Be sure to see CMES graduate students, faculty, alumni, visiting fellows, and past affiliates at this year's MESA Annual Meeting. Members of our community will participate in over 30 panels over the four-day conference. CMES names are in boldface below for easy reference. For further information about the locations of these panels, visit http://www.mesa.arizona.edu/annual/program.htm.

An updated pdf of the list is attached so that it can be printed to have hard copy in hand in D.C.

MESA ANNUAL MEETING
November 22-25, 2008
Marriot Wardman Park, Washington, DC

Session I
Saturday, November 22
5:00pm-7:00pm

(P022) Discourses on Legal Traditions and Practices in Modern Morocco
Organized by Etty Terem

Chair/Discussant: Wilfrid J. Rollman, Wellesley College

Wilfrid J. Rollman, Wellesley College–The Ministry of Complaints and the Administration of Justice in Pre-Colonial Morocco
Etty Terem, Harvard University–The New Mi’yar of al-Wazzani: Asserting Maliki Legal Tradition in an Age of Reform
Jessica Marglin, Princeton University–An Unheeded Discourse: French Ethnography and the Berber Dahir, 1915-1930
Brinkley Messick, Columbia University–The Maghrebi Method in Jurisprudence: Readings in Jacques Berque

(P101) Ottoman Transformations through WWI and the End of Imperial World Order
Organized by Halit Akarca and Cemil Aydin

Chair: Yucel Yanikdag, University of Richmond
Discussant: Howard Eissenstat, Seton Hall University

Mustafa Aksakal, American University–The Meaning of Jihad in 1914
Halit Akarca, Princeton University–Clash of Legitimacies: Ottoman and Russian Empires in the First World War
Cemil Aydin, University of North Carolina at Charlotte–Ottoman Transformations through WWI and the End of Imperial World Order


Session II
Sunday, November 23
8:30am-10:30am

(P053) Slaves and Freedmen/Women in Nineteenth Century Egypt
Organized by Kenneth M. Cuno

Chair: Arthur Goldschmidt, Penn State University
Discussant: Khaled Fahmy, New York University

Emad Helal, Suez Canal University–Mohamed Ali’s First Army: The Trials of Building a Complete Slave Army 1820-1824
Kenneth M. Cuno, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign–African Slaves in Nineteenth Century Rural Egypt: a Preliminary Assessment
Terry Walz, American University in Cairo–Habashis, Sudanese, Barabra and Egyptians: Living Patterns in Nineteenth-Century Cairo as Shown in the 1847 Census
Liat Kozma, Hebrew University–Black, Kinless and Hungry: Manumitted Female Slaves in Khedival Egypt
Eve M. Troutt Powell, University of Pennsylvania–Slaves’ Bodies, Captured on Film: Photographing Sudanese Slaves in Egypt and Sudan

(P129) Informality, Persistence, and Political Change in the Middle East
Organized by Wendy Pearlman

Chair: Steven Heydemann, US Institute of Peace
Discussant: Tarek Masoud, Yale University

Diane Singerman, American University–Informal Networks Revisited: The Normative Positioning of Informality and Questions of Efficacy in Collective Life
Wendy Pearlman, Northwestern University–Emigration as an Informal Political Mechanism: The Case of Lebanon
Manal A. Jamal, James Madison University–Globalization, Migration and Tiered-Citizenship in the UAE
Bassam Haddad, George Mason University–The Role of Informal State-Business Networks in Resilient Authoritarianism in Syria

(P005) SERMEISS in the Field: Heritage and Identity from Casablanca to Cairo
Organized by Lisa Pollard

Sponsored by the Southeast Regional Middle East and Islamic Studies Seminar

Chair: Curtis R. Ryan, Appalachian State University
Discussant: Lisa Pollard, University of North Carolina, Wilmington

Robert Hunter, Indiana State University–Marketing Exotica: Edith Wharton and Tourism in French Morocco, 1917-1919
Donald M. Reid, Georgia State University–Hassan and Sami Gabra: The Politics of Egyptian Egyptology in the Semi-Colonial Age, 1922-56
James A. Miller, Clemson University–Being Out There: Directing CEMAT, 2003-2006
Caroline Williams, Independent Scholar–The Historic Cairo Restoration Program (HCRP): Recent Observations

Session III
Sunday, November 23
11:00am-1:00pm

(NP32) Marriage and the Family: Case Studies

Chair: Angel M. Foster, Ibis Reproductive Health

Sara Pursley, CUNY Graduate Center–Family, Sexuality and the Uses of Time: The Iraqi Personal Status Law of 1959
Martin Latreille, Institute de Recherche sur le Maghreb Contemporain–What If There Were No Lineages?: FBD and 'Close' Marriage in a Tunisian Peasant Community
Heidi Morrison, UC Santa Barbara–The Race to Become an Adult versus the Child Entering the Psychological Family: Changing Notions of Childrearing and National Identity in Egypt, 1900-1950
Bat-Zion Eraqi-Klorman, Open University of Israel–Jewish Polygamy in Yemen and in Palestine

(P014) Café Riche: Reflections on 100 Years of a Modern Egyptian History
Organized by Roger Owen

Chair: Roger Owen, Harvard University

Dina K. Hussein, Georgetown University–Reading Modernity through Café Riche (1908-): Serving Modernity, Catering to the Intellectuals and Closed to the Masses
Alia Mossallam, American University in Cairo–Making Sense of the 1960s: Riche as a Space for the Construction of an Alternative National Imagination in Egypt
Yassmin Ahmed, American University in Cairo–Post-1990s Riche: A Story of Cultural Heritization
Hoda Baraka, American University in Cairo and Mohamed Fahmy Menza, American University in Cairo–Downtown Cairo and Cafe Riche: The Sailing Vessel
Lina Attalah, American University in Cairo–Remembering Riche: An Oral History Perspective

(P016-I) Authoritarianism, Opposition and Elections in the Middle East, Part I: Electoral Authoritarianism in the Middle East
Organized by Nathan J. Brown and Lisa Blaydes

Chair: Lisa Blaydes, Stanford University
Discussant: Samer Shehata, Georgetown University

Lindsay Benstead, Princeton University–Legislative Representation as Bargaining in Multiple Arenas: How Incumbent Preferences Shape Member Behavior
Nathan J. Brown, George Washington University–Elections without Democracy: Semiauthoritarianism and Voting in the Arab World
Tarek Masoud, Harvard University–Why Do Important Social Movements Seek Representation in Powerless Legislatures?
Ellen Lust-Okar, Yale University–The Impact of Elections on Social Organization in the MENA

(P111) Arts of the Book in the Islamic World: Rethinking Categories
Organized by Emine Fetvaci, Boston University

Sponsored by the Historians of Islamic Art Association

Chair: Persis Berlekamp, University of Chicago

Christiane J. Gruber, Indiana University at Bloomington–Questioning the “Classical” in Persian Painting: Models and Problems of Definition
Aysin Yoltar-Yildirum–Ottoman or Safavid: Examining Qurans Endowed by Selim II and Rustem Pasha
Nina Ergin, Koc University–Rock Faces, Opium and Wine: The Consumption of Persian Manuscripts as a Category of Inquiry

Session IV
Sunday, November 23
2:00pm-4:00pm

(P008) Creating Justice: Law and Court Procedure in the Ottoman Empire, Part I
Organized by Elyse Semerdjian and Bogac Ergene

Chair/Discussant: Kristen Stilt, Northwestern University

Bogac Ergene, University of Vermont–Ottoman Court between History and Anthropology: A Re-Evaluation of Ottoman Legal Practice with Reference to Eighteenth-Century Kastamonu Court Records
Najwa Al-Qattan, Loyola Marymount University–Qist: Justice or Installment? The Invention of a Mulberry-Flavored Legal Practice in Nineteenth Century Beirut
Elyse Semerdjian, Whitman College–Making a Case: Public Morality and Community Justice in Ottoman Aleppo, Syria
Richard Wittmann, Harvard University–Choosing One’s Justice in 17th Century Istanbul: Armenians, Greeks and Jews before Qadi and Grand Vizier
Hülya Canbakal, Sabanci University–Between Law and Custom at the Court of Kayseri (~1650-1800): ‘Public’ Will and Opinion
Eyal Ginio, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem–Representations and the Use of Violence in Ottoman Courts: The Case of Eighteenth-Century Salonica
Yaron Ben-Naeh, The Hebrew University– Jews at the Kadi’s Court

(P079) New Studies in Palestinian Society and Economy: A Panel in Honor of Rosemary and Yusif Sayigh (Note: this is a two-part panel that will run until 6:00pm)
Organized by Rochelle Davis, Georgetown University, Jennifer Olmsted, and Beshara Doumani
Sponsored by the Palestinian American Research Center


Part I

Chair: Roger Owen, Harvard University
Discussant: Jennifer Olmsted, Drew University

Leila Farsakh, University of Massachusetts, Boston– Revisiting the Palestinian Economy after 40 Years of Occupation: The Legacy of Yusif Sayigh’s Works
Basel Saleh, Radford University–An Analysis of the Palestinian Fiscal Situation: Challenges and Consequences
Samia Al-Botmeh, Birzeit University–Labour Market Gender-Differentiated Impact of Israeli Movement Restrictions in the West Bank and Gaza Strip

Part II

Chair: Julie Peteet, University of Louisville
Discussant: Beshara Doumani, UC Berkeley

Randa Farah, University of Western Ontario–Refugee Camps and the Shifting Political Landscape
Isabelle Humphries, St. Mary’s College, University of Surrey, UK–Homeless in the Homeland: Survival Narratives of Internal Refugees under Military Rule in Nazareth 1948-1966
Diana Allan, Harvard University–“Nar Taht Al-Ramade” [Fire under Ash]: Remembering the Fall of Tel a’Zaatar

(P087) Engendering Equality in the Ahmadinejad Era: The One Million Signatures Campaign
Organized Hamideh Sedghi

Chair: Hamideh Sedghi, Harvard University
Discussant: Ali Akbar Mahdi, Ohio Wesleyan University

Elham Gheytanchi, Santa Monica College– One Million Signatures Campaign: A New Strategy at the Right Time
Ali Akbar Mahdi, Ohio Wesleyan University–Where Does the One Million Signatures Campaign Fit in the Iranian Women’s Movement?
Sussan Tahmesbi, Independent Scholar–Building Alliances for Gender Equality in Iran: The Case of the One Million Signatures Campaign
Hamideh Sedghi, Harvard University–Cyber-Feminism: The Latest Stage of Women’s Activism in Iran
Fatemeh Haghighatjoo, University of Connecticut–The One Million Signatures Campaign and Its Impact on Legislators and Legislative Policy in Iran
Fatemeh Sadeghi, Islamic Azad University at Karaj, Iran– From Political to Social Feminism: Women’s Movement in the Post- Reform Era in Iran

(P095) A History of the Real World: Realism and the Visual Arts in Egypt and Lebanon
Organized by Raja Adal and Sarah Rogers

Jennifer Pruitt, Harvard University–Reconsidering Realism in Early Fatimid Art: The Fatimid Luster Workshop of Muslim bin al-Dahhan
Dina A. Ramadan, Columbia University–Evaluating Real Images: Early Egyptian Art Criticism and the Pursuit of Realism
Raja Adal, Harvard University–Reality and Unreality in Egyptian Primary School Drawing Classes during the First Half of the Twentieth Century
Stephen Sheehi, University of South Carolina–“It’s Like Really Being There”: al-Nahdah, Ideology and the Photographic Aesthetic
Sarah Rogers, MIT–Daoud Corm, Realism, and the Origins of Lebanese Art

(P004) The Forbidden, the Permitted and the Contested: Aspects of Moroccan Culture and Politics
Organized by Bruce Maddy-Weitzman

Sponsored by the American Institute for Maghreb Studies

Chair: Michael J. Willis, St. Antonys College, Oxford University
Discussant: Daniel Zisenwine, Tel Aviv University
Oumelbanine Zhiri, UC San Diego Eccentric Bodies: Leo Africanus and Homosexuality
Samir Ben-Layashi, Tel-Aviv University Writing the Moroccan Body in the Colonial Era
Bruce Maddy-Weitzman, Tel Aviv University Revisiting Oufkir: The Makhzen, the Moroccan Left, and the Amazigh Movement

Session V
Sunday, November 23
4:30pm-6:30pm

(NP04) New Perspectives on the Early Modern
Chair: Colin Paul Mitchell, Dalhousie University
Ali Bakr Hassan, Brown University–A Turning Point in Bridging Intellectual Gaps Between the West and Middle East in Early Modern Europe
Emire Cihan Muslu, University of Texas at Dallas–The Road to Peace: Ottoman-Mamluk Treaty in 1491
Nabil I. Matar, Florida Institute of Technology–The Maritime Decline of the Maghrib in the Early Modern Period
Stephen Cory, Cleveland State University–Recovering Al-Andalus: A Sixteenth Century Plan for a Joint English-Moroccan Invasion of Spain
(P008-II) Creating Justice: Law and Court Procedure in the Ottoman Empire, Part II
Organized by Elyse Semerdjian and Bogac Ergene

Chair/Discussant: Kristen Stilt, Northwestern University

Bogac Ergene, University of Vermont–Ottoman Court between History and Anthropology: A Re-Evaluation of Ottoman Legal Practice with Reference to Eighteenth-Century Kastamonu Court Records
Najwa Al-Qattan, Loyola Marymount University–Qist: Justice or Installment? The Invention of a Mulberry-Flavored Legal Practice in Nineteenth Century Beirut
Elyse Semerdjian, Whitman College–Making a Case: Public Morality and Community Justice in Ottoman Aleppo, Syria
Richard Wittmann, Harvard University–Choosing One’s Justice in 17th Century Istanbul: Armenians, Greeks and Jews before Qadi and Grand Vizier
Hülya Canbakal, Sabanci University–Between Law and Custom at the Court of Kayseri (~1650-1800): ‘Public’ Will and Opinion
Eyal Ginio, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem–Representations and the Use of Violence in Ottoman Courts: The Case of Eighteenth-Century Salonica
Yaron Ben-Naeh, The Hebrew University– Jews at the Kadi’s Court

(P132) Revising Islamic Legal Historiography
Organized Lena Salaymeh

Sponsored by Middle East Medievalists

Chair/Discussant: Ahmad Atif Ahmad, UC Santa Barbara

Amr Osman, Princeton University–Was Dawud al-Zahiri a Member of the Ahl al-Ra’y?
Behnam Sadeghi, Stanford University–On the Interplay between Laws and Their Reasons in a Legal Tradition
Ahmed El Shamsy, Harvard University–The Origins of Crypto-Shafi’ism among Malikis
Lena Salaymeh, UC Berkeley–Myths of ‘Islamic Law’ and False Origins


Session VI
Monday, November 24
8:30am-10:30am

(P083) Diversity and Dissent in Islamic legal Interpretation
Organized by Intisar A. Rabb

Chair: Wolfhart P. Heinrichs, Harvard University

Ahmad Atif Ahmad, UC Santa Barbara–The Method and Juristic Project of Ibn ‘Abidin of Damascus (1784-1836)
Najam Haider, Georgetown University–The Specifics of Prayer: A Case Study in the Interplay of Exegesis and Ritual law in Imami Juristic Thought
Intisar A. Rabb, Princeton University–Legal Maxims and Hudud Laws: The Islamic Rule of Lenity
Kristen Stilt, Northwestern University–Islamic Legal Interpretation and the Case of the Dog


Session VII
Monday, November 24
11:00am-1:00pm

(P020) Ottoman Identity: from Osman to the Young Turks
Organized by Christine Isom-Verhaaren

Chair/Discussant: Howard Eissenstat, Seton Hall University

Linda T. Darling, University of Arizona–Ottoman Identity in the Formative Period
Christine Isom-Verhaaren, Benedictine University–The Ethnic Identity of Ottoman Naval Forces in the 15th and 16th Centuries
Karen A. Leal, St. John’s University–Alexander Mavrocordatos and Dimitrie Cantemir: Orthodox Christian Ottomans or Ottoman Orthodox Christians?
Kent F. Schull, University of Memphis–Conceptualizing Difference during the late Ottoman Empire: The Committee of Union and Progress and its Annual Prison Population Surveys

(P110) Rethinking ‘Ilm: Science and Society in Egypt and Syria, 1875-1950
Organized by Matthew H. Ellis

Chair/Discussant: Israel Gershoni, Tel Aviv University

Aaron Jakes, New York University–‘The Duud Abides’: Colonial Power, Agricultural Science, and the War against Nature in Egypt
Karam S. Nachar, Princeton University–Science and Politics in the Thought of Abd al-Rahman Shahbandar
Matthew H. Ellis, Princeton University–Science, Society, and Struggle in the Writings of Ismail Mazhar
Leonard Wood, Harvard University–Egyptian Legal Education and the Social Sciences


Session VIII
Monday, November 24
2:30pm-4:30pm

(NP31) Conflict, Diversity and Inclusion in Education

Chair: Minoo Derayeh, York University

Dan Walsh, Georgetown University–Exploring the Formative History of Political Zionism (1897-1947) through Poster Art: A Curriculum Model
Angel M. Foster, Ibis Reproductive Health–Reproductive Health and Nursing Education in Palestine: Identifying and Addressing Curricular Gaps
miriam cooke, Duke University and Shai Ginsburg, Duke University–Teaching the Literature and Cinema of the Palestine-Israel Conflict: A Report
Nurten Kilic-Schubel, Kenyon College–Finding Their Voices: Women’s Writing and Culture in 19th Century Central Asia
Maya Rosenfeld, Truman Research Institute, Hebrew University–The Expansion of Higher Education in the Occupied Palestinian Territories in the Face of Protracted Economic Social and Political Crisis

(P059) Medicine, Disease, and Public Health in Colonial North Africa: Morocco, Algeria, and Egypt
Organized by Jennifer Johnson

Chair: James McDougall, SOAS, University of London

Brock Cutler, UC Irvine–Disease, Surveillance, and Insurrection in Algeria, 1866-1871
Jennifer Johnson, Princeton University–War and Medicine: Health Policy, Health Care Services, and the Red Cross in the Algerian War for Independence, 1954-1962
Hannah-Louise Clark, Princeton University– La Syphilis Arabe of Georges Lacapére: A Medical Model and the Colonial Campaign against Syphilis in Morocco, 1916-1919
Daniel Stolz, Princeton University–“All Civilized Countries”: The Politics of Rabies Treatment in Egypt, 1885-1918

(P077) After Arab-Jews: New Historical and Theoretical Perspectives
Organized by Moshe Behar

Chair: Moshe Behar, University of Manchester
Discussant: Joel Beinin, American University in Cairo

Moshe Behar, University of Manchester–What’s in a Name? Terminological Formations and the Case for ‘Arabized Jews’
Zvi Ben-Dor, New York University–An Arab-Jew in Rome: A History in Three Acts
Emily Gottreich, UC Berkeley–The Arabness of Maghribi Jews
Lital Levy, Princeton University–The Creation of Arab Jewish Identity in the Mashriq, 1880-1950


Session IX
Monday, November 24
5:00pm-7:00pm

No participating CMES or Harvard affiliates


Session X
Tuesday, November 25
8:30am-10:30am

(P037) Memories and Narratives of Cosmopolitan North Africa
Organized by Mario Ruiz

Chair: Shaun T. Lopez, University of Washington

Shaun T. Lopez, University of Washington–Sport and the City: Cosmopolitan Leisure in Colonial Egypt
Mario Ruiz, Hofstra University–Between Memory and Desire: Cosmopolitan Egypt and the Traffic in Women and Children
Katarzyna Pieprzak, Williams College–Lost Cosmopolitanism: Literary Recollections of Casablanca and Contemporary Migration Politics
Elizabeth Crouch, University of Washington–In Search of Lost Algiers: The Pieds-Noirs and Anti-Cosmopolitanism in Colonialist Memory


Session XI
Tuesday, November 25
11:00am-1:00pm

(NP16) Religious Authority Contested (II)

Chair: Armando Salvatore, University of Naples - L’Orientale

Timothy J. Fitzgerald, Rice University–To Kill a Judge: The Struggle to Make Mamluk Justice Ottoman in 16th-Century Aleppo
Onder Kucukural, Sabanci University–Religion a la Turca: A Dynamic Approach to Religion in Turkey
Rachel M. Scott, Virginia Tech–What Would the Islamists Do with Al-Azhar?: Religious Authority in an Islamic State
Zack Heern, University of Utah–Laying Foundations for Orthodoxy: The Transformation of Shi’i Islam during the Time of Vahid Buhbihani (1704-1791)
Maryam Moazzen, University of Toronto–Dissemination of Knowledge as Religious Duty: Modes of Transmission of Relgious Knowledge in Safavid Educational Institutions

(NP17) Classical Texts
Chair: Ghada Jayyusi-Lehn, American University of Sharjah
John Walbridge, Indiana University, Bloomington–Bookish Medicine: Qutb al-Din al-Shirazi’s Commentary on Ibn Sina’s Canon
Gurdofarid Miskinzoda, Institute of Ismaili Studies–On the Margins of Sira: Introducing the al-Zahr al-Basim of Mughulta’i (d.762/1361)
Terence J. Kleven, Central Col–Averroës’ Defense of Religion in Kitab al-Kashf ‘an Manahij al-Adilla fi ‘Aqa’id al-Milla (The Book of the Exposition of the Methods of Proofs in the Teachings of Religion)
A. David K. Owen, Harvard University–An Overview of Logic in the Maghreb: With Special Attention to Al-Akhdhari’s (d. 1546) Al-Sullam Al-Murawniq fi ‘l-mantiq (The Splendid Ladder of Logic)
Ghada Jayyusi-Lehn, American University of Sharjah–A Critique of Medieval Arabic Sources: The Case of Harun al-Rashid (170-193/786-809) and His Son al-Mu’tasim (218-227/833-842)

(P142) A Portfolio of Informed ASL Practices
Organized by Lisa White

Chair: Lisa White, American University in Cairo

Lisa White, American University in Cairo
The Derivational System: A Strategic Element of Vocabulary Building in Elementary Modern Standard Arabic
Iman Aziz Soliman, American University in Cairo–The Use of Technology in ASL Practice: Teaching & Learning Vocabulary at the Novice and Intermediate Levels
Laila Al-Sawi, American University in Cairo–Error Identification, Analysis, and Remedy in ASL Writing Classrooms
Kamal AlEkhanawy, American University in Cairo–Best Practices of Using Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) to Enhance Linguistic Skills in ASL Teaching
Siham Serry, American University in Cairo–Teaching Culture in the Second Language Classroom: Integrating Culture into the Curriculum

(TC003) Constitutionalism and the Rule of Law in Egypt and Iran
Organized by Mirjam Künkler, Princeton University

Mehrzad Boroujerdi, Syracuse University
Samer Shehata, Georgetown University
Farideh Farhi, University of Hawaii at Manoa
Atef Said, University of Michigan
Mehrangiz Kar, Harvard University


Session XII
Tuesday, November 25
1:30pm-3:30pm

(NP41) Authoritarianism and Opposition

Chair: Lizabeth Zack, University of South Carolina Upstate

Radwan Ziadeh, Harvard University–Democratization and Political Division in the Middle East
Sarah E. Yerkes, Georgetown University–The Little Engine that Couldn’t?: The Influence of Civil Society on Elections in the Arab Middle East
Mohamed Daadaoui, Oklahoma City University–The Authoritarian State in Morocco: Rituals of Power and the Islamist Challenge
Hesham Sallam, Georgetown University–Political Opposition Cohesion and Internal Party Accountability in the Arab World
Cory S. Julie, Georgetown University–Upgrading and Downgrading Arab Civil Society: Problematizing Pro-Democracy Opposition Politics with Insights from Egypt and Syria

(P001) The Kurdish Question and Its Perception by Turkish Nationalists
Organized by Hakan Yavuz

Chair/Discussant: Hakan Özoglu, University of Central Florida

Michael M. Gunter, Tennessee Technological University–Turgut Ozal and the Kurdish Question
Hakan Yavuz, University of Utah–Re-Framing of the Kurdish Question
Umut Uzer, Harvard University–Nihal Atsiz on Kurds and Islam

(P044) The Other Nasser Years: Local Recollections of an Un-mastered Past
Organized by Mohammad Salama

Chair: Mohammad Salama, San Francisco State University
Discussant: Jessica Winegar, Temple University

Mohammad Salama, San Francisco State University–Public Voices: The Role of Radio in Nasser’s Egypt
Kristin S. Tassin, University of Texas at Austin–Enter the Peasant: Local and Statist Historiographies of Modern Egypt
Lucia Volk, San Francisco University–Other Memories of 1958: Nasserite Arabism and the Druzes in a Martyrs Cemetery in Lebanon