Hawraa Al Hassan’s Women, Writing and the Iraqi Ba’thist State: Contending Discourses of Resistance and Collaboration, 1968-2003 (University of Edinburgh Press, 2020) is unique because it both explores discourse concerning women and how women themselves used literature to create a site of resistance to the state. Al-Hassan’s work is also inclusive, as it joi ... Show More
Yesterday
Christopher de Bellaigue, "The Golden Throne: The Curse of a King" (Bodley Head, 2025)
What does a 16th century ruler reveal about the nature of power, past and present? Istanbul, 1538. The greatest of the Ottoman Sultans is at the pinnacle of world power, while his family and future are at the mercy of their own dynastic law: whichever of his five sons succeeds hi ... Show More
46m 47s
Jun 24
Ciruce A. Movahedi-Lankarani, "Accelerant: Energy Infrastructures and the Natural World in Making Modern Iran" (Stanford UP, 2026)
Between the late 1940s and the end of the twentieth century, natural gas became Iran's bedrock energy source. Billed as a futuristic fuel for a future world power, gas became an avenue for the country's developmentalist ambitions. The ability to build technologically sophisticate ... Show More
54m 29s
Jun 23
Ayşe Baltacıoğlu-Brammer, "Boundaries of Belonging: Sectarianism and Statecraft in the Early Modern Ottoman Empire" (Cambridge UP, 2026)
Examining sectarian divergence in the early modern Middle East, Ayşe Baltacıoğlu-Brammer's study provides a fresh perspective on the Sunni–Shi'i division. Drawing on Ottoman Turkish, Persian, and European sources, Boundaries of Belonging: Sectarianism and Statecraft in the Early ... Show More
1h 14m
Nov 2021
FWD: “Gazbia Sirry- When Modern Arab Form Meets Politics” [Community Presentation]
In this afikra FWD, Laila Karaman talked about "Gazbia Sirry- When Modern Arab Form Meets Politics" by Fatenn Mostafa-Kanafani. Laila discusses the themes in Sirry's artwork which are polygamy, gender preference/roles, gender equality, occupation/civil rights, and new political e ... Show More
11m 25s
Jan 2024
Othering and Belonging with Udi Raz, Yasmeen Daher, and Cecilie Surasky
This week we are excited to continue our collaboration with UC Berkeley's Othering and Belonging Institute to bring you a conversation from The Othering and Belonging Conference in Berlin, Germany.This conversation is introduced by Monica Jiang, is moderated by Cecilie Surasky an ... Show More
59m 13s