Interdisciplinary Approaches to the Study of the Middle East and North Africa

The Middle East and North Africa Centre at Sussex (MENACS) invites proposals for paper presentations at a forthcoming postgraduate conference, to be held at the University of Sussex on 27-28 April 2017. The conference is designed as a broad forum that brings together UK-based PhD students working on the MENA region from any perspective. MENA here is defined in the broadest possible terms and includes Israel, Turkey, Iran and the central Asian states alongside countries in which Arabic is the majority language. We particularly welcome proposals that adopt interdisciplinary approaches and that reflect critically on the process of conducting interdisciplinary research, although we welcome any proposal that is pertinent to the study of MENA. In addition to the usual platform of presentations, the conference will provide a space for doctoral researchers, through the involvement of the Sussex Humanities Lab and the Sussex Centre for the Visual, to consider how visual, textual and digital sources might be brought into productive dialogue.

The conference is organised and funded through the Consortium of the Humanities and the Arts South-East England (CHASE) and is planned as the first of a regular bi-yearly event. Faculty members from across the CHASE group of universities (including from Sussex, SOAS and the Courtauld Institute of Art) will participate in the conference as panel chairs and commentators. This will ensure doctoral students receive critical feedback on their work from leading scholars who work on the MENA region from a variety of viewpoints.

Abstracts of 300 words should be sent to chasepgconference@gmail.com no later than 31 December 2016.

The organizers will be able to offer successful candidates funding for travel and accommodation (up to £50 per night) There is no registration fee.

For enquiries please contact menacs@sussex.ac.uk

Or visit the MENACS website www.sussex.ac.uk/menacs

Deadline: 31 December 2016