MENA-related Events Calendar

Organiser: Middle East Centre, St Antony's College

All welcome. Join the Middle East Centre academic community for an evening with Francesca Albanese (UN Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories) in conversation with Avi Shlaim. This event will be chaired by Eugene Rogan. No booking required.

Organiser: SOAS Middle East Institute

Speaker: Christian Henderson (Leiden University)

In a region known for its export of oil, Monarchies of Extraction explores how the Gulf states are simultaneously defined by the importation of food.

Charting the economics and politics of the Gulf through an examination of its food system, Christian Henderson demonstrates how these states constitute a distinct social metabolism. The Gulf states represent 'inverted farms', where the import of prodigious quantities of agricultural commodities has enabled these economies to overcome their lack of arable land. This phenomenon reveals the extreme imbalance of patterns of consumption and development within the food system of the Middle East and North Africa.

Organiser: International Association for the Study of Arabia (IASA)

Speaker: Stephanie Döpper (University of Würzburg, Germany)

People in the past lived among the remains of earlier generations and engaged with them in different ways. One example is the reuse of tombs. This talk explores how reusing old tombs in Bronze and Iron Age southeastern Arabia may have helped communities make sense of the present, navigate periods of change, and shape cultural identities. It asks how engaging with the past could strengthen social cohesion, reinforce group identities, and legitimise social elites.

Zoom link (pre-registration is not required): https://uchicago.zoom.us/j/94290594803?pwd=RJfcBElnd7VBW1B8zJE0L4NoMLbfcn.

Are you a UK Higher Education Institution-affiliated researcher working within the humanities and social sciences and planning a project in Türkiye and/or the Black Sea region next year? If so, join us on Wednesday 21th October for a webinar on how the British Institute at Ankara (BIAA) can support your research. This webinar will present the range of grants and opportunities available via the BIAA, with a particular focus on the Study (up to £2,000), Research (up to £5,000) and Large Research (up to £10,000) grants, which are currently being advertised with a deadline of 1st November. We will also discuss the range of facilities available at the BIAA’s world-class research centre in Ankara, including the BIAA David H. French Library – one of Türkiye’s premier research libraries, the BIAA laboratory and reference collections, the BIAA’s digital repository and archive and our research support and facilitation services. The BIAA’s research agenda and current Strategic Research Initiatives will also be presented.

London Palestine Film Festival (@lpffofficial) returns Nov 13th–27th. This year's programme features UK premieres, Oscar-nominated titles, archival footage and retrospective screenings, creating a vital space to showcase the richness and complexities of Palestinian life. Including Muayad Alayan’s newly released Conversation with the Sea, and don’t miss our screening in tribute to Mohammed Bakri +Q&A at Rio Cinema and Riverside Studios. Check out the full programme and book your tickets now to explore Palestinian culture and resistance through cinema.