UW–Madison Conference to Examine Change in the Middle East

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE DATE: March 8, 2006 CONTACT: David Morgan, Professor, UW–Madison, Dept. of History, and director of the Middle East Studies program, (608) 262-6117; or Ronnie Hess, Director of Communications, Division of International Studies, (608) 262-5590, rlhess@wisc.edu UW-MADISON CONFERENCE TO EXAMINE CHANGE IN THE MIDDLE EAST Madison, WI – The UW–Madison’s Middle East Studies program (MES) will sponsor a conference March 26, 2006 on “Change in the Middle East.” The conference, at the Pyle Center, 702 Langdon St., will include presentations and panel discussions on political developments in North Africa, globalization and modernity, the relationship between environmental issues and security, and science and technology in the Middle East. The conference is free and open to the public but registration is required. Details are listed below. The keynote speaker will be Egyptian commentator Mona Eltahawy. Eltahawy writes a weekly column for the influential Arabic newspaper Asharq al-Awsat, and contributes regularly to the editorial pages of American newspapers such as The Washington Post and The International Herald Tribune, as well as television and radio programs internationally. This year’s conference highlights the University’s Middle East Studies program as both a regional networking hub for scholars working on the Middle East and an institution producing cutting-edge scholarship on the region. MES is a member program of the University’s International Institute, an initiative of the Division of International Studies and the College of Letters & Science. The Institute observes its tenth anniversary this year. Other sessions include:

• “North Africa: Social and Political Change in Historical Perspective,” featuring historians Ellen Amster (UW-Milwaukee); Nathan Godley (UW-Parkside); and Ma’ati Monjib (Moulay Ismail University, Meknes, Morocco)
• “Globalization and Modernity,” featuring Jaafar Akiskas (Columbia College); Joseph Lawrence (College of the Holy Cross); and Satoshi Abe (University of Arizona)
• “Water Security and the Environment,” featuring Leila Harris (UW–Madison); and Samer Alatout (UW–Madison)
• “Science and Technology: The Middle East in a Globalized World,” featuring Hsain Ilahaine (Iowa State University); Ece Algan (University of Iowa); and Amy Charkowski (UW–Madison)

Although there is no registration fee for this conference, participants are asked to register by March by sending an e-mail to cmes@mailplus.wisc.edu with the word “conference” in the subject line. Please include your name and institutional affiliation, if applicable. Additional conference information, including a complete program, will be available at http://www.mesp.wisc.edu. The conference is being organized with the support of the International Institute and Dialogue International. The conference immediately follows the International Conference on Islam, a two-day event co-sponsored by UW–Madison’s Global Studies and Dialogue International. For more information, (http://www.islam-conf.org/)