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/)