Middle Eastern Studies

Middle Eastern Studies

episodes

Interviews with scholars of the Middle East about their new books.

Anita R. Gohdes, "Repression in the Digital Age: Surveillance, Censorship, and the Dynamics of State Violence" (Oxford UP, 2023)

March 26, 2024

Repression in the Digital Age

Anita R. Gohdes
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Global adoption of the Internet has exploded, yet we are only beginning to understand the Internet's profound political consequences. Authoritarian st…

Sanjay Subrahmanyam, "Across the Green Sea: Histories from the Western Indian Ocean, 1440-1640" (U Texas Press, 2024)

March 26, 2024

Across the Green Sea

Sanjay Subrahmanyam
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Across the Green Sea: Histories from the Western Indian Ocean, 1440-1640 (University of Texas Press, 2024) by Dr. Sanjay Subrahmanyam presents a histo…

Rana AlMutawa, "Everyday Life in the Spectacular City: Making Home in Dubai" (U California Press, 2024)

March 26, 2024

Everyday Life in the Spectacular City

Rana AlMutawa
Hosted by Michael Johnston

Everyday Life in the Spectacular City: Making Home in Dubai (U California Press, 2024) is a groundbreaking urban ethnography that reveals how middle-c…

Laura Menin, "Quest for Love in Central Morocco: Young Women and the Dynamics of Intimate Lives" (Syracuse UP, 2024)

March 23, 2024

Quest for Love in Central Morocco

Laura Menin

Following the 2011 wave of revolutions and protests in North Africa and the Middle East, new discussions of individual freedoms emerged in the Morocca…

Eileen Kane et al., "Russian-Arab Worlds: A Documentary History" (Oxford UP, 2023)

March 20, 2024

Russian-Arab Worlds

Eileen Kane, Masha Kirasirova, and Margaret Litvin
Hosted by Tugrul Mende

The roots of the Arab world’s current Russian entanglements reach deep into the tsarist and Soviet periods. To explore those entanglements, Russian-Ar…

Yaacov Nir, "Establishment and History of the Cyprus Detention Camps for Jewish Refugees (1946-1949) (Cambridge Scholars, 2024)

March 19, 2024

Establishment and History of the Cyprus Detention Camps for Jewish Refugees (1946-1949).

Yaacov Nir
Hosted by Ari Barbalat

Yaacov Nir's Establishment and History of the Cyprus Detention Camps for Jewish Refugees (1946-1949) (Cambridge Scholars, 2024) explores the nature of…

Jörg Matthias Determann and Shoaib Ahmed Malik, "Islamic Theology and Extraterrestrial Life: New Frontiers in Science and Religion" (I. B. Tauris, 2024)

March 19, 2024

Islamic Theology and Extraterrestrial Life

Jörg Matthias Determann
Hosted by Roberto Mazza

Over the last thirty years, humanity has discovered thousands of planets outside of our solar system. The discovery of extraterrestrial life could be …

Stephanie Chasin, "British Jews and Imperial Service: Nationalism, Pan-Islamism and Zionism in Mandate Palestine and Colonial India" (I. B. Tauris, 2023)

March 17, 2024

British Jews and Imperial Service

Stephanie Chasin
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

In the wake of the devastating WWI, three Jews headed the most valuable territory in the British Empire in addition to a strategically important new a…

Julie Kalman, "The Kings of Algiers: How Two Jewish Families Shaped the Mediterranean World During the Napoleonic Wars and Beyond" (Princeton UP, 2023)

March 14, 2024

The Kings of Algiers

Julie Kalman
Hosted by Nicholas Gordon

On July 27th, 1827, the dey of Algiers struck the French consul over his country’s refusal to pay back its debts–specifically, to two Jewish merchant …

Sofia Rehman, "Gendering the Hadith Tradition: Recentering the Authority of Aisha, Mother of the Believers" (Oxford UP, 2024)

March 12, 2024

Gendering the Hadith Tradition

Sofia Rehman
Hosted by Tugrul Mende

Gendering the Hadith Tradition: Recentering the Authority of Aisha, Mother of the Believers (Oxford UP, 2024) presents for the first time a partial tr…

On America’s Blind Spot Towards the Palestinians: A Discussion with author Khaled Elgindy

March 9, 2024

On America’s Blind Spot Towards the Palestinians

Khaled Elgindy
Hosted by Paul Starobin

In their handling of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process over the decades, U.S. officials have displayed a “systemic blind spot” by alleviating pres…

Alexander Christie-Miller, "To the City: Life and Death Along the Ancient Walls of Istanbul" (Pegasus Books, 2024)

March 8, 2024

To the City

Alexander Christie-Miller
Hosted by Reuben Silverman

Walking along the crumbling defensive walls of Istanbul and talking to those he passes, Alexander Christie-Miller finds a distillation of the country’…

Jonathan A. C. Brown, "Slavery and Islam" (Oneworld Academic, 2019)

February 21, 2024

Slavery and Islam

Jonathan A. C. Brown
Hosted by SherAli Tareen

In his majestic and encyclopedic new book Slavery and Islam (Oneworld Academic, 2019), Jonathan A. C. Brown presents a sweeping analysis of Muslim int…

Christiane Gruber, “The Praiseworthy One: The Prophet Muhammad in Islamic Texts and Images" (Indiana UP, 2019)

February 18, 2024

The Praiseworthy One

Christiane Gruber

In our most recent public memory, images of the Prophet Muhammad have caused a great deal of controversy, such as satirical cartoons of Muhammad in Fr…

Daphna Sharfman, "Jerusalem in the Second World War" (Routledge, 2024)

February 18, 2024

Jerusalem in the Second World War

Daphna Sharfman
Hosted by Ari Barbalat

Daphna Sharfman's book Jerusalem in the Second World War (Routledge, 2024) is the first to present the unique story of the city of Jerusalem during th…

The Future of Afghanistan: A Discussion with Kate Clark

February 17, 2024

The Future of Afghanistan

Kate Clark

Ever since the Taliban victory in 2021 there has been very little prospect of significant change in Afghanistan. There is no rival to the Taliban and …

Adam Bursi, "Traces of the Prophets: Relics and Sacred Spaces in Early Islam" (Edinburgh UP, 2024)

February 17, 2024

Traces of the Prophets

Adam Bursi
Hosted by Shobhana Xavier

Adam Bursi’s Traces of the Prophets: Relics and Sacred Spaces in Early Islam (Edinburg University Press, 2024) uses writings by early Muslims to map a…

Hamza Hamouchene and Katie Sandwell, "Dismantling Green Colonialism: Energy and Climate Justice in the Arab Region" (Pluto Press, 2023)

February 16, 2024

Dismantling Green Colonialism

Hamza Hamouchene and Katie Sandwell

Just in Time - the urgent need for a just transition in the Arab region. The newly published book Dismantling Green Colonialism: Energy and Climate ju…

Sarah El-Kazaz, "Politics in the Crevices: Urban Design and the Making of Property Markets in Cairo and Istanbul" (Duke UP, 2023)

February 15, 2024

Politics in the Crevices

Sarah El-Kazaz
Hosted by Lamis Abdelaaty

In Politics in the Crevices: Urban Design and the Making of Property Markets in Cairo and Istanbul (Duke UP, 2023), Sarah El-Kazaz takes readers into …

Jewish War Ethics, Ancient to Contemporary: A Conversation with Rabbi Shlomo Brody

February 13, 2024

Jewish War Ethics, Ancient to Contemporary

Shlomo Brody
Hosted by Annika Nordquist

How should we think about violent accounts in the Bible? Why did Gandhi urge the Jews to turn a blind eye to anti-Semitism during World War II? What i…