The CMES Spotlight Series features presentations on current research by the faculty and students that constitute our diverse scholarly community across departments, initiatives, and programs at UCSB.
Spring 2024
May 16, 5:30 – 7 pm
Living Fossils: Anatomies of Race and Reproduction in Egypt
a talk by
Taylor M. Moore (UCSB, History)
This talk will be held at Girvetz 2320.
April 8, 9:30 -11 am via zoom
On the Borderland: Making Home, Making Music
a CMES graduate fellows panel
Ali Derafshi (History of Art & Architecture), Personmania, Persophobia, Persophilia: A Century of Self-fashioning with ‘Persian Architecture’ in California
Fîdel Kılıç (Music), Dreaming Kurdistan: Kurdish Experience of Cassettes
Abylay Stambayev (History), Making Home(s) in Displacement: the “Return Migration” of Kazakhs from China.
Kira Weiss (Music), National Sentiment(ality): How Music was Instrumental in the Making of Modern Egypt
Discussant: Prof. Bishnu Ghosh (Global Studies and English)
Click here to register for the webinar.
Winter 2024
March 1, 11am-12pm
Transnational Palestine
a book talk by
Nadim Bawalsa (Journal of Palestine Studies)
Moderator: Amy Fallas (UCSB History)
This talk will be held at HSSB 3001E. This event is co-organized by CMES, LAIS, and the Dept. of History.
February 22, 5:30-7pm
Sextarianism: Sovereignty, Secularism, and the State in Lebanon
a book talk by
Maya Mikdashi (Rutgers, Dept. of Women’s and Gender Studies)
Discussants: Sherene Seikaly (UCSB, History) and Shiva Balaghi (UCSB, AGI)
This talk will take place at the Loma Pelona Center. This event is co-organized by CMES & the Orfalea Center.
January 31, 5-7pm
Arabic Glitch
a book launch at McCune Conference Room, 6020 HSSB
Taking from the virtual and bringing back into the material, Laila Shereen Sakr will discuss her new book, Arabic Glitch: Technoculture, Data Bodies, and Archives, with George Legrady (Media Arts and Technology), Constance Penley (Film and Media Studies), and Sherene Seikaly (History).
This event is co-organized by CMES and Film & Media Studies, with IHC.
More info here.
January 31, 12:30-2 pm
Elastic Empire: Refashioning War through Aid in Palestine
a book talk by
Lisa Bhungalia (Kent State, Dept. of Geography)
This is a hybrid event, in person in SSMS 2001 and via zoom here.
Lunch will be served at noon.
January 22, 9 -10:30 am via zoom
Survival, Technology, & Science
a CMES graduate fellows panel
Anthony Greco (History), On Networks & Noise: Amin Sami, Islamicate Literature, and Modern Hydraulic Science
Tina Guirguis (Global Studies), Potty Politics: Hygiene & Sanitation as Method
Mary Michael (Film & Media Studies), Blueprinting the City: Bodily Erasure in Data Visualizations of Dubai
Jesse Wesso (History), Corn, Pigs & Settlers: Alienation & the Opening of Virgin Lands in Kazakhstan, 1953–1963
Discussant: Prof. Jean Beaman (Sociology)
Fall 2023
November 13, 11:30 am-1:00 pm
Palestine as Method
a CMES graduate fellows panel
Part of the CMES Spotlight Series, this panel features CMES Graduate Fellows Gehad Abaza (Anthropology), Amy Fallas (History), and Salma Shash (History) discussing how the question of Palestine has informed their research and methodologies from the ethnographic to the archival. Prof. Sherene Seikaly (History) will serve as the moderator.
*This is an in-person event at Girvetz 2320.
October 17, 7-9:30 pm
CWC Global: Lamya’s Poem
a film screening at Pollock Theater
The animated film Lamya’s Poem (2023) is an inspiring and timely tale about a twelve-year-old Syrian refugee girl named Lamya, who has a remarkable talent for poetry. Set against the backdrop of sweeping social change, Lamya’s journey highlights the transformative and cathartic power of art, demonstrating how it can serve as a source of solace and self-discovery.
Filmmaker Sam Kadi will join moderator Juan Campo (Religious Studies, UCSB) for a post-screening discussion of Lamya’s Poem.
For more information & to reserve your free ticket, click here.
This event is sponsored by the Carsey-Wolf Center, Religious Studies, & CMES.
Spring 2023
April 6, 4-5:30 pm
Al-Maqrizi’s Khitat: A Transhistorical Paean to Cairo
a public lecture by
Nasser Rabbat
(Aga Khan Professor of Islamic Architecture, MIT)
*This is an in-person event at Girvetz 2320, UCSB.
April 12, 4-5:30 pm
The Deccani Trails of the St Andrews Qur’an Manuscript
a public lecture by
Keelan Overton (Independent Scholar)
*This is an in-person event at HSSB 3001E.
Organized by the the King Abdul Aziz Ibn Saud Chair in Islamic Studies.
April 14, 9 am PT
The Land and What Lies Beneath It:
Food, Maps & Sanitation
a CMES Graduate Fellows Panel
Tina Guirguis (Global Studies), Potty Politics: The Biopolitics of Colonial Sanitation and Hygiene
Sebaah Hamad (Comparative Literature), Intimacy of Place: Palestinian Indigeniety, Collective Memory, & Countercartography
bridge mcwaid (History), Seeds, Taste, and Memory: The Ongoing Nakba
Discussant: Prof. Mona Damluji (Film & Media)
April 17, 4-6 pm
The Pasha’s New Clothes: The History Section of an 18th-Century Library from Acre
a public lecture by
Dana Sajdi (History, Boston College)
*This is an in-person event at HSSB 4080.
Organized by the the King Abdul Aziz Ibn Saud Chair in Islamic Studies.
April 19, 3:30-5 pm
Live, Die, Repeat: Burying and Resurrecting Iranian Pop Stars in Southern California
a public lecture by
Farzaneh Hemmasi (Ethnomusicology, University of Toronto)
*This is an in-person event at Music Library 2406.
Organized by CISM and co-sponsored by Ethnomusicology Forum, the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, and the Iranian Studies Initiative.
April 26, 3 pm PT
Asian American Activism: Drawing on History, Inspiring the Future
Panelists include: Diane Fujino, Professor, Asian American Studies, UCSB; Manjusha Kulkarni, Co-Founder, Stop AAPI Hate, and Executive Director, AAPI Equity Alliance; Melissa Borja, Assistant Professor, American Culture, University of Michigan, and Lead Investigator, Virulent Hate Project; Artnelson Concordia, Instructional Support Specialist for Ethnic Studies, Santa Barbara Unified School District; and Naomi Joseph, PhD candidate, Sociology, UCSB.
*This is a hybrid event, held in person at the UCSB Multicultural Center Theater and on YouTube Livestream here.
Organized by Capp Center and co-sponsored by CMES and other programs at UCSB. More info here.
April 26, 5 pm PT
Challenging Hate: How to Stop Anti-AAPI Violence and Bias
a public lecture by
Manjusha Kulkarni (Co-Founder, Stop AAPI Hate, and Executive Director, AAPI Equity Alliance)
*This is a hybrid event, held in person at the UCSB Multicultural Center Theater and on YouTube Livestream here.
Organized by Capp Center and co-sponsored by CMES and other programs at UCSB. More info here.
May 9, 8-11pm
Woman. Life. Freedom is a public art projection featuring 30 artworks by anonymous international artists. These monumental digital images, which will be projected onto the façade of the UCSB Art, Design & Architecture Museum, respond to systemic gender inequity and discrimination in Iran. As a gesture of solidarity, the works in this exhibition reflect the central message that a struggle for women’s right to self-determination affirms human dignity. Woman. Life. Freedom is a project of ArtRise Collective in collaboration with Mozaik Philanthropy. This event is hosted by the UCSB Arts & Lectures Justice for All series and is presented in association with the following campus partners: Art, Design & Architecture Museum, Department of Art, Area Global Initiative, Center for Middle East Studies, Feminist Futures Initiative, Iranian Studies Initiative, and the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. More information here.
May 26, 11 am PT
Women Negotiating Shariʿa, Zakon, and Adat in the Nineteenth Century Caucasus – A Microhistory
a CMES post-doctoral fellows talk by
Sergey Salushchev (History)
Winter 2023
February 1, 4-5:30 pm
Anthologizing the City of Isfahan: Family Archives and Urban Knowledge
a public lecture by
Kathryn Babayan (Department of Near Eastern Studies, University of Michigan)
* This is an in-person event at HSSB 4080, UCSB.
Organized by the the King Abdul Aziz Ibn Saud Chair in Islamic Studies.
February 2, 3 – 5 pm
Archival Practices Beyond the State: Microhistories of Households in early modern Isfahan
a graduate seminar by
Kathryn Babayan (Department of Near Eastern Studies, University of Michigan)
* This is an in-person seminar open only to UCSB graduate students; it will be held at Girvetz 2320.
Organized by the King Abdul Aziz Ibn Saud Chair in Islamic Studies.
February 10, 9 am PT
The Politics of the Everyday: Crime, Charity, & Economy
a CMES graduate fellows panel
Kareem Abdelbary (History), Reconfiguring Nationalism? The Limits of Egypt’s Economic Nationalism in the Context of 1919
Amy Fallas (History), “The First Duty of Charity:” The Coptic Hospital and the Making of a Sectarian Corridor in Twentieth Century Cairo
Isaac Miller (History), The Absence of Money: High and Low Monetary History in 19th and 20th century Egypt.
Salma Shash (History), Umdas and Criminals: Everyday Life of Justice in Nineteenth Century Rural Egypt.
Discussant: Adam Sabra (History)
February 23, 11:30 am PT
Understanding Geographies of Protest: Insights from Jordan
a public lecture by
Jillian Schwedler (CUNY, Hunter College)
* This in-person lecture will be held in McCune Conference Room, HSSB 6020.
Organized by the Orfalea Center for Global & International Studies and CMES.
Fall 2022
October 14, 9 am PDT
The Native Other: Language, Race, & Religion
a CMES graduate fellows panel
James Altman (Global Studies), How the Soviet Response to the Nationality Question Went Global
Gokh Alshaif (History), Leaving the Margins: Lessons from an Oceanic Yemen and its Muhamasheen
Noosha Uddin (Political Science), Labor Migration in a Low-Carbon Future: Evidence from Oil-Rich States in the Arabian Gulf
Discussant: Adrienne Edgar (History)
2021-22 Events
October 12, 5 pm PST
Ajib and Gharīb: Coptic Icons in their Islamic Context
Heather Badamo (History of Art and Architecture)
Discussant: Reem Taha (Comparative Literature)
Click here to register for the webinar.
November 5, 9 am PST
Shaping Self, Shaping Other: a CMES graduate fellows panel
Amy Fallas (History), Death of a Prime Minister: The Assassination of Boutros Ghali and the Origins of Egyptian Sectarianism, 1906-1911
Wael Hegazy (Religious Studies), Online Islamic Rituals and their Impact on Shaping the Muslim Communities
Ibrahim Mansour (History), Sufism, Philosophy, and the Reverberations of Power in Medieval Islamic Thought
Richard Nedjat-Haim (Comparative Literature), The Jews of the Middle East and North Africa: The Politics of Performance
Rachel Winter (History of Art and Architecture), The 1976 World of Islam Festival in Hindsight: Finding the Contemporary
Discussant: Dwight Reynolds (Religious Studies)
January 11, 5 pm PST
Guantanamo at 20: What We Haven’t Learned from This Debacle
Lisa Hajjar (Sociology)
Discussant: Gehad Abaza (Anthropology)
Click here to register for this webinar.
image credit: Steve Mumford
February 22,
6 pm PST
Saladin Commemorated: Palestinian and Jewish/Israeli Myths, 12th–21st Centuries
Daniella Talmon-Heller (Ben Gurion University)
Discussant: Stephen Humphreys (History)
Click here to register for this webinar.
February 25, 9 am PST
Infrastructure, Architecture: a CMES graduate fellows panel
Ali Derafshi (History of Art and Architecture), Memāri-e Irāni in California: Iranian and Persian-inspired Architecture in the Land of Sunshine
Samira Fathi (History of Art and Architecture), Architectural Patronage and Urbanization of Isfahan, 1700-1834
Anthony Greco (History), “The Greatest Irrigation Canal on Earth:” Muhammad Effendi Ismail’s Image of Infrastructure, Asyūṭ, 1900.
Tina Guirguis (Global Studies), Potty Politics: Toilets for the People?
Alice Kezhaya (Global Studies), Beirut’s EDL Building & Electricity Infrastructure’s Racializing Order
Discussant: Charmaine Chua (Global Studies)
April 14, 5 pm PST
Curating the Middle East
Shiva Balaghi (Area Global Initiative)
Discussant: Soha Saghazadeh (Film and Media)
Click here to register for this webinar.
Image credit: Pouran Jinchi artwork on view in Glitch, an exhibit at Tahrir Cultural Center, AUC.
April 23 – 24
April 29, 9 am PDT
Making, Breaking, Transgressing the State: a CMES graduate fellows panel
Gehad Abaza (Anthropology), “‘We Built it Bit by Bit’: Exile, Homemaking, and State Formation in Abkhazia”
Sarp Kurgan (Global Studies), “The Making of an Opposition: A Comparative Analysis on Turkish Progressive Thought and Intellectual-State Relations in the Middle East, 1930-1980”
Sergey Saluschev (History), “The ‘Strange’ Insurrection of 1866 and the Abolition of Slavery in Abkhazia”
Mesadet Sozman (Global Studies), “Kemalism’s New Woman: Women Intellectuals at the Intersection of Nationalism and Conservatism in 1935-46”
Leila Zonousi (Global Studies), “The New Middle Eastern Intellectual Diasporas in North America: Migrations from Iran, Egypt, and Turkey in the 2010s”
Discussant: Vladimir Hamed-Troyansky (Global Studies)
May 5, 5pm PDT
Book Discussion: Alaa Abd El-Fattah’s You Have Not Yet Been Defeated
A panel discussion with Sanaa Seif (filmmaker & activist), Sharif Abdel Kouddous (journalist), Laila Shereen Sakr (Film & Media), and Paul Amar (Global Studies).
* This is an in-person event at Wireframe Studio, 1410 Music Building, UCSB. Audience members must bring masks and wear them for the duration of the event.
Co-sponsored with Wireframe Studio and Orfalea Center for Global & International Studies. More info here.
May 10,
5 pm PDT
(Mis)/(Dis)Representation of Arabic Language in Israel
Rawia Hayik (Visiting Scholar UCLA; Senior Lecturer, Sakhnin Academic College for Teacher Education, Israel)
Discussant: Sherene Seikaly (History)