) Competing Discourses of Justice and Violence in the Ottoman Empire in the 18th and Early 19th Centuries
Organized by Tolga U. Esmer
Chair: HAKAN KARATEKE, HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Discussant: Jane Hathaway, Ohio State University

Stefan Winter, Université du Québec à Montréal
Perceptions of Imperial and Local Sovereignty in 18th-Century Mt. Lebanon
Basak Tug, New York University
Governing Sexual Violence in the Mid-Eighteenth-Century Ottoman Anatolia
Betul Basaran, St. Mary's College of Maryland
Public Order and Immigrants in Istanbul at the End of the 18th Century
Frederick F. Anscombe, Birkbeck College, London
Tepedelenli Ali of Yanya: Pasha and Rebel
Tolga U. Esmer, University of Chicago
Bandits and Bureaucrats Revisited: Acknowledging Competing Discourses of Justice and Rebellion in the Ottoman Empire in the 18th and 19th Centuries

(P058) National and Local Strategies for Competition and Survival in the Global Economy
Organized by Gregory White, Smith College
Chair: ROGER OWEN, HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Discussant: Karen Pfeifer, Smith College

Marsha Pripstein Posusney, Bryant University
Free Trade and Freer Unions? Globalization, Labor Market Reforms, and Workers' Organizations in the Arab World
Pete W. Moore, Case Western University
The War Economy of Iraq in Comparative and Regional Perspective
Mine Eder, Bogazici University
Informal Transnationalism?: The Underside of Turkey's Economic Globalization

(P096) Evaluating Memory Campaigns in Lebanon
Organized by Sune Haugbolle
Supported by Centre for Lebanese Studies
Discussant: Patrice C. Brodeur, University of Montréal

Craig A. Larkin, University of Exeter
Negotiating the Lebanese Past: A New Generation Forgets to Remember?
Pamela Chrabieh, University of Montreal / St. Josef University
Building a Culture of Peace and Conviviality: Contributions of the 25-40 Lebanese Age Group
Sune Haugbolle, University of Oxford
Into the Spoken: The Development of War Memory in Lebanon 1990-2005
MARK A. FARHA, HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Fleeing Forward from One War of the Others to the Next?



SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 18
11:00AM-1:00PM

(P046) Family, Gender and Law 18th-20th Centuries
Organized by Kenneth M. Cuno
Chair: Iris Agmon, Ben Gurion Universiy
Discussant: Amira Sonbol, Georgetown University

ETTY TEREM, HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Fatwas and Family: Indigenous Interpretation in Late 19th Century Morocco
Kenneth M. Cuno, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Restitution of Conjugal Rights/Bayt al-Ta'a in Egyptian Law
Susanne Stein, SUNY Albany
So That Her Son Will Not Be a Burden Upon Her: Divorce, Migration, and Child Custody in Cairo, 1941-1946
Elizabeth Bishop, U of North Carolina, Wilmington
The Card in Her Purse: Citizenship and Gender in Arab Egypt

(P054) The Magic of Rituals and Rituals of Magic in the Persianate World
Organized by Derek Mancini-Lander
Chair: Kathryn Babayan, U of Michigan
Discussant: ENGSENG HO, HARVARD UNIVERSITY

Derek Mancini-Lander, University of Michigan
Habitus, Blessing, and Authority: Mimetic and Contagious Modalities of Transmission in Early Modern Persianate Rites of Passage
Kathryn Babayan, University of Michigan
Passing Into Manhood in Safavi Craft Circles
A. Azfar Moin, University of Michigan
The Magic of Mughal Paintings: Jahangiri Allegorical Paintings Reconsidered

(P118) Topics in Qur'anic Studies
Organized by Elias Muhanna
Chair/Discussant: Walid Saleh, University of Toronto

ALEXANDER KEY, HARVARD UNIVERSITY
The Status of Qur'anic Revelation: Al-Nawmi
Elias Muhanna, Harvard University
The Word and the Wound: The Meaning of Kalam in the Qur'an
*Martin Nguyen, Harvard University
The Subtleties of the Subtleties: Investigating al-Qushayri's Sufi Commentary of the Qur'an
Naseem Surhio, Harvard University
Laying the Foundations of Sufi Exegesis: Al-Sulami's Haqa'iq al Tafsir

Special Session
(P138) On Hrant Dink and Armenian-Turkish Relations
Sponsored by the Society for Armenian Studies and the Turkish Studies Association
Chair: ANDRAS J. RIEDLMAYER, HARVARD UNIVERSITY and Richard G. Hovannisian, UCLA

Hratch Tchilingirian, Cambridge University
Hrant Dink before Hrant Dink: Armenians in Turkey
Fatma Müge Göçek, University of Michigan
Hrant Dink and Turkish-Armenian Dialogue
Levon Zekiyan, Universita Ca'Foscari, Venice
Hrant Dink's Innovative Approach to Armenian-Turkish Relations. Its Context, Challenge, and Prospects
Etyen Mahcupyan, Journalist/Writer, Turkey
Agos and the Hrant Dink Foundation: Looking at the Future



SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 18
2:00PM-4:00PM

(NP55) Living Under Occupation, Palestine
Chair: Nubar Hovsepian, Chapman U

Amy Wanounou, York University
Palestinian Women between the Two Intifadas
Neve Gordon, Ben-Gurion University
From Colonization to Separation: Exploring the Structure of Israel's Occupation
Zeynep Baser, Middle East Technical University
Israeli Security Discourses Reconsidered: The Closure System in the West Bank
TAROOB R. BOULOS, University of Michigan
While Waiting for The Dream: Palestinian Women Bear Witness to Their Detention Experiences

(P030) Religious Conversion and Communal Identity in the Medieval Middle East
Organized by Tamer el-Leithy
Chair: MARYANN SHENODA, HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Discussant: TAMER EL-LEITHY, Harvard Society of Fellows

Maryann Shenoda Harvard University
Veiling Dhimmi: Coptic Representations of Dhimmi Status in Fatimid Egypt
Tamer el-Leithy, Harvard Society of Fellows
Coptic Martyrdom and Apostasy in the Age of Mass Conversion
Marina Rustow, Emory University
Religious Conversion in Medieval Egypt and Syria: Evidence from the Geniza
Marc Baer, University of California, Irvine
Hunting for Converts: Ottoman Sultan Mehmed IV and Religious Conversion in the 17th Century



SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 18
4:30PM-6:30PM

(P041) Displacing the Nation: Diaspora, (Im)mobility and Empire in the Modern Middle East
Organized by Omar Dewachi
Chair: OMAR DEWACHI, HARVARD UNIVERSITY

Omar Dewachi,Harvard University
From Professional Hajj to Professional Refugee: Journeys of the Iraqi Doctor to Britain
Didem Danis, Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales
Limits of Transnational: Iraqi Christian Transit Migrants' Networks in Turkey
Senay Ozden, Duke University
Borders of Belonging: Palestinian Refugees and the Politics of Opposition in Syria
Stefanie Nanes, Hofstra University
The Impact of Iraqi Refugees on Jordanian Perceptions of Citizenship and National Identity
Are Knudsen, Chr. Michelsen Institute
From Guerrillas to Guests: Changing Political Relations of Palestinian Refugees in Post-War Lebanon



MONDAY, NOVEMBER 19
11:00AM-1:00PM

(NP45) Ottoman Provincial Administration
Chair: Metin Atmaca, University of Texas at Austin

Mostafa Minawi, New York University
The Mental Geography of an Ottoman-Syrian Official
Charles L. Wilkins, Wake Forest University
Self-Fashioning in Seventeenth-Century Ottoman Aleppo: The Career of Mustafa Efendi Tahazada (d. 1680)
ALI YAYCIOGLU, HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Intihab: Communal Participation and Election Practices in the Ottoman Provincial Politics (18th Century)
Robert Zens, La Moyne College
Ottoman Foreign Policy and the Ayanlik, 1750-1815

(P089) Shifting Forms, Translating Codes: Language, Text and Identity in Ottoman Bosnia
Organized by Selma Zecevic
Chair/Discussant: Asim Zubcevic, Leiden University

ANDRAS J. RIEDLMAYER, HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Conversion Stories, Tales of Viziers, and Ribald Anecdotes: Multiple Layers of Narrative and Language in a Bosnian Manuscript
Snjezana Buzov, Ohio State University
The Oral Storytelling Brought To a Standstill in Mecmuas
Ahmed Zildzic, University of California, Berkeley
The Phenomenon of Textual Production in Persian Language in Ottoman Bosnia
Amila Buturovic, York University
Carved in the Stone: Individuality and Collectivity in Epigraphic Text
Selma Zecevic, York University
The Act of Interpretation: Transformative Shifts and Identity: Negotiation in Ottoman-Bosnian Fatwas

(P131) Caught between Allied and Axis: The Maghrib during the Second World War
Organized by Moshe Gershovich
Chair: Bruce Maddy-Weitzman, Tel Aviv University
Discussant: SUSAN G. MILLER HARVARD UNIVERSITY

Thomas DeGeorges, American University of Sharjah
Bitter Victory: French and Algerian Veterans Reflect on the Second World War
Moshe Gershovich, University of Nebraska-Omaha
Military Mobilization and Social Transformation: World War II and the Integration of the Middle Atlas within the Moroccan State
Lamia Ben Youssef Zayzafoon, University of Alabama at Birmingham
Between the Allies and the Axis: The Jew, the Arab as Native Other in the Battle of Tunisgrad
Daniel Zisenwine, Tel Aviv University
From Reform Calls to Demands for Independence: Moroccan Nationalist Politics during World War II


MONDAY, NOVEMBER 19
5:00PM-7:00PM

(NP19) Enduring Authoritarianism or Democratization from Below
Chair: Oliver Schlumberger, German Development Institute (DDE)

Dina Shehata, Georgetown University
Islamists and Non-Islamists in the Egyptian Opposition: Patterns of Conflict and Cooperation
Arnaud Lenfant, National Fund for Scientific Research, Belgium
Building an Islamic Movement under a Secularist Authoritarian Regime. A Case Study from Syria
SEAN YOM, HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Advocating Democracy but Supporting Autocracy: America's Commitments in the Middle East

Special Session
(P139) Iraqi Libraries and Archives in a Time of Invasion, Chaos, and Civil Conflict: Status and Prospects

Saad Eskander, Iraq National Library
The Reconstruction and the Modernization of the INLA: Political Hurdles and Security Challenges
Nabil Al-Tikriti, U of Mary Washington/USIP
Cultural Devastation and the Devaluation of Iraqi Society
Shayee H.A. Khanaka, UC Berkeley
The State of Libraries in Kurdistan
JEFFREY B. SPURR, FOGG MUSEUM, HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Good Intentions, Stymied Efforts, and Dimmed Hopes: Efforts to Rehabilitate Damaged Iraqi Libraries and Archives



TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 20
8:30AM-10:30AM

(NP12) Sufi Poetics
Chair: Teirab AshShareef, Georgia State University

Teirab AshShareef, Georgia State University
Muhammad 'Abd-al-Hayy's Sufi Existentialist Poetics
ALIREZA KORANGY, HARVARD UNIVERSITY
The Functionality of Christian Imagery in the Poetry of Persian Poet Afzal al-Din Khaqani Shirvani
Nada Saab, Lebanese American University
Sufism and the Poetic Impulse: The Case of Al-Hallaj

(P075) Starting with Food: Culinary Approaches to Ottoman History
Organized by Amy Singer
Chair/Discussant: CEMAL KAFADAR, HARVARD UNIVERSITY

NICOLAS TRÉPANIER (CMES GRADUATE STUDENT) HARVARD UNIVERSITY
An Agricultural and Culinary Look at Early Ottoman History
RACHEL GOSHGARIAN (CMES GRADUATE STUDENT) HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Blending in and Separating Out: 16th Century Anatolian Food and Feasts
Amy Singer, Tel Aviv University
A Michelin Guide to Public Kitchens in the Ottoman Empire
Joanita Vroom, University of Sheffield
'Mr. Turkey Goes to Turkey', or: How an 18th Century Dutch Diplomat Lunched at the Ottoman Court
Tülay Artan, Sabanci University
Feasting in Adversity: Enhancing the Ordinary


TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 20
11:00AM-1:00PM

(NP14) Islamic Jurisprudence: Contemporary and Historical Perspectives
Chair: Steven Judd, Southern Connecticut State University

Nadia Nader, University of California, Santa Barbara
The Mihna and the Politics of Memory
AHMED EL SHAMSY, HARVARD UNIVERSITY
An Alternative Approach to Twentieth-century Islamic Legal Reform: The Forgotten Magnum Opus of Shihab al-Din al-Husayni
LEONARD WOOD, HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Tanzir Literature and the Effort to Revive Islamic Jurisprudence in Egypt, 1936-1955
Irfana Hashmi, New York University
The Enormities of Playing Chess and Backgammon: Deciphering Ibn Taymiyya's Maqasid Theory

(P077) Egypt and Christian Cultures
Organized by Heather J. Sharkey
Discussant: Donald M. Reid, Georgia State University

ANTHONY SHENODA, HARVARD UNIVERSITY
The Hidden Debate: The Making and Unmaking of a Contemporary Coptic Saint
Paul Sedra, Simon Fraser University
Faith in the Race: Science and the Narrative of Coptic Exceptionalism
Heather J. Sharkey, University of Pennsylvania
An Egyptian in China: Ahmad Fahmy and the Making of World Christianities
Grégoire Delhaye, Georgetown University/IEP Aix-en-Provence
Alternative Narratives of Coptic Identity: Voices from the Diaspora