Tag: MENA region

CFP MENA Communication & Cultural Studies

Publication OpportunitiesCFP: Voices in Middle Eastern and North African Communication and Cultural Studies: Thinking Transnationally (Proposed Book Project)
Editors: Dr. Haneen S. Ghabra, Kuwait University, Dr. Fatima Zahrae Chrifi Alaoui, San Francisco State University, Dr. Shadee Abdi, University of New Mexico, and Dr. Bernadette Marie Calafell, University of Denver

At the heart of communication and critical cultural studies is a discipline that has been slowly expanding its borders around the issues of racism, sexism, ability, privilege, and oppression. As Latinx, African American, Asian Pacific American, Disability and LGBTQ studies widen and shift the scope of Communication Studies, what often gets underplayed is the role of transnational Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) studies. It is imperative that the experiences of transnational individuals who live and move between the region and the U.S. are centered. For this reason, our goal is to begin to bring Middle Eastern communication and critical cultural studies in conversation with global and transnational studies. We ask, how can scholars make a space for transnational MENA studies within communication and cultural studies? What are the pressing issues? Thus, at a time where Arab, Arab Americans, Iranians, and Iranian Americans, and other MENA ethnic communities are under attack by Western media and governments, it is crucial to center their voice from a transnational perspective that privileges their positionalities and experiences rather than continue to study them from a reductive Eurocentric lens. Accordingly, this book aims to bring together a diverse collection of essays to showcase the complexity and cultural nuances that compose the Middle East and North Africa and its diasporas in the United States. Important work has been published interdisciplinary by prominent scholars such as Lila Abu-Lughod, Janet Afary; Leila Ahmed; Nadje Al-Ali; Amar; Talal Asad; miriam cooke; Deniz Kandiyoti; Saba Mahmood; Joseph Massad; Fatema Mernissi; Afsaneh Najmabadi; Edward Said; Jack Shaheen; Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, Sima Shakhsari; Loubna Skalli. We seek to build on existing scholarship by including essays that theorize from a communication and critical cultural studies lenses. Our approach to communication and critical cultural studies is informed by critical performative, rhetorical, feminist, queer, intercultural, social justice and media studies. Furthermore, scholars are encouraged to focus on specific countries or diasporas or general representations of the MENA region. This book aims to bring together work by established and new or emerging scholars.

List of suggested topics for submission can include (but are not limited to):
Creative or performative approaches or perspectives to MENA identities
Vernacular discourse
Critical Rhetoric of Muslims in Western Discourse
Postcolonial approaches to MENA identities
Intersectionality
Queer/ed approaches to MENA identities
Social movements and social justice
Social media and youth
MENA feminisms
Critical intercultural approaches to MENA
Monstrosity and horror

Submission Requirements and Due Dates
In order to have a creative work and/or research manuscript considered for publication, please submit the following:

1.  A 1- to 2 page chapter proposal that summarizes your submission’s goals, scope, and argument with a clear articulation of your submission’s contribution to MENA, communication, and critical cultural studies.
2.  A copy of each author’s most recent CV.

Please email these materials to Drs. Haneen Ghabra, Fatima Zahrae Chrifi Alaoui, Shadee Abdi, and Bernadette Marie Calafell at menacommunication@gmail.com by September 15th, 2017.

Responses to submitters will be sent by December 18th, 2017, with first drafts due by June 1st, 2018.

Arab Master in Democracy and Human Rights (Lebanon)

Graduate StudyThe Arab Master in Democracy and Human Rights is a unique programme designed to meet the needs of students, professionals and experts who want to deepen their knowledge and develop their skills in the field of democratic governance and human rights in the Middle East and North Africa. It is part of the Global Campus of Regional masters in Human Rights and Democracy supported by the European Union.

Our aim is to support the next generation of experts, academics and practitioners and to give them the practical experience needed for building up their professional career and academic activities.

The Arab Master in Democracy and Human Rights is supported by a growing network of partner universities from the region and beyond. The partnership is composed of the following academic institutions:

  • Saint Joseph University (Lebanon) as the coordinating University (Lebanon),
  • Birzeit University (Palestine),
  • International University of Rabat (Morocco),
  • University of Carthage (Tunisia)

The University of Jordan (Jordan) and the University of Cairo (Egypt) are currently in the process of joining ARMA.

Masters in Democratic Governance (Venice)

The European Inter-University Centre for Human Rights and Democratisation (EIUC) and its partner univeristies Birzeit University (Palestine), Saint Joseph University (Lebanon), International University of Rabat (Morocco) and Ca’ Foscari University (Italy) are proud to present to you the second edition of the Master in Democratic Governance – Democracy and Human Rights in the Mena Region (DE.MA), starting in September 2016.

DE.MA is a multidisciplinary curriculum offering courses in law, political science, sociology and other fields relevant to the study of democratic governance and Human Rights. Open to professionals and graduates, it will combine a theoretical and practical approach and it will deliver a professional Master’s degree (60 ECTS) from Ca’ Foscari University, Venice. The first semester from mid/late September 2016 until January 2017 is held at the EIUC premises in Venice and the second one from February to May 2017 takes place in one of the partner universities in the Master’s Consortium. Thesis defence and graduation ceremony are in July 2017.

This is meant to play an active role in the ongoing debate about the principles underpinning the transition of political regimes to democracy. It aims at:
•Creating high-profile experts in the fields of democratic governance and the protection of human rights, allowing them to act as promoters of a process leading to the affirmation of the democratic principles;
•Fostering the creation of an élite group of people committed to the promotion of democratic institutions;
•Building a network of experts to be active in political institutions, in national and international, governmental and non-governmental organizations in the Region.

Interested? Here are the practicalities:
Deadline: 30 June 2016
Language: English, (knowledge of French and Arabic recommended)
Teaching method: Face to face teaching

TUITION FEES: 4.000.00 euro.
TUITION WAIVERS/SCHOLARSHIPS: EIUC offers financial support in the form of a partial contribution towards living expenses and/or a full or partial tuition waiver. This type of financial support is awarded to a limited number of students on the basis of academic achievement, need and geographical distribution.

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Internet Policy Research Methods in the MENA region

Call for Applications: Internet Policy in the MENA Region: Research Methods for Advocates
September 1-4, Kadir Has University, Istanbul
Application Deadline:  May 15, 2015

As activists and researchers around the world endeavor to influence internet policymaking processes and raise awareness about the importance of protecting the open internet, the need for relevant, advanced internet policy research methods among advocates is brought into stark relief. This need is particularly great in the broader MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region, where observers are witnessing increasing levels of government control online, inadequate legislation supportive of a robust and secure cyberspace, as well as increasingly sophisticated security risks to journalists, researchers, and activists. These issues are further complicated by the political, economic, and cultural dynamics that are specific to the region.

Recognizing the importance of advocacy and policy efforts that make use of methodologically rigorous and contextually appropriate research as well as the need for a deeper engagement with the local environments that shape internet policy issues, the Annenberg School for Communication‘s  Internet Policy Observatory has teamed up with Citizen Lab, ASL19,  Ranking Digital Rights, and Kadir Has University‘s New Media Department to develop an Internet Policy Research Methods Workshop. This program will bring together young scholars and activists working in digital rights and the internet policy space in an intensive four day practicum that provides a survey of both qualitative and quantitative, online and offline research methods with the goal of enhancing and advancing their advocacy efforts.

The Internet Policy Research Methods program seeks applications from activists, advocates and those working at NGOs, and early career researchers working and studying in the Middle East and North Africa. Prospective applicants should have a particular area of interest related to internet governance and policymaking, censorship, surveillance, internet access, political engagement online, protection of human rights online, or corporate governance in the ICT sector. Applicants will be asked to bring a specific research question to the program to be developed and operationalized through trainings and one-on-one mentorship with top researchers and experts from around the world.

The program will provide skill-building tutorials on the following topics:
– defining the problems and framing research questions
– conducting desk and archival research
– policy mapping
– questionnaire/interview design and techniques
– conducting surveys and public opinion research
– network measurement
– social network analysis
– data visualization
– maximizing influence: research dissemination and promotional strategies
– developing proposals for funding, creating actionable research agendas and evaluating project impact

We encourage individuals from the MENA region in the academic (early career), NGO, and public policy sectors to apply. The course will be conducted in English and applicants should have high proficiency in English in order to interact with experts, lecturers and other participants who will come from diverse backgrounds. Apply for the 2015 Summer Research Institute online. A limited pool of funding in the form of travel support is available and will be allocated based on the strength of the application, fit with the workshop, and demonstrated need. If you require funding support, please indicate as such in the online form.

For more information about the program, please contact Emad Khazraee.

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