"The Turkish Complex" is the topic of the 2015 Campagna-Kerven Lecture on Modern Turkey at Boston University

Reserve your seat for the 20th annual CKLS lecture.

This years lecture is delivered by Professor Jenny White from the Department of Anthropology at Boston University.  Those who follow Turkey will be well-acquainted with her writings (and her blog Kamil Pasha), not least her most recent book: Muslim Natonalism and the New Turks.

31st Annual Meeting of the Conference Group on the Middle East: Call for Papers for 2015

The Conference Group on the Middle East (CGME) meets in conjunction with the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association.  The 2015 meeting convenes in San Francisco, September 2-6.

Young people represent a gigantic majority of the Arab population.  While the proportions obviously vary, in places like Iraq, Gaza, Syria and Egypt, upwards of three quarters of the population are young than 30 years.  In one case after another, young people face a future of "adulthood denied" to quote the title of a topical monograph, in the sense that they lack the ability to get a decent job, have their own place to live, marry and reproduce the family.  

Youths played significant, often leading roles in the demonstrations that marked the first stage of the Arab Awakenings that began in late 2010.  The cases of Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen come to mind, but also Morocco, Bahrain, Jordan and certainly Syria, among other instances.  Many of the youthful political activists and mobilizers were later marginalized as better organized, more experienced and more brutal actors displaced them and state elites clawed back power.  Today in repressive Egypt, for example, many of the key youth actors are in jail serving long terms for disobedience, organizing protests or a variety of trumped up charges.  

The CGME will address youth politics after the Arab Awakenings: Is there a "youth politics", are there organized political forces devoted to youth causes, and what has been the enduring impact of formal or informal associational life on the texture and content of politics in the Middle East; has something important changed? The welcomes empirically informed papers that rigorously address single cases, including studies of single associations, parties or interest groups, country studies, or comparative studies. Theoretically oriented papers are welcome as well.

CGME:  three decades ago, little serious attention was paid to the Middle East at the annual meetings of the leading disciplinary associations, including the American Political Science Association (APSA). Professor Louis J. Cantori and a small group of colleagues, including this writer, decided in 1983 to create the Conference Group the Middle East (CGME), which convened for the first time in 1984 and has continued ever since.

Afghanistan: Good questions, smart answers by Tom Barfield

Professor Emeritus Richard T. Antoun R.I.P.

Those of you who periodically read “From the Field” will have noticed that I have not posted in some time. Since my return from Baghdad and al-Najaf, and later England, I have been up to ears in a variety of projects, in additional to tending to my students. I will try to resume a more active rhythm in the coming weeks, including a long-promised post on the Hawza, and a reflection on the important Nasrallah programmatic statement.

More urgently, I would like to comment on the horrible news that Richard Antoun has been murdered in his office in Binghamton on November 4, 2009, reputedly by a graduate student who he had worked with some time. I did not know Antoun well enough to count him as a friend, but he did have a formative impact upon me. When I was a graduate student at the University of Chicago, more than 30 years ago, he was a visiting professor in anthropology. While I was studying political science at the university, I did foray from time to time into the anthro department (and, of course, I now spend a good part of my professional life in an anthropology department). I fondly recall his wonderful course on Middle East culture, for which I wrote a long paper on conflict resolution that I later drew upon during hot moments in Lebanon. I recall Professor not just as a gentleman, but as a gentle, soft-spoken person who was always sensitive his interlocutor’s feelings. It is hard to imagine him saying anything offensive or cruel. In many ways he always impressed me as content to return to an idyllic Jordanian village far away from the mayhem and corruption of urban life. He was unquestionably a leading figure in Middle East studies. I join, as I hope you will his wife Roslayn in remembering his life and his work.

BJ remembered

From a University of Texas conference in honor of "BJ" Fernea.



See my earlier posts, as well as this personal tribute by "Kamil Pasha".

Elizabeth "BJ" Warnock Fernea R.I.P.

Elizabeth W. "BJ" Fernea (1927-2008), I am sad to have to note, died yesterday afternoon (Dec. 2, 2008). A friend reports that she died peacefully holding the hands of her husband Bob and daughter Laila. She left this life with a smile on her face. BJ's many friends will know that tell-tale smile, which was so often accompanied by a knowing nod. Arrangements are still being made, but the funeral will be in Austin.

Added: A memorial page where you may leave your memories of BJ.

It is common to hear friends refer to BJ and her tireless energy, but she wearied like all of the rest of us. The difference was BJ’s capacity to drive herself even when she was pooped; all the while without relinquishing her humor or her impatience with silly rules. She did not know the meaning of “can’t” so she was hard to refuse–though you might have ten things on your to-do list, you knew that she had twice as many. BJ inspired people to reach down inside themselves and to do good things that they had never considered doing before. She was a mentor long before the word became a cliche.
I knew BJ, usually from a distance, for about a quarter century. During a brief stint as a visiting professor at UT in the mid-1980s, I spent some long, memorable days with her. At day’s end, I would discover that she had already organized a dinner party that would have her home brimming with delightful people, or that there was a dizzying evening agenda yet to come of meetings, receptions or lectures.
I cherish her memory as a caring, wise friend, an exemplary teacher, and, most of all, as a women who truly loved humanity, and who showed that love through her films, her books and her relentless compassion.
arn, December 5, 2008

UT-Austin Center for Middle East Studies obituary.

Austin newspaper obit.

LATimes.

London Telegraph.

Zaman (updated)

BJ

Friends and fans of BJ Fernea are all sad to know that she is gravely ill, and that the end may be near. Her family is at her side. BJ's Guest of the Sheik is a beloved classic, and thousands of students have watched her wonderful films.
Elizabeth W. Fernea - SourceWatch
Updated:
A 2007 tribute to the Ferneas by an Austin fan.