Women’s Studies Circle Discuss Convention to Eliminate Discrimination against Women

The Women’s Studies Circle made up of members from the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Qatar and Qatar University, led a Focused Discussion supported by CIRS on June 5, 2013. The discussion was moderated by Hatoon Al-Fassi, a women’s rights activist and historian teaching at Qatar University. During the discussion, a group of women from various academic and professional backgrounds discussed Qatar’s ratification of the Convention to Eliminate All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). The group focused specifically on Qatar’s reservations to CEDAW and its implications on gender equality. 

Arab Migrant Communities in the GCC Working Group I

On September 7–8, 2013, CIRS held a two-day working group to discuss, amongst other things, the economic and political push and pull factors of Arab migration to the region, the historical migration trajectory, the current conditions and varied experiences of Arab expatriates residing and working in the Gulf, as well as future trends in regional…

George Naufal on the Economics of GCC Migration

George Naufal, Assistant Professor of Economics at the American University of Sharjah and a ‎research fellow at the Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), delivered a CIRS Monthly ‎Dialogue lecture titled, “The Economics of Migration in the Gulf Cooperation Council ‎Countries” on September 9, 2013. The lecture mapped the history of non-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Arab workers…

AUB-CIRS Host Panel on Knowledge Translation

The Consortium of Arab Policy Research Institutes (CAPRI) at the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs (IFI) and the Center on Knowledge-to-Policy for Health at AUB collaborated with CIRS to host a workshop on September 12, 2013, entitled “Knowledge Translation: Bridging the Gap between Research and Policy II”. This one-day event brought together…

Luciano Zaccara on the Iranian Elections

Luciano Zaccara, Visiting Assistant Professor at Georgetown University SFS-Qatar, delivered a CIRS Focused Discussion on the topic, “Do Elections Matter? Reflections on the 2013 Iranian Presidential Polls” on September 30, 2013. Answering this question in the affirmative at the start of the lecture, he went on to explain why elections are so important to the Iranian political system.…

The Evolution of Gulf Global Cities Working Group I

On October 5–6, 2013, CIRS held a two-day working group under the research initiative “The Evolution of Gulf Global Cities.” Scholars from various multi-disciplinary backgrounds as well as urban practitioners and architects examined historical, social, economic and political aspects of urban transformations in the Persian Gulf. During the working group, group discussion bridged past and present…

Abdullah Al-Arian Lectures on the Muslim Brotherhood

Abdullah Al-Arian, Assistant Professor of History at the Georgetown University School of ‎Foreign Service in Qatar, delivered a CIRS Monthly Dialogue lecture titled “From Revolution to ‎Coup: Egypt and the Muslim Brotherhood” on October 7, 2013. ‎ Testament to Egypt’s importance in the Arab World, he argued that “whatever happens in Egypt ‎has a tremendous impact on the…

Micha Kurz on “Mobilizing Communities in Occupied Jerusalem”

Micha Kurz was born and raised in Jerusalem. During the second Intifada he learned about the ‎Israeli Occupation of Palestinian land and people first hand as an Israeli soldier. In 2004, he was ‎a co-founder of “Breaking the Silence” and has since focused his work in Al Quds-Jerusalem, “a ‎forgotten epicenter of the occupation. “Grassroots Jerusalem” has recently opened the doors to ‎Al Marsa (the Harbor), a Political Community Center and Legal Clinic built to counter the threat ‎on freedom of speech and assembly in Jerusalem today.‎ 

CIRS Research Roundtable

In order to enhance local research productivity, and build upon its established collegial ‎relationships with other research entities in Qatar, CIRS hosted a "Research Roundtable" on November 17, 2013. During this one-day event, academics, policy analysts, and representatives of research institutions and think tanks discussed their respective research initiatives and activities in an attempt to identify research…

The State and Innovation in the Gulf Working Group I

On December 8–9, 2013, CIRS held a working group to launch the State and Innovation in the Gulf Research Initiative. Regional and international scholars and experts from various multi-disciplinary backgrounds convened to discuss issues related to the pursuit of a knowledge-based economy (KBE) throughout various states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). Within the last decade, members of…

Zahra Babar on Arab Migrants in Qatar

Zahra Babar, Associate Director for Research at CIRS, delivered a CIRSMonthly Dialogue ‎lecture titled “Working for the Neighbors: Arab Migrants in Qatar” on December 11, 2013. Babar ‎proposed to examine some of…

Social Currents in the Maghreb Working Group I

On January 7-8, 2014, CIRS held its inaugural Social Currents in the Maghreb Working Group in Washington D.C. While much of the mainstream media and recent scholarship on the Maghreb has focused on…