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DTSTART:20210101T000000
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Moscow:20220320T180000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Moscow:20220320T193000
DTSTAMP:20260405T013005
CREATED:20220315T122259Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20220329T061254Z
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SUMMARY:How Has the World Cup 2022 Changed Qatar?
DESCRIPTION:Ever since Qatar was awarded the hosting rights for the FIFA World Cup 2022TM in December 2010\, the small state has been criticized for its human rights record in Western media\, particularly by British newspapers. In our panel\, we will discuss the changes that have taken place in Qatar in the last decade and the challenges that remain. We will also focus on migrant workers and women’s rights and how staging the world’s most remarkable sporting event has impacted the diversification of Qatar’s natural gas dependent economy\, and its relations with other countries in the region and worldwide. \n\n\n\n\n\nFeaturing: Danyel Reiche\, Amal Al-Malki\, Gerd Nonneman\, Alexis Antoniades\, Haya Al-Noaimi\, Max Tuñón.
URL:https://cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu/event/how-has-the-world-cup-2022-changed-qatar/
LOCATION:Education City\, Al Luqta St\, Ar-Rayyan\, Doha\, Qatar
CATEGORIES:CIRS Faculty Lectures,FIFA World Cup Series,Panels,Regional Studies
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Moscow:20220322T180000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Moscow:20220322T203000
DTSTAMP:20260405T013005
CREATED:20211110T080301Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20221129T110010Z
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SUMMARY:Harriet
DESCRIPTION:Film Synopsis:The extraordinary tale of Harriet Tubman’s escape from slavery and transformation into one of America’s greatest heroes\, whose courage\, ingenuity\, and tenacity freed hundreds of slaves and changed the course of history. \n\nContent Warning: violence & gore\, cruelty\, torture\, profanity\, alcohol consumption\, frightening. Rated R\, PG 18+\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nFree Screening  \n\nLOCATION: To be updated closer to the date. \n\nThe film was screened on March 22 and was followed by a community discussion facilitated by Professor Brittany Bounds  \n\n\nBrittany Bounds teaches critical thinking and social skills through U.S. History and American Military History to undergrads at TAMU-Q. She is also the co-chair of the Women’s Faculty Forum\, which supports female faculty\, academic staff\, and students at the university. She also advises the Engineering Entrepreneurship Society who encourage students to combine their engineering and business skills. Dr. Bounds further engages students through STEAM by putting the A into STEM through the annual Showcase of student projects that display creativity through video and poster. Dr. Bounds obtained her Ph.D. in U.S. History with an emphasis in social/cultural and military/diplomatic history at Texas A&M University in College Station. Her research centers on U.S. history and how its roots explain current debates in American society. Her dissertation explored the Silent Majority’s reaction to the social movements of the 60s: the response to civil rights\, campus liberals\, antiwar protesters\, racial riots\, and women’s liberation by examining written modes of communication from a media-silenced American majority. Her publications include topics on the Civil War\, 1960s culture\, and counterterrorism. \n\n\n\n 
URL:https://cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu/event/harriet/
LOCATION:Education City\, Al Luqta St\, Ar-Rayyan\, Doha\, Qatar
CATEGORIES:Race & Society
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Moscow:20220330T180000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Moscow:20220330T203000
DTSTAMP:20260405T013005
CREATED:20211118T094032Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260105T095146Z
UID:10001452-1648663200-1648672200@cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu
SUMMARY:Mediterranea & Al-Sit
DESCRIPTION:Mediterranea\n\nFilm Synopsis:The film depicts the Africans’ interaction with Italians\, and their lives as migrant workers\, which includes friendships and animosities\, boredom\, and temptation. \n\nContent Warning: violence\, gore\, profanity\, alcohol and drugs consumption\, smoking\, frightening & intense scenes\, sex & nudity\, PG 18+ \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nAl-Sit\n\nFilm Synopsis:In a cotton-farming village in Sudan\, 15-year-old Nafisa has a crush on Babiker\, but her parents have arranged her marriage to Nadir\, a young Sudanese businessman living abroad. Nafisa’s grandmother Al-Sit\, the powerful village matriarch\, has her own plans for Nafisa’s future. But can Nafisa choose for herself? \n\nContent: Short film\, in Arabic with English subtitles \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nThe screening followed a community discussion facilitated by Professor Trish Kahle. \n\n\nTrish Kahle is an Assistant Professor of history at Georgetown University Qatar. Her work focuses on history of energy\, work\, and politics in the modern United States and the world. Currently\, she is working on her first book\, which traces the emergence of energy citizenship—a form of national belonging defined by the rights and obligations of energy production\, distribution\, and consumption—from the coal mining workplace in the modern United States. A second project examines the role of utility companies in defining what counts as “energy work” by organizing both individuals and communities into energy producers and energy consumers. Her research has appeared in Labor\, the Journal of Energy History/ Revue d’Histoire de l’Énergie\, and American Quarterly. Support for my work has come from the Mellon Foundation\, the Jefferson Scholars Foundation at the University of Virginia\, the American Society for Environmental History\, the Western Association of Women Historians\, the Labor and Working-Class History Association\, the Center for the History of Business\, Technology\, and Society\, the University of Chicago\, and several research libraries.
URL:https://cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu/event/mediterranea_alsit/
LOCATION:Education City\, Al Luqta St\, Ar-Rayyan\, Doha\, Qatar
CATEGORIES:Race & Society,Sudan
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Asia/Qatar:20220413T180000
DTEND;TZID=Asia/Qatar:20220413T193000
DTSTAMP:20260405T013005
CREATED:20220421T084058Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230806T071749Z
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SUMMARY:Global Perspectives on Slavery and Freedom on Film
DESCRIPTION:The Webinar was a concluding panel discussion for our Cinematic Afterlives film series and aimed to discuss the stakes and challenges of portraying slavery and abolition through film from different perspectives and geographic contexts. \n\nSpeakers: Alyssa Sepinwall (California State University San Marcos)\, Dexter Gabriel (University of Connecticut)\, Parisa Vaziri (Cornell University) \, and Firat Oruc (Georgetown University in Qatar)Moderator: Trish Kahle (Georgetown University in Qatar) \n\n\n\n\n\nThis event is part of Cinematic Afterlives: Film and Memory in the Black Atlantic research project.
URL:https://cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu/event/global-perspectives-on-slavery-and-freedom-on-film/
LOCATION:Education City\, Al Luqta St\, Ar-Rayyan\, Doha\, Qatar
CATEGORIES:Panels,Race & Society
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Moscow:20220524T080000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Moscow:20220524T170000
DTSTAMP:20260405T013005
CREATED:20220612T073040Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240313T131830Z
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SUMMARY:Affects of Energy Transition Working Group I
DESCRIPTION:On May 24\, 2022\, the Center for International and Regional Studies at Georgetown University Qatar convened the first working group under its Energy and Affect Theory research project. The working group\, led by GU-Q faculty members Trish Kahle\, Firat Oruc\, and Victoria Googasian\, was held virtually and brought together multidisciplinary scholars to discuss their paper abstracts for written contributions that are being developed as a journal special issue. The participants engaged in focused discussions on cross-cutting themes of affect\, energy transition\, and labor that will inform all of the papers in the collection. \n\nAnimesh Chatterjee proposed a study of everyday experiences of energy in colonial Calcutta’s domestic spheres\, around 1875 – 1940s. His paper contribution builds on a larger book project which describes the social life of electricity in colonial Calcutta. He proposes to examine how class and social identities shaped the ways in which people interacted with and made meanings of different forms of energy\, especially electricity. His study focuses on the gendering of energy consumption in the domestic sphere\, as well as the politics of energy use in the context of colonialism and Bengali nationalism. \n\nEwan Gibbs’ paper assesses lives in energy industries\, focused on workers’ experiences in Britain’s coal and offshore oil and gas sector\, as well as in nuclear and conventional power generation. Using oral histories that were structured around telling life stories\, he examines how workers’ experiences incorporate reflections on local and national experiences of energy transitions. By concentrating on transition as a workplace and community experience\, Gibbs studies how workers made sense of movements from one source of energy to the other and how they implicated themselves within larger processes of economic change.  Through a contrast between experiences in the UK’s major energy sectors\, this article also contributes to understanding of distinctions between labor regimes as well as the commonalities that underlay conceptions of what it meant to be British energy workers. \n\nAnne Pasek’s contribution looks at how people see and sensorialize carbon. Pasek argues that while carbon is dominant in everyday life and industrial processes\, it is not always visible. Her paper will look at the sensorial politics of carbon in carbon removal and sequestration\, examining how the process is tied up in energy transitions more broadly. Pasek also seeks to examine the experiences of carbon removal workers and their emotional and affective stakes for the work they do. Her aim is to map their affective involvement in their work on behalf of the climate system. Pasek proposes to study these processes by bringing together the labor theory of value with affect theory. \n\nVictoria Googasian will contribute a paper that explores a sub-genre of science fiction\, the space opera. These literary works imagine human life centuries into the future and involve interplanetary and interstellar travel. Googasian explained that while space operas texts narrate human futures that depend on vast reserves of energy\, they rarely explore questions of where the energy is to come from or what kinds of energy transitions may underwrite their worldbuilding. Instead\, they maintain a fantasy of endless imperial expansion and human power over material environments. However\,  throughout the history of the genre\, space opera also imagines characters who are materially embedded in their energy systems and characterized by embodied vulnerability. Taking these characters as a starting point\, Googasian aims to study whether this seemingly reactionary genre might have an alternative energy imaginary that is grounded in humility\, finitude\, and limits of energetic life. \n\nIn order to generate new possibilities and identify connections between their scholarship\, the group was divided into several smaller break-out sessions where participants were invited to deliberate on particular themes and concepts. In the first break-out session\, the four paper contributors were asked to think through and highlight questions of time and space in relation to affect in their own work. For the second breakout session\, the participants explored the theme of labor in regards to identity/subjectivity and values/structures. The last session focused specifically on transition and questions on modes of perception and narrative and obscurity. Finally\, the participants reconvened as a complete group to share some of the main questions and takeaways from the break-out sessions and discuss how these will be developed and addressed in the final drafts of the paper contributions. \n\nThe second working group for the project will be held in September 2022\, in which participants will discuss and get feedback on their draft papers. \n\n\nTo view the working group agenda\, click here\n\n\n\nTo read the participants’ biographies\, click here\n\n\n\nRead more about this research initiative\n\n\nParticipants and Discussants:  \n\n\nZahra Babar\, CIRS – Georgetown University in Qatar\n\n\n\nMisba Bhatti\, CIRS – Georgetown University in Qatar\n\n\n\nDominic Boyer\, Rice University\n\n\n\nAnimesh Chatterjee\, Technische Universität Darmstadt\n\n\n\nEwan Gibbs\, University of Glasgow\n\n\n\nVicky Googasian\, Georgetown University in Qatar\n\n\n\nTrish Kahle\, Georgetown University in Qatar\n\n\n\nFirat Oruc\, Georgetown University in Qatar\n\n\n\nAnne Pasek\, Trent University \n\n\n\nElizabeth Wanucha\, CIRS – Georgetown University Qatar\n\n\nArticle by Misba Bhatti\, Research Analyst at CIRS
URL:https://cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu/event/affects-of-energy-transition-working-group-i/
LOCATION:Education City\, Al Luqta St\, Ar-Rayyan\, Doha\, Qatar
CATEGORIES:American Studies,Regional Studies
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Moscow:20220801T080000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Moscow:20220801T170000
DTSTAMP:20260405T013005
CREATED:20200326T124647Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240313T131801Z
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SUMMARY:CURA Seminar: Football in the Middle East
DESCRIPTION:On March 19\, 2020\, the Center for International and Regional Studies (CIRS) held a CURA seminar under its Undergraduate Research Advancement program. This is an opportunity for CURA Fellows to discuss new articles from scholars who have submitted to CIRS’s regional research initiative on “Football in the Middle East.” In observing local regulations for the prevention of the spread of COVID-19\, the seminar was hosted online through Zoom. Two papers were critiqued\, and feedback from the CURA Fellows was gathered to later share with the research working group.  \n \n \nKhushboo Shah (class of 2022) opened the seminar by presenting Danyel Reiche’s paper “Playing in the triple periphery: Exclusionary policies towards Palestinian football in Lebanon.” The paper explores the development of policy toward Palestinian football players in Lebanon through a chronological survey of policies and interviews with scholars and players. The author describes a gradual restriction of Palestinian football players through a series of quotas and fees imposed to restrict their number. Through a comparative perspective\, Reiche emphasizes the relative lack of opportunities and flexibility Palestinian players have in Lebanon compared to those in Israel and Jordan. \n \n \nChaïmaa Benkermi (class of 2021) led the second half of the seminar by presenting Thomas Ross Griffin’s “Who Kisses the Badge? The Player’s Perspective in the Performance of National Identity in the Qatar National Team.” Griffin uses literary and social media analysis to understand the performance of nationalism of players in the Qatari National Football team. The author divides the players into three categories: those who were born Qatari (jus sanguinis)\, non-Qataris born in Qatar (jus soli)\, and naturalized players from Europe and North Africa (jus talenti). Griffin argues that players from all three groups express Qatari nationalism in similar ways despite their different origins\, particularly in their embrace of the image of the Emir and the anthem Shoomila Shoomila. \n \n \nFollowing the presentations\, CURA fellow engaged in an in-depth discussion about the structure\, theoretical framework\, sources\, and clarity and strength of each paper. While analyzing the papers’ significance to the current scholarship of Football in the Middle East\, CURA fellows use the research and analytical skills they learn on the job and through various CURA activities to contribute to their assessments.  \n \n \nFollowing the seminar\, Salma Hassabou (class of 2022) and Shaza Afifi (class of 2022) will serve as ambassadors to present the comments to the working group on “Football in the Middle East\,” which will be held on a virtual platform in early April. \n \n \n\nFor the participants’ biographies\, please click here\n\n \nArticle by Ngoc Nguyen\, CURA Research Fellow
URL:https://cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu/event/cura-seminar-football-middle-east/
LOCATION:Education City\, Al Luqta St\, Ar-Rayyan\, Doha\, Qatar
CATEGORIES:Regional Studies,Student Engagement
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Moscow:20220801T080000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Moscow:20220801T170000
DTSTAMP:20260405T013005
CREATED:20221214T074906Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20221214T075033Z
UID:10001489-1659340800-1659373200@cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu
SUMMARY:CURA Paper Series Seminar
DESCRIPTION:On April 9\, 2020\, CIRS held the CURA Paper Series Seminar with a presentation by Adithi Sanjay\, a GU-Q junior majoring in International Politics\, and the winner of the Spring 2020 CURA Paper Series Competition. The CURA program launched the competition under its paper series initiative\, which allows selected research papers to be published after editorial review\, feedback\, and revisions. Sanjay’s paper\, titled “The Creation and Mobilization of Anti-China Sentiment by Interest Groups in Indian Society (2012-2018)\,” was chosen as the winner of the competition from a competitive pool of submitted papers. \n \n \nThe winner of the competition had the opportunity to work with CIRS staff to elevate her research work with the goal of being published by the end of the semester. The seminar was organized to provide the student with professional development experience through presenting the paper to GU-Q peers and receiving their feedback. Due to COVID-19 related restrictions and to accommodate participants from various countries\, Sanjay presented her research on anti-China sentiment in India via a Zoom meeting\, which was attended by CURA fellows and CIRS staff.   \n \n \nSanjay’s research methodology allowed for a micro-level analysis of the contemporary mobilization of anti-China protests in India. Using a global news monitoring and aggregation database that sourced more than 30\,000 newspaper articles\, she was able to compile a unique dataset cataloging anti-China protests on a state and regional level in India. The research scope covered anti-China protests from 2012 to 2018\, a period spanning the incumbency of two Indian prime ministers as well as two military confrontations at the Sino-Indian border. Sanjay emphasized that anti-China sentiment in India has significant “implications for the level of [Sino-Indian] cooperation on economic\, sociocultural\, and political bases.” Her analysis focused on the six major drivers of anti-China sentiment that emerged as recurring themes across various anti-Chinese protest events: border tensions\, economic tensions\, religious tensions\, historical and current oppression of Tibetans\, Chinese support for Pakistan\, and Chinese ministers’ visits to India. \n \n \nSanjay stated that “given the sheer size of the Indian population\, [the] generalization of anti-China sentiment on a national level is problematic in that it glosses over the nuances of the issues driving public opinion of China in India\,” As such\, her research fills the gap in the preexisting literature on perceptions of China in India by analyzing the creation and mobilization of anti-China sentiment by three broad categories of stakeholders: non-political civil society organizations\, political parties\, and their affiliates\, and the Indian central government.  \n \n \nThe seminar began with the presenter’s remarks on the results and findings of her research and was followed by the question and answer portion that allowed for a fruitful discussion with every participant offering input. Sanjay shared that a limitation of her methodology is media bias\, given that “small-size protests are not reported [in regional and national-level newspapers] and therefore considered ‘non-existent.’” As such\, Sanjay suggested that data triangulation would enhance her research\, as it would allow for the incorporation of ethnographic sources with her existing analysis of news reports. Sanjay concluded\, “I enjoyed this experience\, and I am grateful for all of your suggestions to improve on my paper and get it ready for publication.”  \n \n \nSanjay’s winning paper will be published by CIRS in June 2020 and will be the inaugural paper published under the CURA Paper Series.  \n \n \n\nFor the participants’ biographies\, please click here\n\n \n  \n \n \nArticle by J.I\, CURA Research Fellow
URL:https://cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu/event/cura-paper-series-seminar/
LOCATION:Education City\, Al Luqta St\, Ar-Rayyan\, Doha\, Qatar
CATEGORIES:Student Engagement
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Moscow:20220808T170000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Moscow:20220809T193000
DTSTAMP:20260405T013005
CREATED:20220901T063422Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240313T131723Z
UID:10001470-1659978000-1660073400@cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu
SUMMARY:Global Histories and Practices of Islamophobia Working Group I
DESCRIPTION:On August 8 and 9\, 2022\, the Center for International and Regional Studies (CIRS) organized the first research meeting under its initiative on Global Histories and Practices of Islamophobia. The meeting was held as a virtual event\, with scholars participating from various geographical locations. The meeting aimed to discuss the submitted abstract proposals\, which were solicited through a Call for Papers and submissions by invited scholars. The convened academics and experts from various multi-disciplinary backgrounds discussed issues related to global Islamophobia beyond the question of war on terror and fear and hatred of Islam and Muslims post 9/11.The conversation was initiated by Anne Norton\, who argued that despite Western political thought relying  upon Muslim philosophy\, it was often figured only as an allusive erasure in portrayals of the canonical.  The palimpsest formed by this layering of influences and erasures conceals and reveals the place of Muslim thought\, philosophical and religious\, in Western religion and philosophy. The objective of the paper will work to articulate the constitutive effects of this palimpsest. Along with the sequestration of Muslim thought in politics and philosophy\, the paper will show how the West bounded and confined aspects of its own intellectual inquiries.  Norton will diagnose the effects of an  Enlightenment settlement that foreclosed both a full engagement with thinking about the divine in the West.Salman Sayyid shifted the discussion to the question of the emergence of the Islamophobic State. He argued that there was a need to broaden the geography and deepen the history to understand Islamophobia. The term is often understood as a problem that applies to Muslim minorities but not to Muslim majority states. The emergence of an Islamophobic state\, which is a specific form of state\, has a distinct ensemble of institutions and administrative processes and covers an astonishing range of political forms. The Islamophobic State not only targets expressions of Muslimness but in its efforts to discipline the Muslims\, builds up an internationally sanctioned system of surveillance and restriction\, which can be easily applied to other social actors. The paper will aim to explain this emergence of the Islamophobic State as a project to rewrite social contracts and transform relations between the ruled and the rulers. The question of self-determination in relation to Islamophobia in Indian-Occupied Kashmir was raised by Hafsa Kanjwal. She stated that the development of Islamophobia in India is a combined result of both secular-liberal and Hindutva ideologies. While secularism is used in India to forcibly depoliticize Muslim identity\, Hindutva views Muslims as being subservient to the Hindu identity of the nation. Using the example of Occupied Kashmir\, the paper will look at how the relevance of Islam is dismissed as a category for the modern state and how the state attempts to subvert Muslim agency and self-determination. The main argument made was that the essential character of Indian nationalism is Islamophobic\, which not only erases Muslim markers in public sites and normalizes violence and bigotry toward Muslims\, but also views the Muslim demand for sovereignty or self-determination with suspicion and as a rejection of the liberal secular nation-state order.Shereen Fernandez then directed the conversion to examine the sea as a site for practices of Islamophobia. She argued that there is a gap in the literature that neglects to examine how the sea has been used as a space to practice Islamophobia. To fill this gap\, her paper will look at the historical practices of transporting Muslim prisoners\, by the British in the 1850s\, to a penal colony in the Andaman Islands on a ship and study their experiences as colonial convicts. The latter part of the paper will link this history to the Islamophobia experienced by detainees at Guantánamo Bay (GTMO) during the War on Terror post 9/11. With this contribution\, Fernandez aims to explore the centrality of the sea as a site which perpetuates the spatialization of Islamophobia as exemplified in the treatment of Muslim prisoners.Oli Charbonneau’s discussion examined the role of Islam and manifestations of Islamophobia in the Colonial Philippines from 1899 to the 1920s. He argued that prejudicial thinking about Muslims in the region is the result of several discourses. These resulted in systematic control over the Muslim population via militarized violence and cultural-political overhaul. Charbonneau’s paper will aim to study the archival materials from U.S. foreign relations\, Philippine Studies; and Islamic Southeast Asian Studies to illustrate the contemporary American ideas about and actions towards Islamic societies. Using Southern Philippines as a case study Charbonneau will also aim to present Islamophobia in Southeast Asia as a set of beliefs rather than a uniform practice.Valentin Duquet led the discussion on Islamophobia in “Algerianist” settler colonial literature which came out in the first half of the 1900s. During this era\, Algeria was a region of the French Republic. Analyzing three “pied-noir” novels of the Interwar period as historical archives\, his paper will examine the representation of the Muslim native\, which Duquet explains is key to understanding Islamophobia under French colonialism as well as its brutal unwinding a few decades later. In these novels\, the Muslim figures are often relegated to the background\, erased\, or replaced with “Berber” characters which are often Christian\, pagan\, or vaguely Mediterranean. This erasure\, he argues\, is symptomatic of the symbolic violence of French assimilation which denied even the name “Algerian” from Maghrebi Muslims.Ali Alsmadi discussed the role of Spanish Islam and highlighted the treatment of the Moriscos’ literature in the scholarship. Alsmadi argued that Islam is viewed by the orientalist scholars as an imported religion and not part of indigenous Spanish culture and heritage. In his paper\, Alsmadi will shed light on the current political denial to recognize the Moriscos’ language and literature which is deeply rooted in past practices. His analysis will demonstrate how the 19th and 20th-century scholarship and its understanding of the Moriscos were biased and show literary and cultural linkages between Morisco literature and contemporary Spanish authors that reflect cross-religious influences that are unique to the Iberian Peninsula.First Oruc then shifted the focus of the discussion to Islamophobia in Turkey and the fear of Islam in the Turkish Republican era. Oruc narrated that after the demise of the Ottoman Empire\, the Kemalist founding elites and the Turkish intelligentsia claimed Islam to be a “spiritual malaise” from which the Turkish nation had to recover. Their concept of modern Turkey envisioned the adoption of Westernizing state nationalism. The Ottoman era was viewed as the repression of the Turk and Turkish cultural values\, with Islam seen as the main threat to Turkey’s emergence as a modern republic state. Through examining Turkish cultural and literary texts Oruc aims to explore the historical manifestation of fear of Islam and its aftermaths in Turkey and also examine how some of the similar paradigms of Islamophobia may reoccur in other Muslim majority societies.Thomas Simsarian Dolan addressed the question of “Arab Money” and Global capitalism. Dolan argued that in the selective economic discourse\, Muslims are seen as non-normative economic actors. This form of Islamophobia\, Dolan stated\, builds on Orientalist theory that deepened during the Cold War\, and labels Muslims as a security threat to the Western financial system in need of economic and political discipline. Adding to the existing work of scholars such as Deepa Kumar\, Moustafa Bayoumi\, and Mahmood Mamdani\, Dolan and his co-author Zaynab Quadri aim to explore this strand of Islamophobia by tracing the transnational political economies in which both the flow of global capital and people are simultaneously curtailed. \n\nMuneeza Rizvi highlighted contestations over the Palestinian struggle being characterized as an “Islamic issue.” She focused on voices that\, on one hand\, are critical of the orientalist accounts that portray the creation of Israel as a feud between Muslims and Jews\, and on the other\, suggest that the designation “Islamic” necessarily excludes other analytical framings of the issue\, such as settler colonialism. Rizvi argued that secular assumptions about politics and religion structure these colloquial debates\, as well as parallel academic trajectories within Middle East Studies.Farid Hafez directed the discussion toward the geopolitics of Islamophobia and stated that the notion of political Islam has been used by centrist governments in Europe to exclude Muslims from the public sphere\, silence critical voices\, and crack down on Muslim communities. This discourse is an extension of the narrative on countering extremism and the global war on terror. Hafez aims to study how attempts to silence Muslims transcends beyond the West. Using a geopolitical lens\, he will look into UAE’s attempts to shape the discourse on domesticating Muslims in Europe and US and into pro-Israeli interest in cracking down on Muslim political agency in the West. He will try to draw linkages and differences between these practices and Islamophobia in Europe.Abdullah Arian shared Sanober Umar’s thoughts on race-making and religion in colonial and post-colonial India. The participants were encouraged to deliberate over issues such as; prevailing colonial attitudes towards Islam in India\, the use of religion to differentiate between Hindus and Muslims as separate “races” and the viewing of Muslims as being dangerous and barbaric compared to Hindus who could be co-opted into the British colonial system.The participants will take the constructive feedback their abstracts received and begin writing draft papers\, which will be circulated among the group before the second working group meeting. At the subsequent meeting\, scholars will critique each other’s papers and provide in-depth commentary. \n\n\nTo view the working group agenda\, click here\n\n\n\nTo read the participants’ biographies\, click here\n\n\n\nRead more about this research initiative\n\n\nParticipants and Discussants:  \n\n\nAbdullah Al-Arian\, Georgetown University in Qatar\n\n\n\nAli Alsmadi\, Indiana University Bloomington\, US\n\n\n\nZahra Babar\, CIRS – Georgetown University in Qatar\n\n\n\nMisba Bhatti\, CIRS – Georgetown University in Qatar\n\n\n\nOli Charbonneau\, University of Glasgow\n\n\n\nThomas Simsarian Dolan\, American University in Cairo\n\n\n\nValentin Duquetis\, University of Texas at Austin\n\n\n\nShereen Fernandez\, London School of Economics and Political Science\n\n\n\nFarid Hafez\, Georgetown University\n\n\n\nHafsa Kanjwalis\, Lafayette College\n\n\n\nSuzi Mirgani\, CIRS – Georgetown University in Qatar\n\n\n\nAnne Norton\, University of Pennsylvania\n\n\n\nFirat Oruc\, Georgetown University in Qatar\n\n\n\nZaynab Quadri\, Ohio State University\n\n\n\nMuneeza Rizvi\, University of California\, Berkeley\n\n\n\nSalman Sayyid\, University of Leeds\n\n\n\nSanober Umar\, York University\n\n\n\nElizabeth Wanucha\, CIRS – Georgetown University Qatar\n\n\n\nKarine Walther\, Georgetown University in Qatar\n\n\n\nClyde Wilcox\, Georgetown University in Qatar\n\n\nArticle by Misba Bhatti\, Research Analyst at CIRS
URL:https://cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu/event/global-histories-and-practices-of-islamophobia-working-group-i/
LOCATION:Education City\, Al Luqta St\, Ar-Rayyan\, Doha\, Qatar
CATEGORIES:American Studies,Regional Studies
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2022/08/Screenshot-2022-08-25-134459-1.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Moscow:20220811T130000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Moscow:20220818T150000
DTSTAMP:20260405T013005
CREATED:20220911T093356Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20221129T105737Z
UID:10001473-1660222800-1660834800@cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu
SUMMARY:CURA Workshop: Writing Women into Wikipedia: Information Creation and Peer Review
DESCRIPTION:On August 11 and 18\, 2022\, CIRS hosted a two-part workshop for undergraduate students titled\, “Writing Women into Wikipedia: Information Creation and Peer Review.” The workshop was offered under the CIRS Undergraduate Research Advancement (CURA) Program\, and was co-led by GU-Q Faculty Professor Phoebe Musandu\, and Paschalia Terzi\, GU-Q Librarian. \n\n\nThis workshop taught me to create and edit the websites\, but also learn to respect other works as well by giving valuable and reasonable feedback while making the necessary edits/suggestions. Throughout this process\, I got to further develop my research skills\, especially when you need to find out an information about someone who is not well known in online platforms when you try researching in English. \n– Nafisa Sagdullaeva\, GU-Q Class of 2026\n\nOver the course of two days\, 15 Georgetown University in Qatar and Northwestern University in Qatar students learned about the information creation and peer review process using Wikipedia articles as a model. The workshop was adapted by Terzi from a recent project report published in the Journal of Information Literacy (Thomas\, Jones & Mattingly\, 2021). Professor Musandu opened the workshop with a presentation contextualizing the themes and goals of the workshop in the bigger picture of the bias that is presented in Wikipedia. Her presentation highlighted the importance of analyzing information sources to determine whose voices are represented\, and whose are being left out. \n\nWikipedia is an online encyclopedia that relies on a community of editors to create\, revise\, and remove articles from the website based on Wikipedia’s policies and guidelines. It is a common misperception that anyone can write or edit anything on Wikipedia at any time without oversight. While this is true to an extent\, what is often not known is that every article and edit is reviewed by experienced Wikipedia editors who will remove the edits or article itself if found to be outside of Wikipedia’s policies and guidelines. Information presented in Wikipedia articles should be from a neutral point of view\, verifiable\, and not original research. \n\nProfessor Musandu explained how bias enters into Wikipedia – evidenced not only in the authors and subjects of articles\, but also within the community of editors. Since Wikipedia’s guidelines require all information in articles to be verifiable\, only secondary sources may be used to source articles. Professor Musandu explained why this can be an issue – authors of secondary sources may insert their own biases into their work\, which is then replicated in the Wikipedia article. Secondary sources reflect the social norms\, mores\, and values that were evident at the time of writing\, thus perpetuating the biases through generations. \n\n\n\nI learnt how I can critically review the articles posted on Wikipedia\, and post my own and ultimately become a Wikipedian. \n– Zarrish Ahmed\, GU-Q Class of 2026\n\n\nIn this workshop\, students focused on the underrepresentation of women in the world of Wikipedia. Regarding the content of Wikipedia itself\, women are underrepresented in articles. Within articles themselves\, how women are represented is often very narrow and reduced to their role in relationship to a male\, or relegated to matters of social and purely feminine affairs\, advancing unhelpful stereotypes. For example\, in the Wikipedia article “Women in Qatar\,” the first sentence is “Women’s rights in Qatar are restricted by the country’s male guardianship law and influenced by the Wahhabi interpretation of Islam” (Wikipedia\, 2022). \n\nWomen are also underrepresented in the community of Wikipedia editors. In addition to the fewer number of women editors\, Shane-Simpson and Gillespie-Lynch (2017) suggest five reasons for the gender gap\, including the inclination of women to discuss more and edit content less\, perception and interaction with other editors\, and gender issues in quantity of leisure time available. This is why the workshop focused specifically on women and Wikipedia. It is the hope of the facilitators that students will choose to become Wikipedia editors themselves. \n\nAfter the presentation\, students worked in groups to write articles about Qatari women in the fields of politics\, science\, education\, art\, and business. During the second session on August 18\, the facilitators gave each group the article of another group in an anonymous manner to review in a peer review exercise. At the end of the two-part Workshop\, students had the opportunity to publish their articles and engage with the global community of Wikipedia editors on their biographical contributions. As Anupa Khanal\, GU-Q class of 2026 stated after the workshop\, “I would like to devote more time on writing articles on women who are unrepresented and also work on peer reviews.” \n\nWatch a video of the presentation by Professor Phoebe Musandu and Paschalia Terzi here. \n\n\n\n\n\nArticle by Elizabeth Wanucha\, CIRS Operations Manager
URL:https://cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu/event/cura-workshop-writing-women-into-wikipedia-information-creation-and-peer-review/
LOCATION:Education City\, Al Luqta St\, Ar-Rayyan\, Doha\, Qatar
CATEGORIES:Student Engagement
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2022/09/BB6I9625.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Asia/Qatar:20220815T180000
DTEND;TZID=Asia/Qatar:20220815T193000
DTSTAMP:20260405T013005
CREATED:20220824T083409Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230326T123654Z
UID:10001469-1660586400-1660591800@cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu
SUMMARY:Football in the Middle East: State\, Society\, and the Beautiful Game
DESCRIPTION:A tour d’horizon exploring how the world’s best-loved game is affecting people\, societies and governments across the region. \n\nFar and away the most popular sport in the world\, football has a special place in Middle Eastern societies\, and for Middle Eastern states. With Qatar hosting the 2022 FIFA World Cup\, this region has been cast into the global footballing spotlight\, raising issues of geopolitical competition\, consumer culture and social justice. \n\nPanelists: Zahra Babar (Center for International and Regional Studies at Georgetown University in Qatar)\, Ross Griffin (Qatar University)\, Craig LaMay (Northwestern University in Qatar)\, and Danyel Reiche (Georgetown University in Qatar)  \n\nModerator: Abdullah Al-Arian (Georgetown University in Qatar) \n\nLocation: 3-2-1 Qatar Olympic and Sports Museum
URL:https://cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu/event/football-in-the-middle-east-state-society-and-the-beautiful-game/
LOCATION:Education City\, Al Luqta St\, Ar-Rayyan\, Doha\, Qatar
CATEGORIES:Panels,Regional Studies
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2022/08/GM7_5681-2.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Moscow:20220829T180000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Moscow:20220829T190000
DTSTAMP:20260405T013005
CREATED:20220823T063300Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240313T131630Z
UID:10001468-1661796000-1661799600@cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu
SUMMARY:The World Cup and Women's Empowerment in Qatar
DESCRIPTION:In 2010\, Qatar was chosen to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Only two years later in 2012\, the first Qatari woman competed in the Olympic Games. This panel discussion will look at the impact of hosting the first World Cup in the Middle East on women’s participation in sports\, as well as their rights and lived experiences in the country. \n\nPanelists: Zarqa Parvez Abdullah (Georgetown University in Qatar)\, Afraa Al-Noaimi (Josoor Institute)\, Susan Dun (Northwestern University in Qatar) \n\nModerator: Danyel Reiche (Georgetown University in Qatar) \n\nLocation: CIRS Conference Room\, Georgetown University in Qatar
URL:https://cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu/event/the-world-cup-and-womens-empowerment-in-qatar/
LOCATION:Education City\, Al Luqta St\, Ar-Rayyan\, Doha\, Qatar
CATEGORIES:FIFA World Cup Series,Panels,Regional Studies
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2022/08/BB6I9861111-scaled.jpeg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Moscow:20220905T080000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Moscow:20220905T170000
DTSTAMP:20260405T013006
CREATED:20220927T071743Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240313T131600Z
UID:10001475-1662364800-1662397200@cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu
SUMMARY:Affects of Energy Transition Working Group II
DESCRIPTION:On September 5\, 2022\, the Center for International and Regional Studies held a second working group under its research initiative on Energy Humanities. The meeting was organized as a hybrid event\, which allowed for both in-person and virtual participation. The convened scholars received critical feedback and commentary on the draft chapters that they had submitted prior to the meeting. \n\nAnimesh Chatterjee initiated the discussion with his paper titled\, “Everyday Experiences of Energy in Colonial Calcutta’s Domestic Spheres\, c. 1875-1940s.” He explained that in late-nineteenth and early twentieth century Calcutta\, appeared in Calcutta as both a source of illumination in public and domestic spaces\, and as a complex metaphor in the intellectual articulations of contemporary social and political thoughts. Using the metaphor of braiding\, Chatterjee’s article provides a contemporary recollection of colonial and nationalist debates over electric use in domestic and public spaces and looks at ways in which historical narratives influence these affective engagements. The paper examines and analyzes differing positions of address and representations of electricity both as a symbol of material and cultural progress\, and as a symbol of “Western” modernity and material culture harmful to the Bengali individual\, family\, and society. Overall\, the paper highlights how electricity accentuated heterogenous views on modernity\, nationalism\, and culture within Bengali society. \n\nEwan Gibbs then led a discussion on his paper\, “Lives in Energy: Understanding Testimonies from Britain’s Coal\, Power\, and Oil Sectors.” Gibbs argued that across various energy sectors\, including coal\, oil\, gas\, and nuclear\, workers engaged in energy generation have a common view of their centrality to the British economy but also share a sense of invisibility in dominant public debates. These trends have magnified through the privatization of electricity since the 1990s\, concurrent with the broader impacts of deindustrialization\, which have left skilled manual workers peripheral to Britain’s economic imaginary. This paper addresses the role of labor in energy histories using worker testimonies collected in life-story oral histories from Scotland\, England\, and Wales. Gibbs aims to shed light on workplace experiences since the middle of the twentieth century\, a period marked by major changes in Britain’s energy economy including the building of large new power stations under public ownership\, the contracting significance of coal mining and burning\, and the beginning and maturing of new form of generation including North Sea oil and gas extraction and the nuclear project. His paper assesses how workers in varied energy sectors constructed their relationship to their workplace and locality and dealt with the contradictory affective dimensions of place attachment.  \n\nAnne Pasek shifted the discussion to contemporary energy affects with her paper\, “Unalienating Carbon: Affect and Labor in Emerging Carbon Sequestration Markets’ Theories of Value.” Her article looks at the process of carbon removal\, particularly in the biochar and regenerative agriculture communities. Using the framework of affect and work Pasek argues that carbon removal in these industries is effortful\, manual\, and impactful. Through their labor\, practitioners not only bring tangible changes in the landscapes and materials they work with but are themselves affected by the work they do to intervene in the climate system. Using the documentary media produced about the artisanal communities\, as the source material\, Pasek’s paper explains how affect plays a central role in both driving and sustaining the work done by these communities and how it shapes their apprehensions and relations to the carbon cycle. \n\nVictoria Googasian then discussed her paper titled\, “Infrastructural Character: Space Opera’s Energetic Imaginary.” Using three space operas examples–Star Trek Discovery\, Dune\, and Nova–as case studies\, Googasian’s paper explores how these texts diverge from the genre’s tropes of endless imperial expansion and human power over material environments. These novels imagine human futures that depend on vast reserves of energy\, but they depict characters who are materially embedded in their energy systems and are characterized by embodied vulnerability. The three texts are used to further examine the role of these infrastructural characters during the energy transitions taking place in these literary works. \n\nThe participants will revise their draft papers based on the feedback received during the discussions. CIRS will work with the faculty leads of the project\, Professors Firat Oruc\, Trish Kahle\, and Victoria Googasian to submit the final for publication as a journal special issue. \n\n\nTo view the working group agenda\, click here\n\n\n\nTo read the participants’ biographies\, click here\n\n\n\nRead more about this research initiative\n\n\nParticipants and Discussants:  \n\n\nZahra Babar\, CIRS – Georgetown University in Qatar\n\n\n\nMisba Bhatti\, CIRS – Georgetown University in Qatar\n\n\n\nAnimesh Chatterjee\, Technische Universität Darmstadt\n\n\n\nEwan Gibbs\, University of Glasgow\n\n\n\nVicky Googasian\, Georgetown University in Qatar\n\n\n\nTrish Kahle\, Georgetown University in Qatar\n\n\n\nSuzi Mirgani\, CIRS – Georgetown University in Qatar\n\n\n\nFirat Oruc\, Georgetown University in Qatar\n\n\n\nAnne Pasek\, Trent University\n\n\n\nElizabeth Wanucha\, CIRS – Georgetown University Qatar\n\n\nArticle by Misba Bhatti\, Research Analyst at CIRS
URL:https://cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu/event/affects-of-energy-transition-working-group-ii/
LOCATION:Education City\, Al Luqta St\, Ar-Rayyan\, Doha\, Qatar
CATEGORIES:American Studies,CIRS Faculty Research Workshops,Environmental Studies,Regional Studies
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2022/09/EH_WG_II_Sept-5_photofeatured.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Moscow:20220913T180000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Moscow:20220913T190000
DTSTAMP:20260405T013006
CREATED:20220906T071638Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230326T122734Z
UID:10001472-1663092000-1663095600@cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu
SUMMARY:Football and the State in the Middle East
DESCRIPTION:This panel discussion was the second event being hosted to highlight the research conducted under CIRS project Football in the Middle East\, the outcome of which is a new book edited by Professor Abdullah Al-Arian published by Hurst/Oxford University Press. The panel looks at how football is affecting states\, governments\, and societies across the region.  \n\nModerator: Suzi Mirgani (Center for International and Regional Studies at Georgetown University in Qatar) \n\nPanelists: Niki Akhavan (The Catholic University of America)\, Craig LaMay (Northwestern University in Qatar)\, and Abdullah Al-Arian (Georgetown University in Qatar) \n\nLocation: CIRS Conference Room\, Georgetown University in Qatar
URL:https://cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu/event/football-and-the-state-in-the-middle-east/
LOCATION:Education City\, Al Luqta St\, Ar-Rayyan\, Doha\, Qatar
CATEGORIES:Panels,Regional Studies
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2022/09/AW5Y3838-min1-scaled.jpeg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Moscow:20220921T180000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Moscow:20220921T190000
DTSTAMP:20260405T013006
CREATED:20220921T100939Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240313T131230Z
UID:10001474-1663783200-1663786800@cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu
SUMMARY:Russian Foreign Policy Towards the Middle East
DESCRIPTION:Moderated by GUQ Professor Mehran Kamrava\, the event discusses Russia’s motives in the Middle East\, examining its growing role in the region and its efforts to defend its national interests. The discussion addresses both domestic and external drivers of Moscow’s foreign policy\, tracing the historical evolution of Russia’s presence in the region within the last 30 years. \n\nSpeaker: Nikolay Kozhanov – Qatar University \n\nLocation: CIRS Conference Room\, Georgetown University in Qatar
URL:https://cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu/event/russian-foreign-policy-towards-the-middle-east/
LOCATION:Education City\, Al Luqta St\, Ar-Rayyan\, Doha\, Qatar
CATEGORIES:American Studies,Dialogue Series,Regional Studies
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2022/09/AW5Y9966-min1-scaled.jpeg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Moscow:20220925T080000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Moscow:20220926T170000
DTSTAMP:20260405T013006
CREATED:20221016T065455Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230813T130940Z
UID:10001477-1664092800-1664211600@cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu
SUMMARY:Qatar’s World Cup Goals: Moving from the Periphery to the Center Working Group II
DESCRIPTION:On September 25 and 26\, 2022\, the Center for International and Regional Studies held the second working group under its research initiative\, “Qatar’s World Cup Goals: Moving from the Periphery to the Center.” The meeting convened regional and international scholars who discussed their draft papers and received extensive feedback for revisions. The topics discussed at the meeting included Qatar Airways sponsorships\, Paris Saint Germain and national identity\, the World Cup and efforts to promote a healthy lifestyle in Qatar\, Corporate Social Responsibility\, the blockade of 2017\, COVID-19 preparedness\, and Qatar’s foreign policy in relation to the World Cup 2022.  \n\nDanyel Reiche initiated the discussion with his chapter\, “The Perception of Qatar Airways Sponsorships in Major European Football Clubs.” Reiche’s paper analyzed Qatar Airways’ sponsorships of three major European football clubs: FC Barcelona\, FC Bayern Munich\, and FC Paris Saint-Germain\, and discussed how sponsorship arrangements have been perceived by different stakeholders in the three clubs. Outlining Qatar Airways’ sports sponsorship portfolio\, Reiche argued that over the years Qatar’s standing has become stronger at the elite levels of European football but more work needs to be done at the grassroots level. The chapter provides deeper insight into why these sponsorships were and remain controversial\, and whether Qatar has used these sports sponsorships effectively to gain soft power. \n\nAndreas Flouris’s chapter addresses whether being awarded the World Cup has prompted Qatar to focus on policies and programs to support a healthy lifestyle in the country. In his chapter\, “The 2022 FIFA World Cup and the Quest for Healthy Living in Qatar\,” Flouris suggests that while the World Cup has led to economic and infrastructural development in the country\, it remains to be seen whether the initiatives carried out as part of the World Cup preparation will have a longer-term impact on the adoption of a healthy lifestyle by the population. \n\nContinuing the discussion on health-related issues\, Kamilla Swart briefly updated the group on her chapter which will be examining the World Cup 2022 and the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. Her paper will look at other mega sporting events hosted by Qatar during the pandemic\, and how these supported Qatar’s efforts to deliver a safe and secure World Cup in 2022.  \n\nRoss Griffin’s chapter\, “Identity Matters: Qatar\, QSI\, and Paris Saint-Germain” focuses on Qatari national identity expressed through the ownership of the French football club. Ross argues that after its purchase by Qatar Sports Investments in 2011\, Paris Saint German was transformed into one of the most glamorous football clubs in the world\, with high levels of success. Ross states that there is a significant absence of academic work on Qatar’s motivations in purchasing PSG\, and how ownership of the club has enabled the state to engage in national identity performance on the global stage. In his chapter\, Ross examines the forms of national identity that Qatar is performing through its ownership of PSG\, how this identity is performed\, and why PSG serves as the desired medium for performing this identity. \n\nUday Chandra and Aisha Al-Kuwari’s chapter\, “Popular Culture and the World Cup\,” focuses on football fandom and popular culture in Doha. Using vernacular sources and interviews they argue that the evolution of football fandom in Doha can be best understood through historic neighborhood clubs\, known as furjan\, and through the culture of football spectatorship in the Qatari majaalis. The paper’s secondary intervention is in its highlighting of the voices of the migrant communities present in Doha\, their expressions of inclusion and participation in the World Cup\, as well as their broader forms of patriotism to the country. By bringing both the citizen and migrant dimensions together\, this contribution explores how local popular culture in Doha shapes and is shaped by the World Cup.  \n\nThe next session was led by Irene Theodoropoulou on her chapter\, “Good Things Come from Small Places: Communicating Qatar to World Cup Tourists.” The paper examines the discursive and linguistic means through which the World Cup 2022 is communicated to the world. Theodoropoulou detailed the three phases of the communication strategy\, “Expect Amazing”\, “Deliver Amazing”\, and “Now is All.” She argued that Qatar has employed the three phases not only to tackle the negative image but also to put itself on the global tourist map\, to rebrand itself\, and to establish tourism as one of its basic revenue sectors post World Cup in order to diversify its economy. \n\nSebastian Sons paper\, “Creating Sports Humanitarianism: The Nexus of Qatar’s Development Assistance and Sport\,” analyzed Qatar’s efforts to link its humanitarian aid policy with sports. Sons stated that Qatar has emerged as a relevant provider of development assistance in recent years\, and has made sport an integral part of its developmental aid. In doing so\, Qatar has aimed to present itself as a promoter of humanitarianism\, physical activity\, and a healthy lifestyle. It also seeks to compete with regional neighbors such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) which are also following a similar policy in terms of sports development. Sons paper focuses on Qatar’s developmental policy and its close interlinkages with sport\, and aims to contribute to the academic discussion on sport as a driver for development. \n\nPaul Brannagan led a session discussion on “Soft Power as ‘Beauty\, Brilliance\, Benignity’: the Case of the Aspire Zone Elite Sports.” Brannagan’s paper aims to provide an analysis of Qatar’s state-of-the-art elite sports complex\, Aspire Zone. Using the lens of ‘beauty’\, ‘brilliance’ and ‘benignity\,’ he discussed how this elite athlete complex generates soft power for Qatar so far and will add to it post World Cup ear. Building on previous academic works on Aspire Zone\, the paper examines how Qatar has used soft power to carve out an attractive global profile in global sports.  \n\nKathy Babiak’s paper\, “FIFA World Cup 2022: The Role of Corporate Social Responsibility as a Vehicle for Qatar’s Development Goals\,” looked at the CSR of the key stakeholders responsible for organizing the World Cup in Qatar. Babiak discussed the concept of CSR and its link to firm strategy and national development. She argued that sport has been used to drive broader strategic development goals by all types of businesses\, rights holders\, organizing committees\, sports organizations\, and nations around the world. International sports governing bodies such as FIFA\, sports sponsors\, and other interested parties have amplified the global business of sports and have used the power of sports to influence positive social change. Babiak’s contribution will aim to examine and better understand how CSR is enacted by local and international stakeholders of mega events such as the World Cup\, and how it can help to advance social change and position firms\, sports organizations\, and even host countries as positive agents of social impact.   \n\nHissa Al-Kubaisi shifted the discussion to Qatar’s foreign policy with her paper\, “The World Cup and Shifts in Qatar’s Foreign Policy.” Al-Kubaisi stated that the academic literature on small states claims that a change in leadership does not have an effect on the foreign policies of small states. She argued against this concept and specified that in the case of Qatar there was a strong shift in foreign policy after 2010 which can be associated with two events\, the awarding of hosting the FIFA World Cup 2022 in 2010 and the change in leadership in 2013. The paper will examine how\, following a change in leadership in the run-up to the FIFA World Cup 2022\, Qatar’s foreign policy has shifted to and is now based on mediation and diplomacy\, which is more aligned with the values of the World Cup. \n\nThe working group discussion was brought to a close by Kristian Coates Ulrichsen\, who presented his paper\, “Qatar: Between the Blockade and the World Cup?” Ulrichen’s chapter looked at the 2017 blockade of Qatar by Bahrain\, Saudi Arabia\, the United Arab Emirates (UAE)\, and Egypt and examined how the blockade affected Qatar’s preparations for the World Cup. He analyzed the steps that were undertaken by policymakers in Qatar to overcome the domestic\, regional\, and international challenges that arose in and after 2017. Outlining the aspects of the blockade and the ways it intersected with the World Cup preparations\, the paper explores issue of political risk and the climate of uncertainty created by the blockading states and the measures that were implemented to strengthen Qatar’s domestic resilience and to solidify its regional and international partnerships. Finally\, it looks at the legacy of the blockade and the twelve-year-long World Cup preparations.  \n\nThe contributors will revise their paper drafts based on the feedback received. CIRS will gather the final chapter submissions into an edited volume to be published by a university press. \n\n\nTo view the working group agenda\, click here\n\n\n\nTo read the participants’ biographies\, click here\n\n\n\nRead more about this research initiative\n\n\nParticipants and Discussants:  \n\n\nAisha Al Kuwari\, Georgetown University in Qatar\n\n\n\nHissa Al Kubaisi\, Georgetown University in Qatar\n\n\n\nZahra Babar\, CIRS – Georgetown University in Qatar\n\n\n\nKathy Babiak\, University of Michigan\n\n\n\nMisba Bhatti\, CIRS – Georgetown University in Qatar\n\n\n\nPaul Brannagan\, Manchester Metropolitan University\, UK\n\n\n\nSusan Dun\, Northwestern University in Qatar\n\n\n\nUday Chandra\, Georgetown University in Qatar\n\n\n\nKristian Coates Ulrichsen\, Rice University\n\n\n\nAndreas Flouris\, University of Ottawa\n\n\n\nRoss Griffin\, Qatar University\n\n\n\nCraig LaMay\, Northwestern University in Qatar\n\n\n\nSuzi Mirgani\, CIRS – Georgetown University in Qatar\n\n\n\nAnne Nebel\, Georgetown University in Qatar\n\n\n\nZarqa Parvez\, Georgetown University in Qatar\n\n\n\nDanyel Reiche\, Georgetown University in Qatar\n\n\n\nSebastian Sons\, Center for Applied Research in Partnership with the Orient (CARPO)\n\n\n\nKamilla Swart\, Hamad bin Khalifa University (HBKU)\n\n\n\nIrene Theodoropoulou\, Qatar University\n\n\n\nElizabeth Wanucha\, CIRS – Georgetown University Qatar\n\n\n\nClyde Wilcox\, Georgetown University in Qatar \n\n\nArticle by Misba Bhatti\, Research Analyst at CIRS
URL:https://cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu/event/qatars-world-cup-goals-moving-from-the-periphery-to-the-center-working-group-ii/
LOCATION:Education City\, Al Luqta St\, Ar-Rayyan\, Doha\, Qatar
CATEGORIES:CIRS Faculty Research Workshops,FIFA World Cup Series,Regional Studies
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2022/10/WG-II-Featured-imageca.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Asia/Qatar:20221016T130000
DTEND;TZID=Asia/Qatar:20221016T140000
DTSTAMP:20260405T013006
CREATED:20230810T110906Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230810T111641Z
UID:10001272-1665925200-1665928800@cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu
SUMMARY:CIRS Lunch Talk: The Beautiful Game in America
DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Andrew Guest (University of Portland in Oregon USA) \n\nModerator: Danyel Reiche (Georgetown University in Qatar) \n\nLocation: CIRS Conference Room\, Georgetown University in Qatar
URL:https://cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu/event/cirs-lunch-talk-the-beautiful-game-in-america/
LOCATION:Education City\, Al Luqta St\, Ar-Rayyan\, Doha\, Qatar
CATEGORIES:FIFA World Cup Series
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2023/08/Headshot-reduced1.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Moscow:20221017T180000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Moscow:20221017T193000
DTSTAMP:20260405T013006
CREATED:20221214T075905Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240313T081912Z
UID:10001490-1666029600-1666035000@cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu
SUMMARY:Energy and the World Cup
DESCRIPTION:This special panel is hosted as part of CIRS and GUQ’s research focus on Qatar and the FIFA World Cup 2022\, and addresses issues related to energy and the hosting of the tournament. In this panel\, we consider what lessons and avenues the World Cup 2022 offers for the energy humanities in the Gulf region and beyond. How does this event and its legacy speak to the issue of mega-event infrastructures and energy culture? \n\nModerators: Firat Oruc and Victoria Googasian (Georgetown University in Qatar) \n\nPanelists: Danyel Reiche (Georgetown University in Qatar)\, Gokce Gunel (Rice University)\, and Laurent Lambert (Doha Institute for Graduate Studies) \n\nLocation: CIRS Conference Room\, Georgetown University in Qatar
URL:https://cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu/event/energy-and-the-world-cup/
LOCATION:Education City\, Al Luqta St\, Ar-Rayyan\, Doha\, Qatar
CATEGORIES:Environmental Studies,Panels,Regional Studies
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2022/12/AW5Y3745-min.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Moscow:20221018T180000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Moscow:20221018T190000
DTSTAMP:20260405T013006
CREATED:20221214T074030Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240313T081905Z
UID:10001488-1666116000-1666119600@cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu
SUMMARY:UNDP Human Development Report 2021/2022
DESCRIPTION:This panel is the country launch for the 2021-2022 UNDP Human Development Report. The report authors will discuss how to understand and navigate today’s uncertainty complex as explored in the report – driven by the Anthropocene\, by purposeful societal transformation\, and by intensifying polarization. Distinguished panelists will reflect on the report’s implications for Qatar\, the broader region\, and the world. \n\nOpening Remarks: H.E. Dr. Saleh bin Mohammad Al Nabit (Planning and Statistics Authority) \n\nPanelists: Dr. Safwan Masri (Dean of Georgetown University in Qatar)\, Pedro Conceição (United Nations Development Program)\, Sheikha Hanouf Abdulrahman N. J. Al-Thani (Ministry of Foreign Affairs)\, Dr. Mohamed Eskandar Shah (Hamad bin Khalifa University) \n\nModerators: Biplove Chaudhary (United Nations Development Program) and Zahra Babar (Center for International and Regional Studies at Georgetown University in Qatar) \n\nLocation: CIRS Conference Room\, Georgetown University in Qatar
URL:https://cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu/event/undp-human-development-report-2021-2022/
LOCATION:Education City\, Al Luqta St\, Ar-Rayyan\, Doha\, Qatar
CATEGORIES:Panels,Race & Society,Regional Studies
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2022/12/SW_16494UNDP-min-min-scaled.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Moscow:20221024T180000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Moscow:20221024T200000
DTSTAMP:20260405T013006
CREATED:20221214T072106Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230326T084541Z
UID:10001486-1666634400-1666641600@cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu
SUMMARY:A World Cup for Qatar or the Middle East?
DESCRIPTION:In 2010\, Qatar won the bid to become the first ever Middle Eastern and Arab country to host a FIFA World Cup. Even though all 32 teams will be hosted in Qatar and all 64 games will be played in local stadiums\, the state is emphasizing the broader regional character of the event. Join us for a panel discussion on the tournament’s impact on neighboring countries and its effect on regional relations. \n\nModerator: Suzi Mirgani (Center for International and Regional Studies at Georgetown University in Qatar) \n\nPanelists: Danyel Reiche (Georgetown University in Qatar)\, Hissa Al-Kubaisi (Georgetown University in Qatar – Alumna)\, Irene Theodoropoulou (Qatar University) \n\nLocation: CIRS Conference Room\, Georgetown University in Qatar
URL:https://cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu/event/a-world-cup-for-qatar-or-the-middle-east/
LOCATION:Education City\, Al Luqta St\, Ar-Rayyan\, Doha\, Qatar
CATEGORIES:FIFA World Cup Series,Panels,Regional Studies
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2022/12/JACQUEMUS_-13-min.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Moscow:20221026T080000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Moscow:20221026T170000
DTSTAMP:20260405T013006
CREATED:20221109T122929Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240313T081827Z
UID:10001479-1666771200-1666803600@cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu
SUMMARY:CURA Research Presentation "The Image World of Qatar 2022: Visual Representations of the World Cup 2022"
DESCRIPTION:On October 26\, 2022\, six students from the “Film and Visual Culture in the Gulf” class with GU-Q professor Firat Oruc\, presented their analyses of visual representations of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022. Shaikha Al Obaidan (class of ’23)\, Maryam Al Thani (class of ’23)\, John Carlos Burog (class of ’25)\, Rodolfo Munoz Cardenas (class of ’23)\, Meryam Hashmi (class of ’25) and Iman Saif (class of ’24) analyzed Swedish-Moroccan producer\, RedOne’s\, music videos for the three FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 songs: “Arhbo\,” “Hayya\, Hayya (Better Together)\,” and “Light the Sky;” the official mascot\, La’eeb; the official emblem; and the official poster of the tournament. Each visual representation was analyzed according to three facets: cultural encounter; gender; and space\, time & world. \n\nAcross all facets of analysis\, several themes emerged from these visual representations as highlighted by each student presenter. Themes of East-West hybridity\, bringing the world together in one space (Qatar)\, unity in diversity\, convergence\, tradition juxtaposed with modernity\, the rise of Qatar on the global stage\, and gender. \n\nA careful review of the music videos accompanying the official FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 songs reveals many of the themes noted above. Shaikha provided cultural encounter commentary on the music video for the “Arhbo” song and noted how the video highlights the themes of East-West hybridity\, and bringing the world together in one space. One of the singers\, Gims\, is himself “hybrid” in that he is both Congolese and French. RedOne\, the producer of the songs who also features in the video\, is Moroccan-Swedish. The imagery of the video depicts people from all different nationalities\, and the lyrics are in Spanish\, English\, French\, and the Qatari dialect of Arabic. One repeated verse includes the lyrics “east to west.” “Arhbo’s” space\, time\, and world facets refer to Qatar as the space where people from around the world will come together. The video takes place in a bus\, living room\, and stadium – all places where people gather. \n\nIn his analysis of the “Hayya\, Hayya (Better Together)” music video\, John touched on the themes of hybridity\, unity in diversity\, convergence\, and gender. As cultural encounter\, the video’s setting juxtaposes the iconography of the desert with the liveliness of the singers and dancers. The singer\, Aisha\, is filmed on a beach at the point of convergence of two bodies of water with the Doha skyline in the background. John remarks that this scene symbolizes Qatar and the multicultural forces that will impact Qatar\, the new ideas and new people that the global attention of the World Cup in Qatar will bring. \n\nIn the “Hayya\, Hayya (Better Together)” music video\, John also highlights the theme of gender. In the scenes of Aisha singing\, she is in white\, symbolizing modernity\, and is surrounded by women in tribal black dress\, symbolizing tradition\, playing traditional instruments. Additionally\, there is a snapshot of women weaving on shore as men prepare to enter the sea to fish or pearl. This depicts the roles of men and women in traditional Qatari society. \n\nThe final music video for the song “Light the Sky” provides imagery relating to gender in particular\, according to Rodolfo. This music video highlights women – all the singers are women\, and the first women FIFA referees are also literally spotlighted. Rodolfo provided a critique of this choice of imagery\, arguing that the spotlights isolate the women against the dark stadium as the background\, which undermines the idea of women being empowered. The imagery shows the female FIFA referees as isolated\, alone\, and separate from the game\, the fans\, and the players. \n\nUnder the facet of space\, time\, and world\, the “Light the Sky” video imagery also undermines the idea of women’s empowerment\, according to Rodolfo\, in that it is filmed in front of Al Thumama stadium\, which is designed by a Qatari male architect and visually represents the gahfiya cap\, which is part of Muslim Arab boy’s and men’s dress. From a women’s empowerment perspective\, it would have been more appropriate to film the video at Al Janoub stadium\, the only Qatar 2022 stadium designed by a female architect\, Zaha Hadid. One can imagine the choice decision-makers had to make between the only Qatar 2022 stadium designed by a Qatari (Al Thumama stadium)\, and the only one designed by a woman (Al Janoub). \n\nLa’eeb is the official mascot of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022. Shaikha presented her analysis of him under the facets of cultural encounter\, and Maryam A. provided commentary under the facet of space\, time\, and world. In a promotional video introducing La’eeb\, he is depicted as coming from a parallel multiverse of mascots. In the video\, La’eeb is shown breaking into our world. Shaikha and Maryam A. both note that this emergence narrative relates to Qatar’s emergence onto the world stage\, and the two parallel worlds reflect the East-West hybridity of the football world. Maryam A. reflects on La’eeb’s retelling of what football is all about\, reclaiming the mascots’ version of the story. This parallels Qatar’s own reclaiming of football as a part of its cultural heritage\, not a new phenomenon as has often been argued in the lead up to the FIFA World Cup 2022. \n\nMeryam H. provided her analysis of the official emblem of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 under the facets of cultural encounter and space\, time and world. The official emblem represents a traditional woolen shawl people in the region often wear in winter. It includes traditional Qatari floral patterns in the burgundy national color of Qatar. The emblem also features diacritic from Arabic script. Meryam H. sees it as a symbol of Middle Eastern culture\, and also something that everyone can relate to as it is in the shape of the FIFA trophy. The emblem also features a large amount of blank space\, suggesting the viewer is free to fill it in with their own cultural connections. The shape of the emblem also resembles the infinity loop shape. Time has been crucial to Qatar’s preparations for the 2022 World Cup\, and countdown clocks feature prominently throughout the city. The final phase of Qatar’s preparations is called “Now is All\,” which is seen throughout the city on billboards\, buses\, overpasses\, advertisements\, and more. \n\nIman commented on the visual representation of the official posters for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022. Her analysis focuses on the area of space\, time\, & world. The posters were designed by a Qatari female graduate of the Virginia Commonwealth University Qatar (VCU-Q) school of art and design\, Buthayna Al Muftah. The striking posters were revealed at the Hamad International Airport\, which Iman notes is the space where all people meet before entering Qatar. The airport is a space of diversity\, symbolizing how the World Cup in Qatar is meant to be a space for everyone. \n\nThe background of the official posters depicts the beach and sand dunes of Qatar. Sand and water are important to Qatar. The posters in combination with the other visual representations show that while Qatar has embraced the city’s bright lights\, the desert is also important and harmonizes in a way with the city. In relation to time\, Iman suggests that the piece of headwear that is depicted in the posters\, the khudra\, has been a traditional piece of clothing throughout the centuries. It is the same whether the person wears it in a formal event\, or at home with friends. It is a simple garment that has stayed the same throughout history and is the same in whatever context in which it is worn. Similarly\, football is a universal sport that is the same across the globe. \n\nArticle by Elizabeth Wanucha\, CIRS Operations Manager
URL:https://cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu/event/cura-research-presentation-the-image-world-of-qatar-2022-visual-representations-of-the-world-cup-2022/
LOCATION:Education City\, Al Luqta St\, Ar-Rayyan\, Doha\, Qatar
CATEGORIES:Regional Studies,Student Engagement
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2022/11/JACQUEMUS_-14-min.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Moscow:20221107T180000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Moscow:20221107T193000
DTSTAMP:20260405T013006
CREATED:20221214T071652Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240313T081759Z
UID:10001485-1667844000-1667849400@cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu
SUMMARY:A Century of Football in the Middle East
DESCRIPTION:In this Webinar\, the panelists offer a historical perspective of football in the Middle East. \n\nModerator: Abdullah Al-Arian (Georgetown University in Qatar) \n\nPanelists: Simon Chadwick (Skema Business School in Paris)\, Ibrahim Elhoudaiby (Bard College)\,Yağmur Nuhrat (Bilgi University)\, Maher Mezahi (Football Journalist)\, and Zahra Babar (Center for International and Regional Studies at Georgetown University in Qatar)
URL:https://cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu/event/a-century-of-football-in-the-middle-east/
LOCATION:Education City\, Al Luqta St\, Ar-Rayyan\, Doha\, Qatar
CATEGORIES:Panels,Regional Studies
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2022/12/acenturyoffootball.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Moscow:20221109T180000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Moscow:20221109T193000
DTSTAMP:20260405T013006
CREATED:20221214T072946Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240313T081732Z
UID:10001487-1668016800-1668022200@cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu
SUMMARY:Russian Foreign Policy Towards the Middle East
DESCRIPTION:The panel discuses the motives behind Moscow’s behavior in the Middle East\, considering Russia’s growing role in the region and its desire to protect national interests using a wide array of means. The panel considers Russian involvement in the Middle East from several points and analyze global geopolitical risks affecting Russia’s Middle Eastern strategy and internal drivers determining Moscow’s behavior in the region. Special attention is paid to the question of Russian foreign policy toward the Middle East being based on the principle of continuity. The panelists discuss how Moscow’s vision of its priorities in the Middle East differs from that of the Soviet Union and how the drivers of the Russian presence in the region evolved after 1991. \n\nModerator: Nikolay Kozhanov (Qatar University) \n\nPanelists: Roy Allison (University of Oxford)\, Leonid Issaev (HSE University)\, Mark Katz (George Mason University).
URL:https://cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu/event/russian-foreign-policy-towards-the-middle-east-2/
LOCATION:Education City\, Al Luqta St\, Ar-Rayyan\, Doha\, Qatar
CATEGORIES:American Studies,Panels,Regional Studies
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2022/12/russianonlinepanel.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Asia/Qatar:20230114T080000
DTEND;TZID=Asia/Qatar:20230115T170000
DTSTAMP:20260405T013006
CREATED:20230131T063437Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240313T081711Z
UID:10001495-1673683200-1673802000@cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu
SUMMARY:POMEPS-CIRS Politics of Sports in the Middle East Workshop
DESCRIPTION:On January 14 and 15\, 2023\, the Center for International and Regional Studies (CIRS) at Georgetown University in Qatar\, in collaboration with the Project on Middle East Politics (POMEPS) convened a two-day closed-door workshop to explore and study the complex relationship between politics and sports in the Middle East. During the meeting invited regional and international scholars presented short papers and received feedback from the group. Some of the themes under discussion included football and national identity\, sports washing\, political mobilizations\, gender and sports\, global capital\, and stadium dynamics\, among others.   \n\nOver the two days\, the convened scholars discussed various converging themes and topics associated with the political dynamics of football performance\, spectatorship\, sponsorships\, and hosting of events. Starting the discussion with the rise of disinformation and the use of bots in digital technology and social media for purposes of propaganda\, it was debated that football\, with its global and often emotional fanbase\, worldwide popularity\, and capital-heavy investment opportunities\, is also a key area for competing narratives. News shared on social media around sporting events has become another avenue for the regional rivalry of gulf regimes and the construction of reputations in the international arena. The participants also discussed and questioned the myriad reasons behind the gulf states’ heavy sports investments. It was stated that prestige building\, sports washing\, and projection of soft power were the main factors of this investment strategy. The role of football in national identity preservation in the Arab world and the politicization of the sport in countries such as Morocco\, Egypt\, and Palestine were also examined and discussed. \n\nUltras have a history of using football to develop new tools of political mobilization. This is particularly true for Cairo ultras who were active in mobilizing against the Mubarak regime. The participants explored the connection between aesthetics and politics by looking at Egypt’s football ultras movements. The discussion was then shifted to the role of privatization of football clubs in Egypt and the lack of investors’ interest in the Egyptian football industry. It was argued that structural problems in the Egyptian economy were the main reason behind the lack of investors and availability of funding for football clubs. \n\nThe use of football to construct and contest national identity in Palestine and Iran was also a topic of discussion at the meeting. In the first case\, it has been utilized to shape and represent the national identity by the Palestinians\, whereas in the latter it is the tool through which non-Persian-speaking minorities express their Azeri nationalistic narrative in Iran. Continuing the debate on Iran the group next looked at how various spaces have been used by certain political actors to bypass the ban on women’s entry to football stadiums in Iran. One such arena has been the movie theaters that allow female spectators to the screenings of football matches. Shifting the focus to Turkey\, it was maintained that football has been used by authoritarian regimes to build political support. This in turn has paved the way for the politicization of the football industry in Turkey and the mobilization of football fans to publicly express their dissent against these regimes. The discussion was brought to a close by exploring how Islamist movements in the Middle East namely\, Saudi Arabia\, Iran\, the Muslim Brotherhood\, and Hezbollah\, deal with football. It was stated that in order to avoid alienating the region’s youth a profound cultural adjustment process has been initiated in many countries apart from Iran. \n\nThe organizers thanked the participants for their contribution to the robust and productive discussions. Participants will make revisions to their papers based on the feedback received.  The collection will be co-edited by POMEPS and CIRS and jointly published in POMEPS Studies Journal in the near future. \n\n\nTo view the working group agenda\, click here\n\n\n\nTo read the participants’ biographies\, click here\n\n\nParticipants and Discussants:  \n\n\nMajd Abuamer\, Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies\n\n\n\nAbdullah Al-Arian\, Georgetown University Qatar\n\n\n\nZahra Babar\, CIRS – Georgetown University Qatar\n\n\n\nMisba Bhatti\, CIRS – Georgetown University Qatar\n\n\n\nRonnie Close\, American University in Cairo.\n\n\n\nEman Demerdash\, Ph.D. candidate Cairo University\n\n\n\nSaleh Elghamrawi\, American University of Cairo.\n\n\n\nSami Hermez\, Northwestern University in Qatar\n\n\n\nMarc Owen Jones\, Hamad bin Khalifa University in Doha\, Qatar\n\n\n\nEhsan Kashfi\, University of Alberta\n\n\n\nMarc Lynch\, The George Washington University\n\n\n\nYara Nassar\, Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies\n\n\n\nSuzi Mirgani\, CIRS – Georgetown University Qatar\n\n\n\nIbrahim S.I. Rabaia\, Palestinian Research Center\n\n\n\nDanyel Reiche\, Georgetown University Qatar\n\n\n\nCurtis Ryan\, Appalachian State University- North Carolina\n\n\n\nSefa Secen\, Ohio State University.\n\n\n\nNazanin Shahrokni\, London School of Economics\n\n\n\nDag Tuastad\, University of Oslo.\n\n\n\nElizabeth Wanucha\, CIRS – Georgetown University Qatar\n\n\nArticle by Misba Bhatti\, Research Analyst at CIRS
URL:https://cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu/event/pomeps-cirs-politics-of-sports-in-the-middle-east-workshop/
LOCATION:Education City\, Al Luqta St\, Ar-Rayyan\, Doha\, Qatar
CATEGORIES:Focused Discussions,Regional Studies
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2023/01/EH2_0378.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Moscow:20230129T080000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Moscow:20230130T170000
DTSTAMP:20260405T013006
CREATED:20230212T115140Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230312T094848Z
UID:10001497-1674979200-1675098000@cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu
SUMMARY:The Evolution of African Regional Organizations Working Group I
DESCRIPTION:On January 29 and 30\, 2023\, the Center for International and Regional Studies (CIRS) at Georgetown University Qatar held a book manuscript workshop under its project\, “The Evolution of African Regional Organizations.” Several international and regional scholars were invited to present their papers on various African Regional Organizations (ROs) operational on the African continent. During the meeting\, they discussed various issues such as regionalism\, African voices\, and problems\, gender\, colonial legacies\, Pan-Arabism\, and Pan-Africanism and received extensive and in-depth commentary from the group. \n\nThe initial discussion was initiated by Lynda Iroulo\, with her paper\, “From the Organization of African Unity to the African Union.” She outlined the transition of the African Union (AU) from the Organization of African Unity (OAU) and argued that the Pan-African solidarity norm is a double-edged for the AU. Iroulo highlighted that while solidarity norms were at the heart and center of AU and bound the members together\, it was also detrimental to them. Thus\, she argued it is important for the organization’s future to not only continue on the solidarity path but to strengthen and advance it to other levels of interaction that would bridge the gap between talk and action. \n\nDensua Mumford\, then discussed the issues related to the “Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).” Providing a comprehensive analysis of ECOWAS\, she argued that since its establishment in 1975\, the regional organization has had a complex history of innovation and triumph\, inertia and tragedy. She examined the primary aims of the political leaders and bureaucrats steering the ECOWAS\, the regional organization’s fragile relationship with West African citizens\, and its inventive institutional changes over time. Her paper aims to study these various interactions in light of the shifting global and regional political-economic landscapes. \n\nThe focus of the discussion was then shifted to Afro-Arab relations\, with a paper on “Evolution of the Afro-Arab Region and the Creation of the Arab League\,” by Ahmed Salem & Mohamed Ashour. They began by explaining the inclusion of the Arab League and its importance within the African ROs. Outlining the relevance of the Arab League to the African continent they argued that Afrabia is an integral part of Africa and the pan-African concept of unity. They discussed the league’s history\, background\, and functions and analyzed the league’s past and present contributions to African-Arab cooperation on the continent and on the global scale. \n\nShifting the focus back to regional ROs Donnet-Rose Odhiambo and Christopher Otieno presented their paper on “Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD).” Established in 1996 as a successor to Intergovernmental Authority on Drought and Development (IGADD)\, IGAD changed its mandate from focusing on droughts and other natural disasters to promoting and maintaining peace and security in the region. Tracing this transformation\, they looked at IGAD’s political role in conflict management and examined the international community’s role in its establishment. They argue that this change in its mandate enabled its robust reemergence as a legitimate regional actor in Eastern Africa. \n\nWilliam Arrey then presented his chapter on “Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS).” Tracing the historical development and the goals and functions of the RO\, Arrey stated that ECCAS was created to promote and strengthen harmonious cooperation and self-sustained economic development of the Central African Sub-region. These economic objectives were revitalized and expanded to include the promotion of cooperation\, peace\, and security in Central Africa.  However\, the organization is still struggling to achieve its ambitious objectives which he argued is a result of many structural and operational challenges. The chapter provides certain policy recommendations to overcome these challenges by suggesting a strategic use of its opportunities and strengths.  \n\nNorman Sempijja and Houyame Hakmi then discussed their chapter on “Arab Maghreb Union (UMA).” Detailing the creation of the organization\, they stated that the Union was created to address several internal and external challenges that had marginalized the Maghreb countries. UMA’s main objectives were establishing cooperation\, good governance\, and peace and security. However\, to the present day\, the organization has failed to achieve true political or economic integration and is riddled with many challenges and intra-regional crises. Building on existing literature\, the chapter aims to highlight the role of UMA\, and its geostrategic importance and reconsider its institutional blockage and asymmetric functioning. \n\nHenry Berrian led the discussion on his chapter titled “Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA).” Documenting the historical developments of COMESA\, he analyzed the economic and political developments that have occurred within the organization since its inception in 1994. Using a comprehensive examination Berrian questioned how COMESA had played a role of a transformative institution in Africa to promote regional trade and investment in areas of customs management\, trade facilitation\, project finance\, and technical cooperation. He argued that despite many achievements\, COMESA has faced numerous challenges and finds itself in a unique position as one of the key institutions in the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area. \n\nThe next session was led by Jacob Lisakafu and looked at the role and development of “East African Community (EAC).” Analyzing the evolution of EAC from the colonial period with a focus on its political and economic integration agenda Lisakafu questioned its key roles and responsibilities in the region. Using the theory of liberal institutionalism\, he argued that EAC is a unique RO in terms of its set-up\, historical background\, and mode of functioning. He stated that EAC’s fundamental principles of social\, cultural\, and economic integration and prosperity can be used as a model for other ROs in Africa for establishing foundations for effective integration. \n\nJohn Paul Banchani & Sebastian Pablo then discussed their paper on “Community of Sahel-Saharan States (CEN-SAD).” Addressing the question of security in the region the paper traced the history\, goals\, general mandate\, and operations of CEN-SAD. The authors explained that in recent times the Sahel region has become a hotspot for incidents of terrorism\, Islamic radicalization\, illicit drug traffic\, and fragile states. Tackling these security challenges in the region has shaped the evolution of CEN-SAD. The paper aims to analyze the successes and challenges of CEN-SAD as a regional organization within the context of regionalism in Africa in an era of de-globalization and tries to answer questions regarding the CEN-SAD’s navigation of the challenging security situation in Sahel and its current organizational form. \n\nThe discussion then focused on African ROs and International Organizations (IO) with Oheneba Boateng’s chapter\, “Relationship between African regional orgnaizations in international organizations.” Examining the mandates of African ROs and how they cope with changing regional and global political and economic environments\, Oheneba reflected on the African ROs global presence. He stated that African ROs have acted as mobilizing forces in international affairs on behalf of their member states\, however despite their efforts\, their role in international affairs often causes tensions with member states\, individual bureaucrats\, as well as global actors. The paper seeks to reflect on ways regional ROs can maximize their global presence in a manner that benefits member states and the wider African diaspora.  \n\nThe discussion was brought to a close with Lidet Tilahun’s chapter titled\, “Voices of the Pioneers: The Vision of African Integration.” Tilahun’s piece contextualizes the interviews she conducted with two pioneers of the African Union\, Dr. Nkosazana Clarice Dlamini-Zuma and Ambassador Konjit Sinegiorgis. The paper looks at OAU’s inception\, OAU’s transformation into the AU\, and both their roles and efforts in shaping Agenda 2063. \n\nThe authors will revise their chapters based on the feedback received. CIRS will collect the chapters and publish the outcome of the project as an edited volume. \n\n\nTo view the working group agenda\, click here\n\n\n\nTo read the participants’ biographies\, click here\n\n\n\nRead more about this research initiative\n\n\nParticipants and Discussants:  \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nRogaia Abusharaf\, Georgetown University in Qatar\n\n\n\nWilliam Hermann Arrey\, Protestant University of Central Africa\, Cameroon\n\n\n\nMohamed Ashour\, Zayed University\, UAE\n\n\n\nZahra Babar\, CIRS – Georgetown University in Qatar\n\n\n\nJohn-Paul Banchani\, Kwame Nkwame University of Science and Technology\, Ghana\n\n\n\nHenry Berrian\, development consultant\, South Africa\n\n\n\nMisba Bhatti\, CIRS – Georgetown University in Qatar\n\n\n\nOheneba Boateng\, Bucknell University\, USA\n\n\n\nHouyame Hakmi\, Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P)\, Morocco\n\n\n\nLynda Cinenye Iroulo\, Georgetown University in Qatar\n\n\n\nJacob Lisakafu\, Open University in Tanzania\n\n\n\nSuzi Mirgani\, CIRS – Georgetown University in Qatar\n\n\n\nYehia Mohamed\, Georgetown University in Qatar\n\n\n\nDensua Mumford\, Leiden University\n\n\n\nDonnet-Rose Adhiambo Odhiambo\, Technical University of Kenya\n\n\n\nChristopher Otieno Omolo\, Eberhard Karls University Tubingen\, Germany \n\n\n\nSebastian Angzoorokuu Paalo\, Kwame Nkwame University of Science and Technology\, Ghana\n\n\n\nDalva Raposo\, Georgetown University in Qatar\n\n\n\nAhmed Ali Salem\, Rhodes University in South Africa\n\n\n\nNorman Sempijja\, Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P)\, Morocco\n\n\n\nLidet Tilahun\n\n\n\nElizabeth Wanucha\, CIRS – Georgetown University Qatar\n\n\n\nArticle by Misba Bhatti\, Research Analyst at CIRS
URL:https://cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu/event/the-evolution-of-african-regional-organizations-working-group-i/
LOCATION:Education City\, Al Luqta St\, Ar-Rayyan\, Doha\, Qatar
CATEGORIES:Focused Discussions,Race & Society
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2023/02/Working_Group_Africa_ROs_January292023_1.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Moscow:20230129T180000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Moscow:20230129T190000
DTSTAMP:20260405T013006
CREATED:20230117T082128Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230326T085420Z
UID:10001493-1675015200-1675018800@cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu
SUMMARY:African Regionalism: Achievements\, Challenges\, and Prospects
DESCRIPTION:This CIRS panel offers a discussion of the history and politics of African Regional Organizations. \n\nModerator: Lynda Iroulo (Georgetown University in Qatar) \n\nPanelists: Norman Sempiija (Mohammed VI Polytechnic University)\, Oheneba Boateng (Bucknell University)\, Densua Mumford (Leiden University)\, and Dalva Raposo (Georgetown University in Qatar\, Class of 2024).  \n\nLocation: CIRS Conference Room\, Georgetown University in Qatar).
URL:https://cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu/event/african-regionalism-achievements-challenges-and-prospectsafrican-regionalism/
LOCATION:Education City\, Al Luqta St\, Ar-Rayyan\, Doha\, Qatar
CATEGORIES:Panels,Race & Society
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2023/01/EH2_0664-min.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Moscow:20230131T180000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Moscow:20230131T190000
DTSTAMP:20260405T013006
CREATED:20230118T085523Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230322T104130Z
UID:10001494-1675188000-1675191600@cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu
SUMMARY:Mapping the Mongol Steppe: Indigenous Cartography and Statecraft in 19th Century Qing China
DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Anne-Sophie Pratte\, Georgetown University in Qatar  \n\nLocation: CIRS Conference Room\, Georgetown University in Qatar \n\nOn January 31\, 2023\, Anne-Sophie Pratte\, Assistant Professor of History at Georgetown University in Qatar\, delivered a CIRS Dialogue titled “Mapping the Mongol Steppe: Indigenous Cartography and Statecraft in 19th Century Qing China.” Pratte argued that multiple historically meaningful “exchanges between various populations of Eurasia took place thanks to a specific ecological zone: the Steppe belt of Eurasia. The steppe belt makes long distance travels the easiest\,” and so Mongolia became a vast contact zone for all kinds of trade\, cultures\, religions\, ideas\, but also conflicts\, between networks of people from the Qing Empire to Eurasia. \n\nIn eighteenth-century imperial cartography\, “despite their size and strategic geographical location at the crossroads of two major early modern empires\, the Mongol lands remained mostly blank on these world maps\, reflecting how little geographical knowledge flowed out of Qing Mongolia to be incorporated into the imperial cartography of the early modern world\,” Pratte noted. \n\nInstead\, “local Mongol maps followed an indigenous system of geographical correspondence” and an intimate local knowledge of the terrain was exhibited by both nomadic and pastoral communities as an important means of navigating the broad expanses of the Mongolian Steppe. These were sketched for past and future generations in a series of sophisticated hand-drawn maps\, which Pratte discussed in detail during her talk. She argued that “from the perspective of Mongol mapmakers\, the maps of their land\, just like their history\, was not blank at all. The maps they drew in the Qing era were rich\, detailed\, artistic\, and diverse\,” and numbered in the thousands. Importantly\, indigenous Mongols “envision their land differently. And the maps they produce give us a unique window into this worldview\,” which does not distinguish between the natural and political geography of the region. \n\nPratte discussed a central dilemma: “Mongol officials drew maps of their land\, and submitted them to the central state in Beijing. And yet\, this layer of geographical knowledge never featured in imperial atlases. Why that was is the question that began this research project.” She answered this question by noting that the complex sophistication of Mongol mapping\, and its relationship to the lived experience of the land\, made it alien to normative imperial cartography\, which discounted such local knowledge\, no matter how rich and informative\, if it did not fit the abstract\, geometric\, simplified\, and standardized maps of the imperial age. \n\nPratte concluded by noting that the National Archives of Mongolia and the Central Library in Ulaanbaatar contain millions of materials documenting pastoralist society in world history\, and so “there remains lots of work to be done to incorporate these voices into our understanding of Eurasian History.” \n\nAnne-Sophie Pratte is an assistant professor of history at Georgetown University in Qatar. She specializes in the early modern history of China and Inner Asia\, with a focus on historical cartography\, China-Mongolia relations\, and environmental history. She previously held a postdoctoral fellowship from the Social Sciences and Research Council of Canada and was a visiting scholar at the Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies at Harvard University. She completed her PhD in Inner Asian and Altaic Studies at Harvard University and her M.A. in East Asian Studies at McGill University. Her research was published in Late Imperial China (Dec. 2022) and in Études Mongoles et Sibériennes (2022). She also directed the making of an interactive Manchu historical map for the Norman B. Leventhal Map & Education Center at the Boston Public Library (2021).
URL:https://cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu/event/mapping-the-mongol-steppe-indigenous-cartography-and-statecraft-in-19th-century-qing-china/
LOCATION:Education City\, Al Luqta St\, Ar-Rayyan\, Doha\, Qatar
CATEGORIES:CIRS Faculty Lectures,Dialogue Series
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2023/01/2W7A3789.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Asia/Qatar:20230204T080000
DTEND;TZID=Asia/Qatar:20230205T170000
DTSTAMP:20260405T013006
CREATED:20230315T073606Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240313T081508Z
UID:10001504-1675497600-1675616400@cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu
SUMMARY:MENA Think Tank Roundtable: Improving Relevance and Impact at a Time of Mounting Global Uncertainty
DESCRIPTION:On February 4-5\, 2023\, CIRS hosted a roundtable discussion for a group of think tank representatives that operate in and produce policy research on the Middle East and North Africa region. Over the course of two days\, representatives around the table discussed challenges\, opportunities and possible areas for collaboration as a way forward. The roundtable was convened by the Middle East Council for Foreign Affairs (Qatar) and the Issam Fares Institute at the American University of Beirut.
URL:https://cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu/event/mena-think-tank-roundtable-improving-relevance-and-impact-at-a-time-of-mounting-global-uncertainty/
LOCATION:Education City\, Al Luqta St\, Ar-Rayyan\, Doha\, Qatar
CATEGORIES:Regional Studies
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2023/03/Photo.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Asia/Qatar:20230209T130000
DTEND;TZID=Asia/Qatar:20230209T160000
DTSTAMP:20260405T013006
CREATED:20230326T102547Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230813T125952Z
UID:10001506-1675947600-1675958400@cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu
SUMMARY:CURA Research Skills Workshop: Designing a Research Question
DESCRIPTION:On February 9\, 2023\, the Center for International and Regional Studies (CIRS) hosted a research skills workshop titled “Designing a Research Question.” The workshop was presented in collaboration with the Institute for Advanced Study in the Global South (#IAS_NUQ) at Northwestern University in Qatar (NUQ)\, under the auspices of the CIRS Undergraduate Research Advancement (CURA) program. Twenty-three undergraduate students from GU-Q and NU-Q attended the workshop\, which was led by Dr. Clovis Bergère\, Assistant Director for Research at #IAS_NUQ. \n\n\n\n\n“The biggest takeaway I had from this workshop is how to always include the biographical context in my research and how it goes a long way in helping me structure my questions.” \n– Workshop participant\n\n\n\nBergère opened the workshop by posing a question about the idea of “designing” a research question. When talking about research questions\, it is difficult to articulate exactly what one does to arrive at an effective research question – do you build\, create\, develop\, write\, craft\, stumble upon? Bergère compared the process of arriving at a research question to that of cooking. You may be able to follow a recipe\, but there is also a craft that two different chefs may bring to creating the dish that will result in two very different dishes\, despite them being based on the same recipe. Similarly\, Bergère stated that there is an element of recipe-following when devising a research question\, but there is another less tangible element that can’t be captured in a “recipe.” It is this less tangible element that the workshop meant to address\, and to give students the opportunity to work through the process with their peers. \n\nAs if following a recipe\, a research question should be all the following: clear; focused; concise; complex; arguable; not too broad\, not too narrow; not too easy to answer\, not too difficult to answer; researchable; and analytical rather than descriptive. Bergère points out that while the above criteria seem straight-forward\, it is difficult to find guidance on how to arrive at a research question with these criteria. Bergère shared excerpts from two books that have helped him to approach research: The Sociological Imagination\, by C. Wright Mills (1959) and The Art of Listening\, by Les Back (2007). Bergère explained that the prior book helps us to grasp history and biography and the relations between the two in society. The latter book shaped Bergère’s understanding of the work or the craft of research\, and that it involves imagination. Bergère argues that both are needed in order to develop a research question that is meaningful to the researcher\, and to others. \n\nTaking this idea further\, Bergère suggests three sorts of questions that can help researchers get to their question: what is the structure of this particular society as a whole?; Where does this society stand in human history?; and\, What varieties of people now prevail in this society and in this period? Any of these three questions can be a starting point for thinking about a particular research topic and determining the perspective with which to approach it. \n\nFinally\, Bergère encouraged students to bring their personal experiences into the process and offered the frames of “troubles” and “issues” to relate their personal experiences to a research topic. Bergère explains that “troubles” occur within the character of the individual and within the range of their immediate relations with others. “Issues” then have to do with matters that transcend the local environment of the individual and the range of their inner life. With these two frames in mind\, one can approach a research topic and begin the work of imagining a research question. \n\n\n\n“…going forward I will think a lot about the historical and biographical” components of a research question. \n– Workshop participant\n\n\nThe last half of the workshop was devoted to hands-on activities and group work. Students were asked to think of a research topic that was interesting to them. In the first activity\, students described the topic\, what brought them to the topic (their own “trouble” with it)\, and some key words about the topic. Students shared their work with their peers\, and with feedback honed their ideas. \n\nIn the second activity\, students used their imagination to write several questions related to the topic\, considering the three types of questions Bergère suggested during the presentation. Students shared their questions\, and also ordered them from broadest to narrowest. Working with their group\, students provided feedback on their questions based on the criteria discussed at the beginning of the workshop. The workshop concluded with a reflection activity. \n\nArticle by Elizabeth Wanucha\, CIRS Operations Manager
URL:https://cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu/event/cura-research-skills-workshop-designing-a-research-question/
LOCATION:Education City\, Al Luqta St\, Ar-Rayyan\, Doha\, Qatar
CATEGORIES:Student Engagement
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2023/03/AW5Y9665.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Moscow:20230212T180000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Moscow:20230212T190000
DTSTAMP:20260405T013006
CREATED:20230201T081207Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240313T081207Z
UID:10001496-1676224800-1676228400@cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu
SUMMARY:Strategic Timing in the Appearance of News: Evidences from Scandals on U.S.Politicians
DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Lamis Kattan\, Georgetown University in Qatar \n\nLocation: CIRS Conference Room\, Georgetown University in Qatar \n\nDr. Lamis Kattan received her Ph.D. in economics from the University of Ottawa in Canada. She is an applied micro-economist and her fields of research broadly fall under labor economics\, political economy\, public economics\, and population economics. She joined Georgetown University in Qatar as an assistant professor of Economics in Fall 2022 where she has been teaching various courses including statistics\, econometrics\, and research methodologies.
URL:https://cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu/event/strategic-timing-in-the-appearance-of-news-evidences-from-scandals-on-u-s-politicians/
LOCATION:Education City\, Al Luqta St\, Ar-Rayyan\, Doha\, Qatar
CATEGORIES:American Studies,CIRS Faculty Lectures,Dialogue Series
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2023/02/SW_17800-min-scaled.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Asia/Qatar:20230219T080000
DTEND;TZID=Asia/Qatar:20230219T170000
DTSTAMP:20260405T013006
CREATED:20230322T112000Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240313T081140Z
UID:10001505-1676793600-1676826000@cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu
SUMMARY:Narratives of Language Landscapes in Qatar: The Language Landscape in Qatar - Workshop I
DESCRIPTION:On February 19–20\, 2023\, the Center for International and Regional Studies (CIRS) hosted a roundtable workshop titled “Language Landscapes of Qatar.” The two-day workshop was the first meeting under the “Narratives of Language Landscapes in Qatar” research initiative led by GU-Q faculty member\, Yehia A. Mohamed. The aim of the workshop was to identify understudied areas of research in the field of linguistics of the Arabic language\, particularly pertaining to spoken Arabic in Qatar. \n\nThe first session was moderated by Dr. Hadeel Al-Khatib\, Associate Professor of Educational Sciences at Qatar University. In this session\, scholars gave three presentations: “A Non-Najdi Element in Qatari Arabic\,” “Historical Linguistic Trends in Gulf Arabic\,” and “Mapping the Scholarship on Qatari Arabic and the Language Situation in Qatar.” \n\nDr. Eiman Mustafawi\, Associate Professor of English Literature and Linguistics\, and Vice President for Student Affairs at Qatar University\, presented one of the features of the Qatari spoken Arabic dialect\, noting that it could be considered a trace of a non-Najdi substrate dialect. Qatari Arabic belongs to the group of northeast Arabian dialects\, which originated in Najd. However\, there is a feature unique to Qatari Arabic—singular demonstrative terms for “this” do not distinguish gender\, whereas other northeast Arabian dialects do distinguish between the grammatical masculine and feminine form of “this.” Mustafawi calls this feature gender neutralization of the singular demonstrative in Qatari Arabic. In particular\, she has observed that the feminine form of the word is used\, regardless of the grammatical gender of the word it refers to. The participants discussed the possible causes of such a dialectical feature\, which is the subject of Mustafawi’s research as the initiative moves forward. \n\nDr. David Wilmsen\, a Professor at the American University of Sharjah\, presented on the historical linguistic trends in Gulf Arabic. Scholars have “bundled” unique features of Arabic dialects and mapped them geographically in a “broken chain” along the periphery of the Arabian Peninsula. Wilmsen’s presentation focused on the gaps along the “broken chain\,” one of them being Qatar as a geographic area\, and highlighted where his research may fill those gaps for Qatari Arabic. In the group discussion\, the scholars provided examples from their own experiences\, noting differences between Arabic speakers in different countries\, in proximity to populations speaking another dialect\, and also within the same country but of different tribal backgrounds. \n\nIn the final presentation of session one\, Dr. Yehia Mohamed\, Associate Professor of Arabic at GU-Q\, and Dr. Muntasir Al Hamad\, Associate Professor of Arabic for Non-Arabic Speakers at Qatar University\, exhibited their extensive work compiling scholarship on Qatari Arabic. A tremendous feat\, the compilation will serve as an incredibly useful tool for any scholar conducting research on Arabic dialects. In the group discussion\, scholars traded ideas and suggestions on how the corpus of data could be presented in physical and digital formats for maximum utility. \n\n\n\nDr. Yehia Mohamed talking about the Workshop on Alarabi TV\n\nSession two was moderated by Elizabeth Wanucha\, CIRS Operations Manager. In this session\, two presentations\, “Qatari Arabic Vowel Systems\,” and “Sound Changes in Qatari Arabic\,” provided an in-depth analysis of sounds unique to Qatari Arabic dialects. \n\nMark Shockley\, a Ph.D. candidate at Leiden University\, presented his in-depth work studying Qatari Arabic vowel systems. His study examined if and how Qatari Arabic speakers distinguished between certain vowel sounds appearing in specific contexts. One instance he studied is vowels that are paired with certain Arabic letters pronounced in the back of the throat. In spoken Arabic\, this “backness” is reflected in the accompanying vowel. In some Arabic dialects\, the consonant determines the vowel to some extent\, and certain vowels only occur with certain consonants. If appearing outside of this context\, a listener might have issues distinguishing the word. The other instance he studied is the pronunciation of the final vowel in specific contexts. Shockley argues that these vowel sound features seem to be unique to the Qatari dialect of Arabic\, which points to further areas of research as this project continues. \n\nThe final presentation of the day also examined sound changes in Qatari Arabic. Dr. Vladimir Kulikov\, Associate Professor of Linguistics at Qatar University\, presented other features unique to Qatari Arabic dialects. His study complements that of Shockley\, in that he also looks at the “backness” of vowels. However\, he also made an important note of sound differences with the consonants that are pronounced at the back of the throat. In addition to the “backness” of these consonants\, they are also characterized by the degree to which the speaker emits a puff of air when pronouncing the consonant sounds. This is called aspiration. Kulikov argues that Qatari Arabic dialects have two unique features related to aspiration and “backness” of these vowels and consonants. For the vowels\, Qatari Arabic dialect speakers pronounce the long vowel “a” in a more “back” way than in other dialects. When paired with these “backed” consonants\, the vowels are “more backed” than in other contexts. For the “backed” consonants\, in most other dialects\, “backed” consonants are spoken with very little air emission (aspiration). In the Qatari Arabic dialect\, speakers seem to emit more air when pronouncing the “backed” consonants than in other dialects. \n\nKulikov argues that for Qatari Arabic\, the level of aspiration on the consonant in this context is more important than the “backness” of the vowel\, which is not the case in other dialects. For example\, if a Qatari Arabic speaker hears two similar words\, one with a backed vowel and aspirated consonant\, and one with a backed vowel and not-so-aspirated consonant\, the listener will determine those to be the same word. Whereas in other dialects\, those two words would be considered different words due to the difference in aspiration and the difference in the “backness” of the vowel. In the group discussion\, scholars debated potential reasons these features developed\, and in which population of Qatari Arabic speakers these features are more prominent. \n\nThe third session\, on day two of the workshop\, was moderated by Dr. Christine Schiwietz\, Assistant Dean for Curricular and Academic Advising at GU-Q. In this session\, presentations covered the topics “Beyond the Question of ‘Arabic or English?’ in Qatar\,” “Helping Students Respond to the Linguistic Expectations of Analytical and Argumentative Writing in the Disciplines\,” and “The Narrative of Qatari Global Identity as Civic Epistemology: Hospitality\, Arts\, and Interculturalism.” \n\nDr. Dudley Reynolds\, Senior Associate Dean of Education and Full Teaching Professor of English at Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar\, presented on “Beyond the Question of ‘Arabic or English?’ in Qatar.” His presentation centered around two ideas: the way we speak relates to where we come from in society; and\, how we look at language is a product of where we come from. Qatar has experienced a range of policies related to use of English and Arabic in schools\, public signage\, and elsewhere. Reynolds explained how in multilingual societies\, such as Qatar\, language choice often becomes a competition\, with one language “winning.” This can be seen playing out in media\, on government websites\, in schools\, and even on public signs. In the field of linguistics\, this environment taken as a whole is known as a “linguistic landscape\,” which\, in a diverse society such as Qatar\, can be quite complex. \n\nThe Scaffolding Literacy in Academic and Tertiary Environments Qatar (SLATEQ) project team presented on their work helping undergraduate students meet the writing expectations for their coursework. The team includes three faculty members at Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar (CMU-Q): Dr. Silvia Pessoa\, Teaching Professor of English; Dr. Thomas D. Mitchell\, Associate Teaching Professor of English; and\, Dr. Pia Gomez-Laich\, Assistant Teaching Professor of English. With funding from the Qatar National Research Fund (QNRF)\, the team has spent four years collecting student writing and used the material to adapt the “3×3 Learning Toolkit” (Humphrey et al.\, 2010) to the fields of study at CMU-Q. The 3×3 model considers a written text’s ideational meanings (representing knowledge)\, interpersonal meanings (aligning readers)\, and textual meanings (organizing texts) within the whole text\, parts of the text\, and sentences/clauses within the text. The team has used this model in writing workshops they offer to students\, and they also embed themselves in courses with faculty partners. \n\nThe final presentation of this session was given by Dr. Wisam Abdul-Jabbar\, Visiting Professor at Hamad bin Khalifa University (HBKU). Abdul-Jabbar’s presentation covered “The Narrative of Qatari Global Identity as Civic Epistemology: Hospitality\, Arts\, and Interculturalism.” He started by reviewing the state of citizenship education in Qatar at present. In Qatar’s highly multicultural setting\, even local Qatari citizenship as an identity has taken on internationalized and globalized facets. Abdul-Jabbar explored this through three components: hospitality\, arts\, and interculturalism. As the project moves forward\, Abdul-Jabbar will examine the following research questions: to what extent and under what conditions does hospitality to foreigners define the responsibilities of Qatari citizens? Is there a Qatari architectural global identity\, and what does it tell us about Qatari civics? Which Qatari and Islamic ethics\, customs\, values\, and practices qualify as intercultural? \n\nThe final session of the two-day workshop covered “Other Languages in Qatar and their Relationship with Arabic\,” and “The Linguistic Landscape of Public Signage in Qatar.” Dr. Irene Theodoropoulou\, Associate Professor of Linguistics at Qatar University\, moderated the session. \n\nDr. Andrei Avram\, Professor of English Linguistics at the University of Bucharest\, Romania\, presented on other languages in Qatar\, and suggested potential areas of further study. According to Avram\, Qatari Arabic and other Arabic dialects only constitute approximately twenty-eight percent of the languages spoken in Qatar. The majority of other languages are Asian\, including Bengali\, Farsi\, Hindi\, Indonesian\, Malayalam\, Nepalese\, Urdu\, and others. The other non-Arabic\, non-Asian languages spoken in Qatar\, including English\, constitute only twelve percent of the languages spoken in Qatar. Farsi\, Urdu\, and Hindi have even contributed words to the Gulf Arabic lexicon. Another interesting component of the Qatari language landscape is what is termed Gulf Pidgin Arabic and Arabic Foreigner Talk\, which are often spoken among communities that do not share a common language. With the spread of English to Gulf countries\, Avram also suggested the areas of Arabic-English code-switching\, New Englishes\, and Pidgin English as further areas of research. \n\nDr. Rizwan Ahmad\, Associate Professor of Linguistics at Qatar University\, and Dr. Sara Hillman\, Assistant Professor at Texas A&M University in Qatar\, gave the final presentation on the use of language on public signs in Qatar. Following a screening of his 20-minute documentary\, Ahmad described the sociolinguistic context within which Qatari dialect spellings were used on street signs. Notably\, many street signs in Qatar are written in Arabic script\, which mirrors Qatari Arabic dialect pronunciations instead of the expected Standard Arabic ones. Ahmad highlighted how the use of nonstandard Arabic spelling displays a complex interplay of language\, script\, identity\, and migration. The documentary shows how supposedly “incorrect” spellings on street signs serve as visual icons that mark public spaces as Qatari. They showcase Qatari identity and heritage as distinct from other Arabic-speaking societies. Ahmad and Hillman’s presentation complemented that of Dudley Reynolds\, and also touched on language policy for public signs. How shopkeepers choose to display Arabic and English on their signs forms an important part of the language landscape for the populations living in that area. \n\nIn the wrap-up session\, Dr. Yehia Mohamed led a group discussion to explore the next steps for the project. As part of the research initiative\, the group aims to compile at least one written publication\, with further digital components published online. A second workshop will take place in fall 2023 to study the sociolinguistic narratives in Qatar. \n\n	\n						\n						\n					\n											\n		\n		\n			\n					\n\n			\n					\n								\n						\n					\n											\n		\n		\n			\n					\n\n			\n					\n								\n						\n					\n											\n		\n		\n			\n					\n\n			\n					\n								\n						\n					\n											\n		\n		\n			\n					\n\n			\n					\n								\n						\n					\n											\n		\n		\n			\n					\n\n			\n					\n								\n						\n					\n											\n		\n		\n			\n					\n\n			\n					\n					\n\n\nArticle by Elizabeth Wanucha\, CIRS Operations Manager \n\n\nTo view the working group agenda\, click here\n\n\n\nTo read the participants’ biographies\, click here\n\n\n\nRead more about this research initiative\n\n\nParticipants and Discussants:  \n\n\nWisam Kh. Abdul-Jabbar\, Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU).\n\n\n\nRizwan Ahmad\, Qatar University\n\n\n\nMuntasir Fayez Al Hamad\, Qatar University\n\n\n\nHadeel Al-Khatib\, Qatar University\n\n\n\nAndrei Avram\, University of Bucharest\n\n\n\nZahra Babar\, CIRS – Georgetown University in Qatar\n\n\n\nRobert Bianchi\, VCUarts Qatar\n\n\n\nJulie Boéri\, Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU).\n\n\n\nAbdelrahman Elsharqawy\, Osaka University\n\n\n\nDeborah Giustini\, Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU).\n\n\n\nPia Gomez-Laich\, Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar\n\n\n\nSara Hillman\, Texas A&M University at Qatar.\n\n\n\nVladimir Kulikov\, Qatar University\n\n\n\nSuzi Mirgani\, CIRS – Georgetown University in Qatar\n\n\n\nThomas D. Mitchell\, Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar\n\n\n\nYehia A. Mohamed\, Georgetown University in Qatar\n\n\n\nEiman Mustafawi\, Qatar University\n\n\n\nSilvia Pessoa\, Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar\n\n\n\nDudley Reynolds\, Carnegie Mellon Unive\,rsity in Qatar\n\n\n\nChristine Schiwietz\, Georgetown University in Qatar\n\n\n\nMark Shockley\, American University of Sharjah\n\n\n\nIrene Theodoropoulou\, Qatar University\n\n\n\nElizabeth Wanucha\, CIRS – Georgetown University in Qatar\n\n\n\nDavid Wilmsen\, American University of Sharjah\n\n\n\nWajdi Zaghouani\, Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU).
URL:https://cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu/event/narratives-of-language-landscapes-in-qatar-the-language-landscape-in-qatar-workshop-i/
LOCATION:Education City\, Al Luqta St\, Ar-Rayyan\, Doha\, Qatar
CATEGORIES:Regional Studies
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2023/03/AW5Y2610.jpg
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