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DTSTART:20240101T000000
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Asia/Qatar:20250901T130000
DTEND;TZID=Asia/Qatar:20250901T143000
DTSTAMP:20260413T081023
CREATED:20250909T094628Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251008T093701Z
UID:10001579-1756731600-1756737000@cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu
SUMMARY:CIRS Open House
DESCRIPTION:On September 1\, 2025\, the Center for International and Regional Studies (CIRS) held an open house for GU-Q students\, faculty\, and staff to learn more about CIRS\, the CIRS Undergraduate Research Advancement (CURA) program\, and the different ways students can be involved in the Center’s work. Over 25 attendees met CIRS staff members and listened to presentations by Misba Bhatti\, Research Analyst at CIRS\, and Noor Hussain\, Research Program Specialist at CIRS\, alongside valuable contributions from Professor Firat Oruc and GU-Q’s Author in Residence\, Kamila Shamsie. \n\nIn the presentation\, Misba outlined the Center’s work in academic research\, policy analysis\, and its broader thematic clusters. She emphasized the ways in which CIRS organizes its projects under sustained themes\, drawing attention not only to long-standing clusters such as regional and environmental studies\, but also to new areas of inquiry including race and society\, as well as the Center’s growing engagement with the Hiwaraat conference series\, an initiative of the Dean’s Office that is closely connected to CIRS’s intellectual mission. She further highlighted the Center’s extensive publications program. Aside from the web-based projects that feature interactive content\, CIRS has produced over forty academic publications since 2005\, many of which are available in the GU-Q Library and bookstore\, with additional titles freely downloadable from the CIRS website. \n\nNoor then expanded on the CURA program\, which remains one of the ways for undergraduate students to connect directly with the Center’s work. The CURA program revolves around three interlinked components: student research presentations\, research skills workshops\, and the Beyond the Headlines series. In research presentations\, students are invited to present findings their research findings ranging from honors thesis to class papers to the GU-Q community. These sessions\, held as open lunch talks\, provide a valuable opportunity for students to practice the art of presenting complex research clearly and concisely\, while learning to respond to questions and critique in a professional and intellectually engaged setting. \n\nThe CURA workshops introduce students to the craft of research itself\, giving them hands-on experience with foundational skills that can be applied across disciplines. Noor drew attention to the upcoming workshop led by Khalid Albaih\, GU-Q’s Artist in Residence\, on making political art across mediums. This workshop\, at once artistic and political\, reflects CIRS’s ongoing commitment to expand the boundaries of how research and public engagement are conceived\, understood\, and practiced on campus. \n\nMisba Bhatti spoke about the Beyond the Headlines series\, which provides students with a space to examine current events in greater depth. Panels bring together GU-Q faculty and students to interrogate the historical and cultural contexts behind the news\, encouraging dialogue that goes beyond immediate coverage. In these conversations\, students consider pressing global issues alongside GU-Q faculty\, interrogating the historical context\, the silences\, and the wider implications that lie beneath the surface of headlines. Students are invited to propose topics and join discussions. Professor Firat Oruc\, who moderates the series\, also spoke at the open house. He emphasized how Beyond the Headlines offers students a platform to connect their perspectives with faculty expertise and to situate global events within broader intellectual debates.  \n\nProfessor Oruc also introduced the upcoming Hiwaraat conference\, Seeing Sudan: Politics through Art\, organized by CIRS. He stressed how the Center is cultivating critical spaces where conflict\, displacement\, and questions of politics can be interrogated not only through the lens of international relations\, but through the textures of culture\, art\, and literature. He noted how art and cultural production often provide unique avenues to understand the lived experiences of war and authoritarianism\, and why they remain central to grasping Sudan’s present and imagining its possible futures. This point was echoed by Kamila Shamsie\, GU-Q’s distinguished Author in Residence\, who reflected on how poets and writers have historically been among the first voices silenced in times of repression. She drew from her own experiences and authorship and highlighted how listening to artists and poets offers a raw and urgent interpretation of political crises that cannot be captured by official discourse alone. \n\nThe event concluded with an open reception\, during which students and faculty continued their conversations with CIRS staff\, asked questions about the CURA program\, and explored concrete ways to become involved in the work of the Center. \n\n\n\n\n\nArticle by Maryam Daud\, CIRS Administrative Coordinator
URL:https://cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu/event/cirs-open-house-2/
CATEGORIES:Student Engagement
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Asia/Qatar:20250911T123000
DTEND;TZID=Asia/Qatar:20250911T150000
DTSTAMP:20260413T081023
CREATED:20251007T125641Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260105T095004Z
UID:10001584-1757593800-1757602800@cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu
SUMMARY:CURA Research Workshop: From Idea to Impact: Making Political Art Across Mediums
DESCRIPTION:On September 11\, 2025\, the Center for International and Regional Studies hosted a CURA research workshop titled “From Idea to Impact: Making Political Art Across Mediums.” The session took place at Georgetown University in Qatar and was led by Khalid Albaih\, Artist in Residence at Georgetown University in Qatar. The workshop guided students from identifying a political idea to creating a focused visual study rooted in drawing and interpretation. \n\nWhere do political artworks come from\, and where can they go? In this interactive workshop\, Khalid Albaih guided students through the creative process of transforming political ideas into visual expression. The session began by exploring the origins of political art and how it often emerges from personal experience\, social memory\, or the emotional weight of a headline or online post. Through discussion and hands on exercises\, participants reflected on issues that resonated with them and developed those ideas into drawings and visual interpretations. \n\nUsing simple multimedia materials\, students experimented with symbolism\, visual metaphors\, and narrative framing to communicate their perspectives. The workshop encouraged participants to think critically about how political art functions as both commentary and resistance\, and how a single image can invite reflection\, dialogue\, or change. By the end\, many participants had produced captioned cartoon studies\, poster style compositions\, and small panel sequences that translated reflection into clear visual messages. \n\n\n\nAbout the Artist\n\nKhalid AlbaihArtist-in-Residence \n\nKhalid Albaih is a Sudanese independent political cartoonist renowned for his incisive human rights advocacy\, shared globally under the name Khartoon. His cartoons have been exhibited worldwide\, and his writings have appeared in major international publications. Albaih was the central figure in The Guardian’s short documentary The Story of Civil Rights is Unfinished (2016) and has published two influential books: Khartoon! and Sudan Retold\, an art book he co-edited featuring contributions from 31 Sudanese artists documenting Sudan’s rich history. \n\nHis work extends beyond drawing\, with installations such as Bahar — a poignant video piece using found footage of refugees at sea — The Walls Have Ears (Documenta 15)\, Shahid (Mathaf\, Qatar\, 2024)\, and Season of Immigration to the North (Brescia Musei\, Italy\, 2024)\, all exploring themes of displacement and social justice. In 2024\, he broadened his influence by hosting Alhasil Shino? on AJ+. Albaih is also the editor-in-chief of KhartoonMag.com\, a platform for displaced Sudanese cartoonists\, and creator of the award-winning @DohaFashionFridays\, which amplifies marginalized voices. Through his work\, Albaih remains a vital force in art activism\, championing global social justice and freedom of expression.
URL:https://cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu/event/cura-research-workshop-from-idea-to-impact-making-political-art-across-mediums/
CATEGORIES:Student Engagement,Sudan
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Asia/Qatar:20250917T123000
DTEND;TZID=Asia/Qatar:20250917T130000
DTSTAMP:20260413T081023
CREATED:20251007T140438Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260105T094943Z
UID:10001585-1758112200-1758114000@cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu
SUMMARY:Sudan: Past Lives/New Stories
DESCRIPTION:As part of GU-Q’s Seeing Sudan: Politics Through Art Hiwaraat Conference\, CIRS collaborated with Qatar Musuem’s General Collection department to showcase some their Sudanese jewelry collection and original archival photographs. Curated by Ala Kheir\, Nisreen Kuku\, and Tatyana Mirghani\, the exhibition is an endeavour to reconnect\, reclaim\, and reimagine the Sudanese archive. Born from a shared desire to unify a scattered archival diaspora\, the works presented here reflect the living nature of archives—not as static records\, but as continuous expressions of culture\, memory\, and identity. This exhibition is just a fragment of a much larger\, collective archive—one that holds the layered past\, contested present\, and imagined futures of Sudan. Through art\, we breathe new life into old stories\, reasserting ownership over our histories and forging new pathways forward. \n\nThe exhibition reflects on how Sudan’s past continues to shape its present. Historical images are placed alongside contemporary works to surface voices that have often been overlooked. Trade beads that once moved along regional and transcontinental routes appear here as objects of identity and ceremony. Hebron glass beads\, Venetian millefiori\, and Bohemian glass are shown for their craft and for the meanings they gathered in Sudanese life\, including protection\, social status\, and memory. \n\nA selection of traditional jewelry reveals how aesthetics\, belief\, and community practice come together. Viewers will find pendants inspired by palm frond boxes associated with blessing and protection\, drum shaped ornaments marked with a five pointed star\, and a coin based necklace that recalls the long circulation of British gold coins in Sudanese adornment. The display also introduces the shawshaw hairpin\, crafted in silver or gold with a ring\, bead\, red thread\, and delicate chains. It has been worn in late pregnancy within protective rituals and speaks to women’s roles in carrying heritage forward. Collectively\, these objects illustrate how Sudanese makers transformed materials into symbols that hold memory\, faith\, and social meaning. \n\nArchival photographs and contemporary images deepen this story. Early twentieth century pictures\, often produced through foreign lenses\, sit in dialogue with work by Sudanese photographers who document everyday gatherings\, streets\, and moments of political change. The result is a layered view of Sudan that centers community knowledge\, artistic practice\, and cultural resilience. \n\nMemories of a Changing Sudan\n\nCurated by Ala KheirGU-Q Brown Wall Photography Exhibition \n\nComplementing the library exhibition\, Memories of a Changing Sudan presents an evocative collection of photographs by Sudanese artists. On view on the GU-Q Brown Wall until October 6\, 2025\, the exhibit features intimate portraits\, street scenes\, and revolutionary moments that capture the pulse of Sudanese life\, from everyday gatherings to the historic sit-in of 2019. \n\nSudan has long been photographed through outsider perspectives\, often shaped by colonial curiosity or distance. Over the past two decades\, however\, a generation of self-taught Sudanese photographers has reframed this narrative\, documenting their communities with empathy\, immediacy\, and authenticity. Their work forms a living archive\, a collective act of witnessing that preserves the spirit of Sudan through its people\, homes\, and histories. \n\n\n\n\n\nArticle by Maryam Daud\, CIRS Administrative Coordinator
URL:https://cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu/event/sudan-past-lives-new-stories/
CATEGORIES:Sudan
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Asia/Qatar:20250917T130000
DTEND;TZID=Asia/Qatar:20250917T140000
DTSTAMP:20260413T081023
CREATED:20250929T100630Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260105T094914Z
UID:10001582-1758114000-1758117600@cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu
SUMMARY:Sudanese Culinary Anthropology by Omer Al Tijani 
DESCRIPTION:As part of GU-Q’s Seeing Sudan: Politics Through Art Hiwaraat Conference\, CIRS hosted a community lunch led by pharmacist-turned-chef Omer Al Tigani. The lunch talk was an exploration of how Sudanese food serves as an archive of memory\, identity\, and cultural continuity in times of upheaval. Omer will walk us through the history and origins of Sudanese cuisine\, reflecting on its role in sustaining communities\, narrating histories\, and everyday practices that carry the memory forward. He is also the author of the The Sudanese Kitchen book and “Humble Salt: Archiving the Sudanese Kitchen\,” essay which appeared in After Memory: Essays on the Sudanese Archive.
URL:https://cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu/event/sudanese-culinary-anthropology-by-omer-al-tijani/
CATEGORIES:Sudan
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/09/Omers-LT.png
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Asia/Qatar:20250918T180000
DTEND;TZID=Asia/Qatar:20250920T180000
DTSTAMP:20260413T081023
CREATED:20250903T113017Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260105T094904Z
UID:10001578-1758218400-1758391200@cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu
SUMMARY:Hiwaraat | Seeing Sudan: Politics Through Art
DESCRIPTION:In Sudan\, a war too often ignored has torn apart lives\, crippled institutions\, and forced more than thirteen million people from their homes. A humanitarian crisis ravages the present and threatens both past and future\, jeopardizing a rich cultural legacy. SEEING SUDAN: POLITICS THROUGH ART will convene a historic gathering of academics\, artists\, and activists to examine the relationship between sociopolitical dynamics and cultural production. This conference\, the tenth installment of Georgetown University in Qatar’s acclaimed Hiwaraat series\, will generate critical insights into Sudanese creativity and resilience in the face of violence and displacement. \n\nLocation: Four Seasons Hotel\, Doha \n\n\nabout the conference
URL:https://cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu/event/hiwaraat-seeing-sudan-politics-through-art/
CATEGORIES:Regional Studies,Sudan
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Asia/Qatar:20250919T190000
DTEND;TZID=Asia/Qatar:20250919T200000
DTSTAMP:20260413T081023
CREATED:20250917T063938Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260105T094828Z
UID:10001580-1758308400-1758312000@cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu
SUMMARY:Sudan Retold Exhibition & Book Launch
DESCRIPTION:As part of GU-Q’s Seeing Sudan: Politics Through Art Hiwaraat Conference\, CIRS inaugurated the second edition of Sudan Retold exhibition and book launch on September 19\, 2025\, in partnership with Almas Art Foundation and Alhosh Gallery. Curated and edited by Suzi Mirgani\, Khalid Albaih\, Larissa-Diana Fuhrmann and Rahiem Shaddad\, the project explores Sudanese intellectual achievement and cultural wealth\, bringing Sudanese artistic endeavors into conversation with space\, memory\, and community. It explores how artistic and cultural production offer new ways of understanding Sudan\, challenging dominant narratives and creating space for alternative stories. \n\n\nsee more details
URL:https://cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu/event/sudan-retold-exhibition-book-launch/
CATEGORIES:Sudan
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=application/pdf:https://cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/09/SudanRetold-Exhibition_Cover.pdf
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Asia/Qatar:20250921T090000
DTEND;TZID=Asia/Qatar:20250921T170000
DTSTAMP:20260413T081023
CREATED:20251001T125551Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260218T105357Z
UID:10001583-1758445200-1758474000@cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu
SUMMARY:(Re)Collecting Sudan: Art and Culture Archives Workshop II
DESCRIPTION:On September 21\, 2025\, the Center for International and Regional Studies (CIRS) hosted its second workshop for the “(Re)Collecting Sudan: Art and Culture Archives” research initiative. ​This workshop served as a platform for project contributors to engage in detailed discussions and receive constructive feedback on their submitted papers.  \n\nTo ensure a thorough review process and provide robust feedback for all submissions\, the workshop was organized into five thematically focused sessions. These sessions included Historical Archives\, Digital Archives\, Art Archives\, Lyrical Archives\, and Archives of Exile. This strategic segmentation allowed for in-depth engagement with each paper\, ensuring that discussions were contextualized within their specific scholarly domains and fostering specialized insights. \n\nThe “Historical Archives” section initiated the discussions\, featuring two prominent papers. Eiman Hussein\, Talal Afifi\, and Erica Carter’s paper “Experiencing Hussein Shariffe: Encounters with the Archives—A Collective Auto-Ethnography\,” offered a unique\, shared exploration of historical interactions. This was followed by Ahmad Sikainga’s “The Archives of Leisure and Popular Culture in Colonial and Post-Colonial Khartoum\,” which meticulously examined the cultural nuances preserved within these historical records. \n\nTransitioning to contemporary approaches\, the “Digital Archives” session showcased three insightful papers. Amna Elidrissy\, Zainab Gaafar\, and Helen Mallinson co-authored “Live Museums: An Ecosystem for Safeguarding Heritage\,” highlighting innovative digital platforms for cultural preservation. Larissa-Diana Fuhrmann and Aya Hassan then explored modern archiving in “Instagram as Archive: Sudanese Artists and Political Memory\,” demonstrating the role of social media in capturing historical narratives. The session concluded with Marilyn Deegan\, Wahbi Abdalfattah Abdalrahman\, and Locale’s “Sudan Memory: Building and Narrating the Digital Archive\,” detailing efforts in constructing comprehensive digital repositories. \n\nFurther expanding the scope\, the “Art Archives” session addressed the intersection of art and historical documentation through two compelling papers. Reem Aljeally and Katarzyna Grabska’s “Accidental Archiving? Questioning Curation and Research as Forms of Archiving in the Midst of Political Violence and War in Sudan” critically examined spontaneous archiving practices during conflict. Rahiem Shadad then presented “What Can We Learn from Sudan’s Collective Image-Making History?” emphasizing the value of visual cultural heritage.  \n\nThe “Lyrical Archives” session highlighted the power of oral and poetic traditions\, featuring Qutouf Elobaid’s “Songs of the Barracks: Sudanese Poetic Archives of the 2018 December Revolution\,” and Ruba El Melik and Reem Abbas’s “Women Archiving Sudan: How Women Use Fashion\, Songs\, and Poetry to Preserve History\,” both illustrating the profound role of lyrical expression in documenting historical events.  \n\nThe workshop concluded with the “Archives of Exile” session\, which explored the preservation of cultural memory in diaspora. Bentley Brown’s paper\, “Despite the Distance Between Us: Attempts to Preserve Cultural Memory through Filmmaking-in-Exile\,” showcased cinematic endeavors to bridge geographical divides. Finally\, Anna Reumert’s “An Archive of Exile: Sudanese Migrant Labor and Political Solidarity in Lebanon” shed light on the archival significance of migrant experiences and collective action. \n\nThe final revised drafts will be collected by CIRS with an aim of publishing either an edited volume or a special issue of a journal in the future. \n\n\nTo view the working group agenda\, click here\n\n\n\nRead more about this research initiative\n\n\nParticipants and Discussants:  \n\n\nWahbi Abdulrahman\, Nile Valley University\, Sudan\n\n\n\nRund Alarabi\, The Städelschule (Hochschule für Bildende Künste)\, Germany\n\n\n\nMuez Ali\, Earthna: Center for a Sustainable Future at Qatar Foundation\n\n\n\nReem Aljeally\, The Muse Multi Studios\n\n\n\nZahra Babar\, CIRS\, Georgetown University in Qatar\n\n\n\nMisba Bhatti\, CIRS\, Georgetown University in Qatar\n\n\n\nBentley Brown\, American University of Sharjah\n\n\n\nErica Carter\, King’s College\n\n\n\nMarilyn Deegan\, King’s College\n\n\n\nAmna Elidrissy\, Safeguarding Sudan’s Living Heritage (SSLH)\n\n\n\nRuba El Melik\, Independent Researcher\n\n\n\nQutouf Elobaid\, Locale\n\n\n\nNafisa Eltahir\, Locale\n\n\n\nLarissa-Diana Fuhrmann\, Peace Research Institute Frankfurt\n\n\n\nKatarzyna Grabska\, University of Geneva\n\n\n\nSuha Hasan\, Mawane\n\n\n\nAya Hassan\, Georgetown University in Qatar\n\n\n\nNoor Hussain\, CIRS\, Georgetown University in Qatar\n\n\n\nEiman Hussein\, King’s College\n\n\n\nAla Kheir\, Independent Researcher\n\n\n\nHelen Mallinson\, Safeguarding Sudan’s Living Heritage (SSLH)\n\n\n\nSuzi Mirgani\, CIRS\, Georgetown University in Qatar\n\n\n\nAnna Simone Ruemert\, The New School\, US\n\n\n\nRahiem Shadad\, Downtown Gallery\n\n\n\nAala Sharfi\, Locale\n\n\n\nOmnia Shawkat\, Andariya\n\n\n\nHaneen Sidhahmed\, Sudan Tapes Archive\n\n\n\nAhmad Sikainga\, Ohio State University\n\n\n\nSabreen Taha\, CIRS\, Georgetown University in Qatar\n\n\nArticle by CIRS Research Analyst Misba Bhatti
URL:https://cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu/event/recollecting-sudan-art-and-culture-archives-workshop-ii/
CATEGORIES:Sudan
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