Middle East History and Theory

The Middle East History and Theory Workshop (MEHAT) is pleased to announce our schedule for Fall 2016.                                                                                                                        All meetings will be held on alternate Wednesdays from 3:00-4:20pm in Pick 218 unless otherwise noted. Food and beverages will be served. Papers will be circulated a week before the workshop meeting via our listserv. If you have any questions, please contact mehat.workshop@uchicago.edu.

October 5 – Zachary Schuyler (CMES)

“Ironing Out National Ideology: Amir Temür in Karimov’s Functionalist Reconstruction of Uzbek History”

Discussant: August Samie (NELC)

October 19 – Kyle Longworth (NELC)

“Islamic Societies and the Syriac Historical Tradition”

Discussant: Süleyman Dost (NELC)

November 2 – Carol Fan (NELC)

TBD

November 4 – Prof. Rebecca Johnson (Northwestern University)

Workshop in conjunction with the CMES Friday lecture titled “Translated Publics: Print Culture and the Novel during the Nahda”

*Please Note: The MEHAT Workshop will take place from 11:30-12:50 on this day.

November 16 – Süleyman Dost (NELC)

“That Time Ibn Arabi Predicted the Ottoman Conquest of Syria and Egypt: The Mysterious World of al-Shajara al-Nu’maniyya”

Discussant: Carlos Grenier

November 28 – Prof. Sarah Stroumsa (Hebrew University of Jerusalem)—co-sponsored event with the Jewish Studies Workshop *Harper 148

“Jewish and Muslim Philosophy and Theology in Islamic Spain”

November 30 – Madeleine Elfenbein (NELC)

TBD

The Middle East History and Theory Workshop (MEHAT) is excited to solicit your participation for the 2016–17 academic year. Its aim is to provide a forum for campus scholars to present new work, receive feedback, and generate discussion across the disciplines. As an area studies workshop, we are eager to hear from historians, anthropologists, sociologists, musicologists, linguists, theologians, political scientists, and beyond, whose work engages with the Middle East—broadly defined to include South and Central Asia, the Mediterranean and North Africa, over a time span extending from Late Antiquity and the advent of Islam to the present.

Drafts of dissertation proposals, chapters, and master’s theses are especially welcome, along with other works in progress. Papers are generally circulated a week prior to the workshop on the MEHAT listhost to encourage attendance and informed academic discussion. If you are interested, please send an email to mehat.workshop@uchicago.edu.

Please email abstracts to mehat.workshop@uchicago.edu if interested. Our Fall meeting dates are scheduled for:
October 5 (reserved)
October 19 (reserved)
November 2
November 16
November 30
We will also be placing papers during Winter and Spring Quarters. Please indicate in which quarter you would prefer to present, and we will try to accommodate your request.

The workshop will meet on alternate Wednesdays from 3:00 to 4:30 PM in Pick 218. There will always be food and beverages.

With best wishes,
MEHAT 2016–17 coordinators
Chelsie May and Alexandra Hoffmann

Rachel and I would like to thank all of those who attended workshops and events this year. We believe that MEHAT in 2015-16 was one of the most successful in recent years in terms of quality of scholarship and attendance.

We are pleased to announce the workshop’s new coordinators for 2016-17. Chelsie May and Alexandra Hoffmann are third-years in the NELC Department, and Rachel and I know we are leaving the workshop in extremely capable hands!

Be on the lookout for the CFP by early September, and if you have any questions, please email mehat.workshop@uchicago.edu.

See you in the fall!

The formal roundtable participants are:

Oya Topcuoglu, U of C, NELC
Esra Tasdelen, North Central College, Modern and Classical Languages
Alireza Doostdar, U of C, Divinity School
Holly Shissler, U of C, NELC
Noha Forster, U of C, NELC
Richard Payne, U of C, NELC
Annie Greene, U of C, NELC
Madeleine Elfenbein, U of C, NELC
Jessica Sylvan Mutter, U of C, NELC
Timothy Gutmann, U of C, Divinity School
Mariam Sheibani, U of C, NELC

Please join the Middle East History and Theory Workshop on Thursday, April 14th, at 12:00 Noon in Pick 218 (Farouk Mustafa Memorial Lecture Room).

Our speaker is Ekin Enacar (NELC) who will present her paper entitled “Political Satire, Cartoons and the Limits of Press Freedom during the First Months of the Young Turk Revolution.” The discussant is Maddy Elfenbein (NELC).

The paper will be distributed on our listserv on Monday. If possible, please try to read the paper in advance for informed discussion.

Pizza and soft drinks will be served. We look forward to seeing you there!

Dear MEHAT Attendees,

We are excited to remind you about the upcoming lecture on Thursday, April 14 in Stuart 101 by Sara Omar (Georgetown), titled “Same-Sex Acts and the Islamic Tradition.” This talk is part of the ongoing Gender & Sexuality in Middle Eastern History lecture series. The talk begins at 4:30 and will be followed by a reception in Pick Lounge.

For more information, please go to our facebook event. We look forward to seeing you there!

The Middle East History and Theory Workshop (MEHAT) is pleased to announce our schedule for Spring 2016.

All meetings will be held from 12-1:20pm in Pick 218 unless otherwise noted. Pizza will be served.

Papers will be circulated a week before the workshop meeting via our listserv. If you have any questions, please contact mehat.workshop@uchicago.edu.

March 31 – Timothy Gutmann (Divinity)

“Conscripting Tradition: Knowledge, Sovereignty, and Education Reform in Modern Egypt.”

Discussant: Rachel Schine (NELC)

April 14 – Ekin Enacar (NELC)

Political Satire, Cartoons and the Limits of Press Freedom during the First Months of the Young Turk Revolution.

Discussant: Maddy Elfenbein (NELC)

In addition to the scheduled workshop on April 14, MEHAT would like to announce the following event:

Dr. Sara Omar (Georgetown) will be giving a lecture for the Gender & Sexuality in Middle Eastern History Lecture Series on Thursday, April 14 at 4:30 PM in Stuart 101. Please see our Facebook event for more information.

April 28 – Claire Roosien (NELC/History)

“Cotton and Mass Cultural Media in Soviet Uzbekistan, 1917-1941.”

Discussant: Sam Hodgkin (NELC)

May 19 – Dr. Eve Troutt Powell (Penn)

Note: Dr. Troutt Powell’s workshop is in conjunction with her lecture for the Gender & Sexuality in Middle Eastern History Lecture Series.

June 2 – Chris Sheklian (Anthropology)

“Vakıfs  and the Material Basis of Minority Community in Istanbul”

Discussant: Tolga Cora (NELC)

Here is MEHAT’s updated calendar for the rest of our Winter Quarter events. We hope you can attend.

Thursday, February 25
     Dr. Marion Katz (Professor of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies, NYU; Chicago NELC alumna) will be giving a workshop on sources and methodology pertaining to gender and early Islamic legal history. Materials for the workshop will be circulated shortly.
We invite all who are interested to attend, but please RSVP by Monday, February 22nd, so that we can have an accurate head count for catering. The workshop will be from 12-1:20pm in Pick 218.

At 4:30pm, Dr. Katz will be giving a lecture for the Gender & Sexuality in Middle Eastern History Lecture Series. Please see our Facebook event for more information.

Thursday, March 3
 Aamir Bashir (NELC) will present his paper, “Early Development of Sunni Fiqh: A Study of Role played by Muhammad b. al-Hasan al-Shaybani (d. 805).” The discussant is Amir Toft (NELC). The paper will be circulated prior to the workshop. We will meet at 12pm in Pick 218, and lunch will be served.

Tuesday, March 8
MEHAT is excited to host “Can the Provinces Speak?: A Roundtable Discussion on Writing Ottoman Provincial History.” Our speakers are Tolga Cora (NELC), Annie Greene (NELC), Varak Ketsmanian (CMES), and Basil Salem (History). There will be a light reception following the event. Please see the poster below for more information.

March 8 Provinces Poster

Please let us know if you have any questions (email us at mehat.workshop@uchicago.edu), and we hope you can attend!

Please join the Middle East History and Theory Workshop on Thursday, February 4th, at 12:00 Noon in Pick 218 (Farouk Mustafa Memorial Lecture Room).

Our speaker is Atoor Lawandow (CMES Alumna, current Cornell NES PhD Student) who will present her paper entitled “Āzād and Ibn al-Rāʿī: Two Eighteenth-century Udabāʾ and the Expression of Affinity to Homeland before “Modernity.” The discussant is Annie Greene (NELC).

The paper will be distributed on our listserv. If possible, please try to read the paper in advance for informed discussion.

Pizza and soft drinks will be served. We look forward to seeing you there!

Please join the Middle East History and Theory Workshop on Thursday, January 21st, at 12:00 Noon in Pick 218 (Farouk Mustafa Memorial Lecture Room). 

Pizza and soft drinks will be served. We look forward to seeing you there!