The Middle East History and Theory (MEHAT) Workshop is pleased to welcome you back to Chicago for a new academic year. We have a few general announcements to make before we get our official program underway:
• The MEHAT coordinators for this year are Cam Cross, Feryal Salem, Mohamad Ballan, and Shayna Silverstein. You can reach all of us at mehat2011@gmail.com.
• Our website is located at http://cas.uchicago.edu/workshops/mehat/. It has been thoroughly updated and you can always visit to find out about us and catch our latest announcements.
• Our workshops, unless otherwise noted, will convene on Thursdays at 12:00 in 218 Pick Hall, 5828 S. University. Coffee, tea, and light refreshments will always be provided, but we encourage you to bring a lunch and make a meal out of it. If you want to present but this time is not good for you, just write us and we can arrange an alternate time.
• Our events will combine a series of academic paper workshops, discussions on translation, themed roundtable discussions, and the occasional lecture. We want to be as open, inclusive, and varied as we can be in this year’s program, so if you have any ideas or projects you want to share, let us know!
• While the workshop is officially centered on the Middle East, we will be actively seeking to collaborate and network with other area studies departments and disciplines, so no matter what department you’re in, if your work has anything to do with themes, issues, or peoples associated with the Middle East, we will consider it within our purview. In the same vein, the workshop is open to everyone to attend.
• Finally, the workshop is intended to be a fun and productive environment to get your ideas out of your own head and hash them out with your colleagues. It is not a lecture series, nor is it a conference. It is okay to submit in-progress, rough-around-the-edges pieces of scholarship and translation. In fact, that’s the point, so don’t be shy!
• Our first event will be on October 7 and feature a roundtable discussion on the conceptual discipline of “Middle East studies” and its role in shaping the way we study and imagine the Middle East—wherever that may be. The formal announcement will be coming soon.
