The Middlle East & North Africa Studies Program seeks to provide the Ohio University and Athens communities with an interdisciplinary understanding of the history and contemporary dynamics of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. While the bulk of its efforts are focused on the recently-approved undergradaute certificate in Middle East and North Africa Studies, the program also organizes a range of events designed to compliment in-class education and speak to contemporary debates about the region.
For Fall 2017, the Middle East & North Africa Studies Program is pleased to present the following:
Screening of the film Men in the Arena (Somalia)
Date: Wednesday 13 Sep. 2017 | Time: 6:30pm |
Location: Seigfred 401
- Description: Directed by J. R. Biersmith (2017), this documentary highlights the stories of Saadiq Mohammed and Sa’ad Xussien, as they come of age in Somalia. For these men, soccer is their passion, profession, and the only pathway they seem to find for a more hopeful future. The event will feature introductory comments by Dr. Steve Howard, who will also moderate the brief Q&A after the screening. This screening represents the Somalia installment of the 2017-18 Travel Ban Countries Film Series.
- Co-Sponsors: The event is co-sponsored by the Middle East and North Africa Studies and Islamic Studies certificate programs, the Departments of History, Classics and World Religions, and Political Science, the African Studies Program, the Center for Law, Justice, and Culture, the Contemporary History Institute, the War and Peace Theme, the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism, and the Office of Global Affairs and International Studies at Ohio University.
Screening of the film The Devil Came on Horseback (Sudan)
Date: Tuesday 3 Oct. 2017 | Time: 6:30pm |
Location: Seigfred 401
- Description: Directed by Ricki Stern and Anne Sundberg (2007), this award-winning documentary explores the conflict in Darfu, Sudan. The event will feature introductory comments by Dr. Steve Howard, who will also moderate the brief Q&A after the screening. This screening represents the Sudan installment of the 2017-18 Travel Ban Countries Film Series.
- Co-Sponsors: The event is co-sponsored by the Middle East and North Africa Studies and Islamic Studies certificate programs, the Departments of History, Classics and World Religions, and Political Science, the African Studies Program, the Center for Law, Justice, and Culture, the Contemporary History Institute, the War and Peace Theme, the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism, and the Office of Global Affairs and International Studies at Ohio University.
Exhibition on “Material Histories: Cultures of Resistance”
Date: 29 Sep. – Oct. 27, 2017 | Time: 9am-5pm |
Location: Majestic Galleries, Nelsonville, OH
- Description: This exhibition is curated by Dr. Alex Hibbitt and highlights concerns such as human rights, our relationship to natural resources, and personal histories. It brings together contemporary artworks that range from the monumental to the performative. The exhibit will be accompanied by a one-day symposium focusing on the role and agency of the artist in a time of international political, economic, and cultural uncertainty.
- Co-Sponsors: This exhibition and related events are made possible through support from Arts for OHIO, the Ceramics Department, the School of Art + Design Visiting Artist Fund, the Honors Tutorial College, the Middle East and North Africa Studies Certificate, and the Islamic Studies Certificate Program at Ohio University, The Dairy Barn Arts Center, and Standard Ceramics.
Panel Discussion in Relation to the Exhibition “Material Histories: Cultures of Resistance”
Date: Friday 13 Oct. 2017 | Time: 1:30pm |
Location: Mitchell Auditorium, School of Arts + Design
- Description: This panel will reflect on and engage with the themes of the “Material Histories” exhibition. The event features Alex Hibbitt, Loren Lybarger, Samuel Dodd, Ziad Abu-Rish, and Danielle Julian-Norton.
- Co-Sponsors: This panel, like all events related to the exhibition, is made possible through support from Arts for OHIO, the Ceramics Department, the School of Art + Design Visiting Artist Fund, the Honors Tutorial College, the Middle East and North Africa Studies Certificate, and the Islamic Studies Certificate Program at Ohio University, The Dairy Barn Arts Center, and Standard Ceramics.
Lecture by Lisa Hajjar on “The Afterlives of Torture: Putting the US ‘War on Terror’ in Historical and Global Context”
Date: Wednesday 8 November 2017 | Time: 5:00pm |
Location: Schoonover 145
- Description: This presentation situates contemporary developments and debates on torture in the context of a longer history of US torture, and then explores how the post-9/11 torture program instituted by the Bush administration in 2001 continues to haunt national politics and international relations, despite that the program itself was cancelled by President Obama in 2009.
- Co-Sponsors: This event is co-sponsored by the Center for Law, Justice & Culture and the Middle East and North Africa Studies Program.
Screening of the film A Separation (Iran)
Date: Wednesday 29 November 2017 | Time: 6:30pm |
Location: Seigfred 401
- Description: Directed by Asghar Farhadi (2011), this award-winning feature film narrates the story of a couple as the negotiate their relationship, their everyday lives, and legal system of their society.. The event will feature introductory comments by Dr. Loren Lybarger, who will also moderate the brief Q&A after the screening. This film is screened as the Iran installment of the 2017-18 Travel Ban Countries Film Series.
- Co-Sponsors: The event is co-sponsored by the Middle East and North Africa Studies and Islamic Studies certificate programs, the Departments of History, Classics and World Religions, and Political Science, the African Studies Program, the Center for Law, Justice, and Culture, the Contemporary History Institute, the War and Peace Theme, the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism, and the Office of Global Affairs and International Studies at Ohio University.
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