We are delighted that the BRISMES Research Networks will be showcasing their work on Friday, 24th September.

Our BRISMES Research Networks will hold sessions throughout the day at Birkbeck College, with sessions running from 10-12.00am (followed by lunch) and from 2-4pm. Sessions are open to the public. The workshops provide an excellent opportunity for scholars to share their current research and for the wider public and students to engage in current debates in Middle Eastern Studies.

Please find below the programme for the BRISMES Research Network Workshops.

Following the workshops, BRISMES will hold its AGM. This will begin at 4pm (room 416). The AGM is for BRISMES members only. 

The AGM will be followed by a drinks reception which will in turn be followed by a roundtable event (6pm to 8pm) to celebrate the life and work of Fred Halliday. 

The event will focus on Fred's contribution to the 'critical turn' in Middle East Studies (broadly conceived) – and, more generally, what contribution critical Middle East studies can make to the field today.  In a roundtable discussion chaired by Jeroen Gunning, Sami Zubaida, Tim Niblock, Toby Dodge, Katerina Dalacoura and Ewan Stein will not only highlight Fred’s academic contribution to the field, but also share personal memories and anecdotes.

You are cordially invited to attend.

All sessions will take place at Birkbeck's Main Building (Malet Street; London WC1E 7HX).  For an interactive map and detailed descriptions on how to get to Birkbeck from major train stations and nearby tube stations, please see http://www.bbk.ac.uk/maps

Programme for the BRISMES Summer Event and roundtable to celebrate the life of Fred Halliday

Tea and coffee available from 9.30am in room 415

"Intellectuals in the Middle East"

Research workshop is organised by Ewan Stein and is supported by Barbara Zollner

Morning session 10.00 – 12.00 (Council Room)

Ewan Stein: Introduction

Elizabeth Suzanne Kassab: Changing Roles of Arab Intellectuals in the Second Half of the Twentieth Century

Anthony Gorman: Countering Narrow Nationalism: Egyptian Greek Intellectuals in the Interwar Period

Marilyn Booth: Novel Intellectuals: Fiction as Gender Politics in 1890s Egypt Yair Wallach: Intellectuals, urban space and thwarted identities: Gad Frumkin in Transition Jerusalem

Tilde Rosmer: Israel’s Middle Eastern Jewish Intellectuals

Afternoon Session 2.00 – 4.00 (Council Room)

Michelangelo Guida: Nurettin Topçu and the ‘Reinvention’ of Islamism in Republican Turkey

Shana Cohen:The impact of international aid flows and the process of global market integration in Morocco on the role of intellectuals in social and political change

Combiz Moussavi-Aghdam: The Narratives of Art History and Iranian Intelligentsia

Melody Mohebi:Iranian reformist intellectuals

The sessions are open to the public. If you would like to attend, please contact Ewan Stein ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it )

"Liberation, Domination and Expression in the Middle East"

Research workshop is organised by Frederic Volpi and members of the Critical Middle East Studies Network

Morning Session 10.30-12.30 (room 416)

Emma Murphy: The Arab State and (Absent) Civility in New Communicative Spaces Tim Jacoby: The (In)Civility of Turkish Fascism

Khalil Anani: The Architecture of Authoritarianism in Egypt: the Legacy of Mubarak

Roger MacGinty: Hezbollah: Agent of Good Governance

The session is open to the public. If you would like to attend, please contact Fredric Volpi ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it )

“Knowledge, power and culture in Middle East Studies”

Research workshop organised by Jeroen Gunning and the members of the Critical Middle East Studies Network

Afternoon Session 2.00-4.00pm (room 415)

Emma Murphy: Surveying Research on Information Technologies in the Middle East: The Case for Inter-disciplinarity and a Return to Political Culture

 Jeroen Gunning: Ghosts of Religion Past and Present: Power, Paradigms and Policy-Making vis-à-vis Islamist Actors

Andrea Teti: Democratization as a Category of Action in EU discourse: The Disciplinary Politics of Knowledge Production

Andrea Mura: Islam and Psychoanalysis: A critical Inquiry

The session is open to the public.  If you would like to attend, please contact Jeroen Gunning ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it )

“Clerical Authority in Shiite Islam: The Hawza Project”

Research workshop is organised by Rob Gleave, Director of the Hawza Project; joint BRISMES/BIPS Project (www.thehawzaproject.net)

Afternoon Session 2.00-4.00pm (room 416)

Rob Gleave: Introduction to the Hawza Project

Massimiliano Fusari: A Quest for Narrative Visual Forms: How to Make the Hawza Meaningful

Bashir Damji: The Ethnic Hawzas and Shiite Learning in East Africa

Roja Fazaeli: Training Female Ulama in Jama'at al-Zahra, Qum - New Opportunities for Old Role Models?

Ahab Bdaiwi: The Introduction of Philosophy into the Hawzah of Najaf in 1955

The session is open to the public. If you would like to attend, please contact Rob Gleave ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it )

Timings
10 am to 12.00 pm – workshop sessions
12.00 pm – 2.00 pm lunch
2.00 pm – 4.00 pm workshop sessions
3.45 pm  tea and coffee (room 415)
4.00 pm BRISMES AGM (room 416)
5.00pm Drinks reception
6.00pm Roundtable event to celebrate the life of Fred Halliday (room 416)