Laila Shereen Sakr's book Arabic Glitch: Technoculture, Data Bodies, and Archives (Stanford UP, 2023) explores an alternative origin story of twenty-first century technological innovation in digital politics—one centered on the Middle East and the 2011 Arab uprisings. Developed from an archive of social media data collected over the decades following the 200 ... Show More
Nov 22
Faisal Devji, "Waning Crescent: The Rise and Fall of Global Islam" (Yale UP, 2025)
Faisal Devji's Waning Crescent: The Rise and Fall of Global Islam (Yale UP, 2025) is a compelling examination of the rise of Islam as a global historical actor. Until the nineteenth century, Islam was variously understood as a set of beliefs and practices. But after Muslims began ... Show More
1h 4m
Nov 21
Killian Clarke, "Return of Tyranny: Why Counterrevolutions Emerge and Succeed" (Cambridge UP, 2025)
Why do some revolutions fail and succumb to counterrevolutions, whereas others go on to establish durable rule?
Marshalling original data on counterrevolutions worldwide since 1900 and new evidence from the reversal of Egypt's 2011 revolution, in Return of Tyranny: Why Counterre ... Show More
1h 5m
Nov 14
Basit Kareem Iqbal, "The Dread Heights: Tribulation and Refuge after the Syrian Revolution" (Fordham UP, 2025)
Basit Kareem Iqbal's new book The Dread Heights: Tribulation and Refuge after the Syrian Revolution (Fordham UP, 2025) uses ethnographic scenes from Jordan and Canada to contextualize the role of Muslim charities and community organizations that support displaced refugees from t ... Show More
1h 16m
Dec 2023
Laila Shereen Sakr, "Arabic Glitch: Technoculture, Data Bodies, and Archives" (Stanford UP, 2023)
Laila Shereen Sakr's book Arabic Glitch: Technoculture, Data Bodies, and Archives (Stanford UP, 2023) explores an alternative origin story of twenty-first century technological innovation in digital politics—one centered on the Middle East and the 2011 Arab uprisings. Developed f ... Show More
33m 12s
Dec 2023
Laila Shereen Sakr, "Arabic Glitch: Technoculture, Data Bodies, and Archives" (Stanford UP, 2023)
Laila Shereen Sakr's book Arabic Glitch: Technoculture, Data Bodies, and Archives (Stanford UP, 2023) explores an alternative origin story of twenty-first century technological innovation in digital politics—one centered on the Middle East and the 2011 Arab uprisings. Developed f ... Show More
33m 12s
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
Apr 2022
FWD: “Inventing Home: The Making of Lebanon and the Lebanese Diaspora” by Akram F. Khater
In this afikra FWD, Gustavo Racy forwards a book on the Lebanese diaspora by Akram F. Khater, Inventing Home: Emigration, Gender, and the Middle Class in Lebanon, 1870-1920. Inventing Home delves into the stories of these travels, shedding much-needed light on the impact of emigr ... Show More
13m 40s
Dec 2021
FWD: "Andrée Acouri, the World’s First Arab Model” - Vogue Arabia [Community Presentation]
In this afikra FWD, Caroline Schaefer forwards Vogue Arabia's article on the first Arab supermodel the Lebanese Andrée Acouri. Caroline explains Acouri's career and her life today years after walking Dior, Channel runaways around the world.
Note: Caroline is not an expert on this ... Show More
10m 36s
Jun 2021
Policy-Making & Shaping the Future of the Middle East Through Dialogue & Research | Paul Salem
<p>We talked to Paul Salem, President of The Middle East Institute, on the work of the Middle East Institute including his career working in economic, social, and foreign policy studies. </p><p>Created & Hosted by<a href="https://www.instagram.com/mikey_mu/%E2%80%8E"> Mikey Muhan ... Show More
55m 46s
Jan 2022
FWD: "Magic in Premodern Architecture in Iraq and Syria" [Community Presentation]
In this afikra FWD, Usman forwards an academic paper “Symmetry, Sympathy and Sensation: Talismanic Efficacy and Slippery Iconographies in Early Thirteen-Century Iraq, Syria, and Anatolia’ by Persis Berlekamp. The paper's main focus is on magic in 13th-century architecture.
Note: ... Show More
16m 42s
Mar 2021
Editor & Associate Professor of History Sherene Seikaly [afikra Conversation]
<p>We talked to Sherene Seikaly, a historian of capitalism, consumption, and development in the modern Middle East, about her book "Men of Capital: Scarcity and Economy in Mandate Palestine", her work as editor for Jadaliyya, Journal of Palestine Studies, and Arab Studies Journa ... Show More
54m 26s