Conference Schedule

Saturday, November 1

4:00 P.M. – 5:30 P.M.
The Annual Fouad Ajami Memorial Roundtable
(Ms. Michelle Ajami; Prof. Amr Al-Azm; Mr. Lee Smith)

5:30 P.M. – 6:30 P.M.
Student Poster Competition

6:30 P.M. – 8:00 P.M.
Welcome & Networking Cocktail Reception
Opening Remarks: Prof. Mark T. Clark, President, ASMEA

Sunday, November 2

7:30 A.M. – 8:15 A.M.
Breakfast

8:30 A.M. – 10:00 A.M.

Roundtable Discussion: Sadik Jalal Al-Azm’s Self-Criticism After the Defeat: What Have We Learned Sixty Years Later?
(Prof. Amr Al-Azm; Prof. Robert Rabil; Prof. Franck Salameh; Mr. David Schenker)

Actors and Power in Modern Africa
Henrique Rosa: Insights and Reflections on his Time in Office
(Dr. Nathaniel Cogley, Tarleton State University)
Scholars' Purview of Ethiopian History
(Dr. Mengesha Endalew, Texas Tech University)
Emerging Actors and Democratization in Lusophone Africa
(Prof. Alvaro Nobrega, University of Lisbon)
Adaptation and Persistence of Authoritarian Regimes in Africa: The Case of Uganda under President Yoweri Museveni
(Dr. Curthberth Onek, Millersville University)

Discussing Antisemitism
On the Role of "Islamophobia" in Neutralizing Antisemitism
(Dr. Richard Landes, Independent Scholar)
Attitudes towards Jews in Japan
(Dr. Chikako Takeishi, Chuo University)

Iran Before the Revolution
William Howard Taft, Dollar Diplomacy, and the Question of Iran (1909-1913)
(Dr. Hossein Abadian, University of Arkansas)
Revolution of the Deprived: Relative Deprivation and the Roots of the 1979 Iranian Uprising
(Ms. Richa Bhattarai, Kennesaw State University)
City of Discontent: The Urban Underbelly in Pre-Revolutionary Iranian Popular Cinema
(Dr. Golbarg Rekabtalaei, Seton Hall University)

10:30 A.M - 12:00 P.M.

Local and Foreign Militaries in Africa
The Dynamics of Religious Radicalization and Ethnic Identities in the Central African Republic: A Focus on the Seleka Rebels and Anti-Balaka Militias
(Dr. Abdel Salam Aretouyap, University of Buea)
A Comradeship-in-Arms? East German-Angolan Military Relations during the Cold War, 1975-1990
(Dr. Jochen Arndt, Virginia Military Institute)
“Blow 'Em All Away”: Rape, Race, and Reprisal in North Africa
(Prof. R.M. Douglas, Colgate University)
The Lived Experience: Soviet Assistance to African Militaries
(Dr. Whitney Grespin, Joint Special Operations University)

Roundtable Discussion: Taking Off the Revolutionary Lens: History and Historiography of the Middle East in 1958
(Prof. Simon Barnaby Crowcroft; Dr. Cole Bunzel; Prof. Bernard Haykel; Prof. Neil Rogachevsky; Dr. Cole Bunzel)

BERNARD LEWIS PRIZE FINALISTS
Contemporary Muslim Antisemitism
Contemporary Muslim Antisemitism as a Political Ideology
(Prof. Iqbal Akhtar, Florida International University)
Mr. Harry Saul Markham
Prof. Franck Salameh
Prof. Gerald Steinberg

Syria: Inside and Out
In Defense of Lebanon: The Special Relationship Between Rashid Karami and Syria (from 1976 until 1987)
(Dr. Zach Battat, Independent Scholar)
Governing the Periphery: Ethnic and Sectarian Autonomy in Post Assad Syria
(Mr. Yahya Zarrinnarges Gooyaghaj, Wayne State University)
The Utopian of Syrian Nationalism: Insurmountable Obstacles
(Dr. Gadi Hitman, Ariel University)
A New Perspective on the Impact of Structural and Cultural Shifts on Syrian Refugee Families in Germany
(Ms. Elena Nassif, Georgetown University)

Israel: Peace and Protests
Unyielding Complexity of the Middle East: A Perspective of Political Science and Security Studies
(Prof. Boris Havel, University of Zagreb)
Out of Her League: Israel and the Risk of a Confrontation with a Global Great Power
(Dr. Or Honig, University of Florida)
Islamist Protests Against Israel in Muslim-Majority Countries: Grievance Competition, Economic Shocks, and Protest History
(Dr. Brandon Ives, Seoul National University)
The Critical Role of Women in Peace-Building – The Israeli and the Palestinian Peace Movements Model
(Dr. Pnina Shuker, Shalem College and University of South Wales)

12:30 P.M. – 2:00 P.M.
Banquet & Awards Luncheon
Keynote Presentation: The Mission of Higher Education and Universities
President Emeritus Dr. E. Gordon Gee
Interviewed by: Dr. Robert Lloyd, ASMEA Vice President & President and CEO, South Carolina Independent Colleges and Universities

2:30 P.M. – 4:00 P.M.

The New Middle East?: Making Sense of the Region Post-October 7
This session was organized by Tablet Magazine and the Hudson Institute
Two years after Hamas’s attack on Israel, the Middle East is going through what is arguably its greatest transformation in at least a century. With Iran humbled, Hezbollah destroyed, Assad toppled in Syria, and Washington exercising unparalleled power in the region, it’s a moment of change, fraught with both change and
opportunity. This panel will explore these shifts and the ones likely still ahead.
Moderator: Dr. Liel Leibovitz
(Mr. Tony Badran; Dr. Michael Doran; Mr. Lee Smith)

Africa: Health and Economies
“Our Government is a Threat to Our Life": Health Material-Semiotic Indeterminacy and Citizens' Response to the Impact of Neoliberal Economic Policies in Nigeria
(Mr. Ebenezer Adeyemi, University of Iowa)
Cocoa in the Gold Coast (Ghana): Indigenous Agency, Colonial Policy, and Foreign Trade Networks in an Evolving Global Economy, 1859—1957
(Mr. Maxwell Asabere, West Virginia University)
Between Empire and Development: Arthur Hugh Bunting and the East African Groundnuts Scheme, 1947-1951
(Dr. Joseph Hodge, West Virginia University)
The Implications of the Exit of the Sahelian States from ECOWAS
(Dr. Emmanuel Obuah, Tuskegee University)

Iran: Protest, Politics, Economics
Harsh Punishments and the Criminal Justice System of Iran: Between Judicial Corporal Punishment and Penal Alternatives
(Dr. Sanaz Alasti, Lamar University)
Explaining the 2022-2023 Protest Movement in Iran: Internal Migration and Ethnic Identity
(Mrs. Nasrin Haghighat Chaleshtari, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee)
#MahsaAmini and #ZanZendegiAzadi Forming a New Discourse of Feminism and Women’s Rights among Iranian Users
(Ms. Atousa Kaviani, State University of New York at Binghamton)
Geopolitics of Bypassing: Role of Trade Corridors in Shaping Iran's Sanctioned Economy
(Dr. Shameer Modongal, American University)

Turkey: Politics and Power
From Soft Power to Hard Power: The Psychoanalytical Dimension of Turkey's Foreign Policy Under the AKP
(Dr. Senem Cevik, Woodbury University)
The Continuity and Discontinuity of Bediüzzaman Said Nursi’s Influence upon Fethullah Gülen’s Descriptions of Tyrants
(Dr. Thomas Messick, Australian University of Theology)
Framing Terrorism for Political Survival: Populist Securitization Strategies in Turkey
(Ms. Büşra Özyüksel, University of Szeged)

4:00 P.M.
Coffee Break

4:30 P.M. - 6:00 P.M.

Roundtable Discussion: The October 7 War and Open-Source Research: What We Knew and What We Didn't
Chairman: Mr. Michael Lewis
(Dr. Harel Chorev; Dr. Jonathan Franco; Prof. Amos Nadan; Dr. Joel Parker; Dr. Tom Sharon; Dr. Ido Yahel)
Sponsored by: The Moshe Dayan Center at Tel Aviv University and in honor of Prof. Bernard Lewis.

October 7: Critical Examinations
Echoes of War: Comparing Kenyan and Tanzanian Reactions to the October 7 Attack and the Israel-Hamas Conflict
(Dr. Asher Lubotzky, University of Houston)
Sub-Saharan Responses to the Gaza-Israel War
(Prof. William Miles, Northeastern University)
Pre-October 7 Academic Research on Hamas: Conceptual Fixation and Wishful Thinking
(Prof. Avraham Sela, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem)

Nigeria: Religion, Power and Politics
The Intersection of Faith and Feminism: Portrayal of Islam, Women and Patriarchy in Hausa Films and Literature
(Mr. Nura Abubakar, Ohio University)
Salafism, Medical Pluralism and Religious Performance in the Nigerian Public Sphere
(Mr. Ridwan Balogun, Florida State University)
Dealing with Artisanal Oil Refining: Social Relationships and Governance of Oil in Nigeria's Niger Delta
(Ms. Esther Egele-Godswill, University of Edinburgh)
Cemetery as a Dwelling Place: Architecture, spacecraft, and burial grounds in Colonial Onitsha Province, Nigeria
(Mr. Mathias Isiani, University of California, Berkeley)

Middle East Conversations 1
Saint Veneration in Eastern Thrace: Sacred Groves and Gender Dynamics in Alevi-Bektaşi Tradition
(Dr. Hakki Gurkas, Kennesaw State University)
Thinking about Hiroshima in Baghdad: On a Forgotten Iraqi Short Story in the Aftermath of WWII
(Dr. Hilla Peled-Shapira, Ariel University and Bar-Ilan University)

5:00 P.M. - 6:00 P.M.
JMEA Editorial Board Meeting (Invitation-only)

6:30 P.M. – 8:00 P.M.
Bernard Lewis and Fouad Ajami Prize Ceremony and Reception

8:00 P.M.
Film Screening

Monday, November 3

7:30 A.M. – 8:15 A.M.
Breakfast

8:30 A.M. – 10:00 A.M.

Book Discussion: October 7: The Wars Over Words and Deeds
Prof. Donna Robinson Divine; Dr. Asaf Romirowsky; Dr. Alex Joffe; Ms. Izabella Tabarovsky
Moderator: Ms. Gabby Deutsch, Jewish Insider

Deep State in the MENA Region
Discussant: Gadi Hitman
(Prof. Ronen Cohen, Dr. Luis Flieschman, Prof. Eyal Lewin, Dr. Bosmat Yefet)

Women and African Economies
Color Capital: Sociocultural Influences of Skin Bleaching Practices Among Nigerian Women
(Ms. Ruth Emmanuel, University of Cincinnati)
Engineering Metabolism: Women, Salt Technologies, and Wartime Science in Biafra
(Mr. Odinaka Eze, Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
Examining the Contribution of Domestic Workers to Work-Family Balance Among Dual-Earner Families in Nairobi City, Kenya
(Ms. Sussie Mutahi, Strathmore Law School)
Iskoki Ne… Ko Taa Tabu: Culture, Silence, and Perinatal Distress in Ghana’s Zango Communities
(Ms. Balkisa Sissy, George Mason University)

Middle East Conversations 2
Give Peace a Chance: Could the Yom Kippur War have been Prevented? Hafez Ismail's Talks with the Americans in 1973: A Case Study
(Dr. Yehuda Blanga, Bar-Ilan University)
Feminism Behind the Veil: Coptic Orthodox Nuns and the Politics of Female Piety in Contemporary Egypt
(Dr. Rosemary Dawood, Abu Dhabi University)
Translation in Cold Peace: The Mediation of Israeli Literatures in Egypt
(Dr. Limor Lavie, Bar-Ilan University)

Conversations on Middle East History
Ottoman Participation in the Panama-Pacific International Exposition (1915)
(Prof. Semih Gökatalay, Virginia Military Institute)
Charles de Gaulle in Beirut
(Prof. Franck Salameh, Boston College)
Velleity, Exigency, and Expediency: British Policy in Southern Kurdistan 1918-1921
(Prof. George L. Simpson, High Point University [ret.])
The Unique Case of Saudi Arabia: State Development and Foreign Policy Decisions
(Dr. Ilias Tasopoulos, University of Peloponnese)

10:00 A.M.
Coffee Break

10:30 A.M. - 12:00 P.M.

Facets of Antisemitism, Palestinianism and Islamism
The Palestinization of Human Rights: Al Haq and HRW as Templates
(Gerald Steinberg, Bar-Ilan University)
Islamism and Islam: Examination of the Issues in Reports of Germany’s Office for the Protection of the Constitution (the Verfassungsschutzberichte) and in German Politics, 1998-2008
(Prof. Jeffrey Herf, University of Maryland, College Park)

New Findings and Perspectives on the Lebanese Civil War
(Prof. Hicham Bou Nassif, Dr. Joel D. Parker, Dr. Jesse R. Weinberg)

Book Discussion: Daniel in Babylon: How He Navigated Politics in Exile and What It Means for Us Today
Prof. Mark T. Clark, California State University, San Bernardino

North African Politics and Histories
Repercussions of Blacklisting: The Case of Ansar al-Sharia in Tunisia
(Mr. Wael Benali, University of Central Florida)
Italy and the Algerian Décennie Noire: European Dynamics, Energy Security, and the Diplomacy of Pacification (1988–2003)
(Prof. Flavia De Lucia Lumeno, Università degli Studi Niccolò Cusano)
Morocco's Place in Africa
(Mr. Caleb Griffin, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)
Guillotining the Political
(Ms. Shirley Le Penne, Cornell University)

Critiquing Middle East Studies
Delegitimizing Israel: The Theological Roots of Settler Colonialism and Indigeneity
(Dr. Carol Troen, Ben Gurion University and Prof. Ilan Troen, Ben Gurion University; Brandeis University)
The Rise and Fall of Centers for Middle East Studies in the United States
(Prof. Jack Lassner, Northwestern University)

12:15 P.M.
Grab ‘n Go Boxed Lunch

12:30 PM - 2:00 PM

Quranic Studies
From Recovery to Reckoning: Feminist Hermeneutics and the Qur'an
(Prof. Seth Cantey, Washington and Lee University)
“The Arab-Israelite Conquest”: Biblical Models and the Historiography of the Arab-Islamic Expansion
(Dr. D Gershon Lewental, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev)
From Kinship to Condemnation: Rejection, Emotion, and the Qur’an and Sīra’s Rhetoric Against the Jews
(Dr. Tim Orr, The Center for the Study of Religion and American Culture - Indiana University, Indianapolis)

Symbolism and Ideology in the Shiite Crescent
The Symbiosis of the Religious and National Militias' Power to Political Power During the Fight for Democracy in Iraq, 2003—2024
(Prof. Ronen A. Cohen, Ariel University)
Balancing Ideology and Pragmatism: Hezbollah's Transition to Attrition Warfare in Its Conflict with Israel
(Dr. Dan Naor, Ariel University and Dr. Gadi Hitman, Ariel University)

African Colonial Legacies
Femigritude Expression of Colonialism's Lasting Legacy and Gendered Power Dynamics in Postcolonial African
(Mrs. Diweng Dafong, University of Alabama)
Sites of Control, Spaces of Resistance: Mau Mau Insurgency, Carceral Geography and Memory in Kenya, 1948-1963
(Mr. Stiffin Kamande, West Virginia University)
Scottish Missionaries and Development Agenda in the Post-War Era: From the Civilizing Mission to Development Agenda
(Ms. Eunice M'biya, West Virginia University)
The Omu's Vanishing Realm: Gender, Colonial Legacies, and the Unmaking of Indigenous Market Governance in Anioma, Nigeria, 1910 — 2015
(Mr. Sopuruchukwu Nwadi, West Virginia University)

Middle Eastern Power Balances
Breaking the Barriers: Turkey and Israel in Syria and the Eastern Mediterranean
(Dr. Omri Eilat, University of Haifa)
Iran and the Israel Hamas War: Ideological Commitments and Strategic Setbacks
(Prof. Meir Litvak, Alliance Center for Iranian Studies, TAU)
Navigating a Shifting Middle East: Nationalism, Islamism, and the Future of Regional Order
(Dr. Liora Lukitz, Independent Scholar)
Beyond Resources: The Role of Faith and Identity in Shaping Eastern Mediterranean Energy Conflicts
(Mr. Mustafa Burak Sener, Eötvös Loránd University)

2:30 P.M. - 4:00 P.M.

Substate Power and Ideology in Middle East
The US - KRG Partnership and the Challenges of the Peshmerga Forces Unification after the ISIS Era
(Dr. Karzan Ali, Sulaimani University)
Ambivalence in Contemporary Sunni — A Challenge for Western Liberal Democracies?
(Prof. Felipe Pathé Duarte, NOVA University of Lisbon, NOVA School of Law)
Zaydism and Ansar Allah (Huthi Movement): Doctrinal Continuity, or Ideological Transformation? (2014-2025)
(Prof. Felipe Medina Gutierrez, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana)
The Muslim Kurdish Peshmerga: Ideology, Militia Structure, and Role in the Suppression of Kurdish Autonomy in Iran
(Dr. Fateh Saeidi, University of Texas at Austin)

Outside Powers and October 7
(Dr. Bruce E. Bechtol, Jr., Dr. Robert Nalbandov, Dr. Douglas E. Streusand)

Conversations and Controversies Across Boundaries
The Miami Interfaith Model for Jewish Muslim Dialogue Post-October 7th
(Prof. Iqbal Akhtar, Florida International University)
Paper Barriers, Temporal Borders: Kurdish Experiences of the I-485 Process and the Governance of Waiting
(Mr. Stephen Fox, University of Kentucky)
Sino-Arab Nation-Building and Cultural Decolonization on Cultural Diplomacy 1955-1966
(Ms. Ying Huang, Beijing International Studies University, University of Exeter)
The Impact of the US—China's Global Competition on the Middle East Stability
(Dr. Ahmed Zohny, Coppin State University)

Sources of Identities in the Middle East and Central Asia
Hejab Strikers: The History and the Relationship between Women's Soccer and National Identity in Iran
(Mrs. Yuval Shoval, Ariel University)
The Lebanese Shi'ite in the Modern Era, in the Trap of Identities
(Mrs. Noa Riven, Ariel University, Israel)
The Appointment of Women in Religious Judicial Systems in Iran
(Mrs. Sarah Zilberberg, Ariel University)

Panel
Jihadist Violence as a War between Good and Evil: The Case of Boko Haram in Nigeria
(Dr. Sabina Brakoniecka, University of Warsaw)
The Salafi Jihadi Conception of the State
(Dr. Daniel Joseph Lav, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem)
Democratic Resilience Vs. Democratic Backsliding: A Tale of Two Nations in Times of Political Instability and Insecurity
(Ms. Deborah Sike, University of Pittsburgh)

*The schedule is subject to change*