University of Pittsburgh

K- 16 educators and librarians are welcome to join CERIS member faculty for a discussion about the book Paradise Beneath Her Feet
How Women Are Transforming the Middle East by Isobel Coleman.

We are fortunate to have Dr. Michael McKale, Professor of Religious Studies, Director of the Institute for Ethics, Saint Francis University.

Please contact Elaine Linn at eel58@pitt.edu for a free book and to reserve a spot at the table. A light dinner is included.

This one credit mini-course is part of a series organized by regions around the world based on their role on the world stage, their importance within the Muslim world, and the critical influence they play in the global community. The series and course seeks to illuminate the various perspectives of the Muslim community around the world.

The conference on Turkey's Regional and Global Impact: From Kopru (Bridge) to Merkez (Center) has put out a call for papers. The conference will address Turkey's evolving role in regional and global affairs, its impact and foreign policy in relation to the Middle Eastern nations, and its relations with Russia, the EU/Europe, China and the US. Paper proposals are due December 1, 2013 and should be sent to crees@ku.edu. The conference will be held on Monday, March 3, 2014 at the University of Kansas.

Free and open to the public (we ask that your register at link below)

entative Schedule (Updated on 11/3/2013)

Friday, November 15, 2013 5:00 pm- 8:45 pm
5:15 pm – 5:30 pm Introductions
5:30 pm - 7:00 pm Azlan Tajuddin - "Historical Overview of the Region"
7:00 pm - 7:15 pm Break
7:15 pm - 8:45 pm Siddharth Chandra - "Views from the East and West"

The presentation will focus on:
• How can conflicts be resolved in states where extremist organizations seek their own territory?
• What does the Arab Spring mean for North and West Africa and what are the prospects of developing democracy in these regions?
• What are the challenges for weak states in trying to combat terrorism and revolution from the grassroot level?
• What makes this region different for analysts to understand?

Muhammad Ali was managed—“syndicated”—not by the mob (like many other fighters) but by the Nation of Islam (NOI). This paper explores how the NOI constructed Ali as a usable black body: a distinct, exemplary figure of black manhood. Ali’s refusal to enter Vietnam is in many ways ironic—he becomes the fighter who wouldn’t fight. He relies upon the disjuncture inherent in this distinction to highlight a strong sense of self-determination in service of the NOI syndicate.

This talk will focus on the transformation of the Syrian uprisings over the last two years and provide an analysis of both the geopolitical and grassroots forces. How can we begin to understand the conflict in Syria? Who are the different actors on the ground? What positions might we consider taking in this country?

Juan R.I. Cole is the Richard P. Mitchell Collegiate Professor of History at the University of Michigan. He has written extensively on modern Islamic movements in Egypt, the Persian Gulf and South Asia and has given numerous media interviews on the war on terrorism and the Iraq War. He lived in various parts of the Muslim world for nearly 10 years and continues to travel widely there.

Thursday, November 7
Humanities Center, 602 CL
4:00-6:00 p.m. - Lecture:
Joseph N. Cleary, Professor of English, Yale University, “The History of the Novel and Empire in the Works of Edward Said and Georg Lukács”

Friday, November 8, English Department, 501 CL
2:00-3:30 p.m. - Lecture:Aamir Mufti, Professor of Comparative Literature, UCLA, “The Late Style of Bandung Humanism”
4:00-6:00 p.m. – Reading:Nuruddin Farah, Distinguished Professor of Literature, Bard College, Reading from his recent fiction and taking questions