Northwestern Qatar faculty, students, and alumni showcased their scholarship in the field of Middle East studies at the 57th annual meeting of the Middle East Studies Association (MESA), one of the world’s largest gatherings for Middle East studies scholarship and research.
Held annually, the MESA conference gathers members and scholars from around the world in a series of panels and special sessions for scholarly exchange. This year’s conference featured Northwestern Qatar scholars sharing their work on a variety of topics related to the Middle East in various presentations, panel discussions, and scholarly exhibits.
Among the Northwestern Qatar scholars participating in this year’s conference was Joe Khalil, associate professor in residence, who provided a comprehensive overview of the region's adaptation to the digital era in a panel discussion on Middle Eastern culture and media. Khalil’s presentations drew insights from his co-edited book The Handbook of Media and Culture in the Middle East to examine how information technologies and the digital age are affecting the region and the implications of navigating these changes, as well as the ways information technologies promote inclusive practices while engendering new forms of exclusion.
Another Northwestern Qatar faculty participating in the conference was Yasmeen Mekawy, assistant professor in residence, who, in a panel on the state and everyday lives in Egypt, discussed the affective dynamics of media representations of the 2011 uprising. By analyzing the ambivalent political effects of narratives in state, mainstream, and independent media, Mekawy examined how nostalgic representations in media are used to preserve the collective memory of the revolution as a potential basis for future resistance and counter the state’s erasure of the revolution in public spaces.
In a panel discussion on digital spheres, Yasemin Celikkol, global postdoctoral scholar at the Institute for Advanced Study in the Global South (#IAS_NUQ) at Northwestern Qatar, presented her research on Japanese digital citizen diplomacy in Turkey. Drawing from her research paper on the intersection of digital diplomacy and citizen diplomacy titled Japanese Digital Citizen Diplomacy in Turkey, Celikkol examined how Japanese expats in Turkey have initiated bottom-up efforts toward the promotion of Japanese-Turkish intercultural communication and the potential of digital citizen diplomacy in furthering diplomatic goals.
“The diverse range of presentations by Northwestern Qatar faculty, students, and alumni reflects the university’s role as a key contributor to research and scholarship production on and from the region.”
Third-year student researcher and #IAS_NUQ Global Undergraduate Fellow Sashreek Garg ’25 also participated in this year’s conference, presenting his research project on gender stereotyping and harassment on social media in India. Along with Celikkol in the digital spheres panel, he discussed the portrayal of women in public positions, as well as the growing use of misinformation and disinformation on social media to silence and normalize gender stereotypes and attacks against Muslim minorities and female journalists critical of regional governments, specifically focusing on the case of Rana Ayyub.
Northwestern Qatar alums also left their mark at this year’s conference, with Hatim Rachdi ’20 presenting his study on gender and sexuality in the context of migration between the Middle East and Europe and Khadija Islow ’20 chairing a panel discussion on labor governance, identities, migration patterns, and resistance in the Gulf region and the broader Middle East featuring international labor, migration, and history scholars. In addition to faculty, students, and alumni's scholarly engagements, Northwestern Qatar also showcased #IAS_NUQ’s scholarly productions and programs at the conference exhibition space, where it was an exhibitor.
“Northwestern Qatar's active participation in the MESA conference reaffirms its position as a leading institution in the Middle East and the broader Global South,” said Marwan M. Kraidy, dean and CEO of Northwestern Qatar. “The diverse range of presentations by Northwestern Qatar faculty, students, and alumni reflects the university’s role as a key contributor to research and scholarship production on and from the region.”
With active engagement in such scholarly and professional venues around the world, Northwestern Qatar researchers continue to expand the global impact of scholarly output. Most recently, Professors Ilhem Allagui and Mohammed Ibahrine presented their scholarly work on media management developments as they participated in the 2023 International Media Management Association conference in Morocco, while a group of Northwestern Qatar students showcased their reporting projects in the Pulitzer Center's Washington Weekend 2023.
