This is a newsletter from Center for Middle Eastern Studies (CMES), Lund University
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Middle East Forum Newsletter #13
September, 2020
Middle Eastern research news from Lund University | | | | | |
Message from the director |
We cordially welcome the new Director for the Center for Middle Eastern Studies and as well the new Coordinator for the strategic research area Middle East in the Contemporary World, Prof. Karin Aggestam. Karin is the former Director of Peace & Conflict Studies at Lund University and holds the Samuel Pufendorf Endowed Chair. She has a long research career within interdisciplinary research focussing on peace diplomacy, gender, conflict analysis, foreign policy, negotiation/mediation and the Middle East. She will now lead the center´s development during coming years and as well focus on coordinating one of the Lund University´s 11 strategic research areas. Very welcome!
| Ronny Berndtsson, acting director CMES | | | | | More about Karin AggestamKarin is Honorary Professor at University of Queensland and Adjunct Professor at Monash University, Australia. She is also an Excellent Teaching Practitioner (ETP) at the Teaching Academy.
To her profile
| | | | Erdoğan mobiliserar väljare genom att åter göra Hagia Sophia till moskéHagia Sophias omvandling från museum till moské visar tydligt att en sekulär offentlighet, neutral gentemot olika trosuppfattningar, är en omöjlighet i dagens Turkiet. Det menar Ömer Turan, forskare vid Centrum för Mellanösternstudier. To the article at lu.se
| | | | "al-Qaeda has never been weaker than now" On the 19th anniversary of 9/11 attacks, the debate surrounding al-Qaeda strength is still alive among scholars and experts. Along with Hasan Abu Hanieh and Marwan Shehadeh, CMES researcher Orwa Ajjoub assess the group's relevance and argue that al-Qaeda has never been weaker than now. To the interview | | | | Media coverage of the Syrian crisisCongratulations to CMES affiliated Madeleine Kassab for successfully defending her PhD thesis on The media coverage of the Syrian crisis from 2011 to 2013. Comparison between Al-Jazeera and Al-Manar channels. | | | | New project ''Empowerment and Evaluation of Postgraduate Courses in the Scientific Research Approaches - based on E-learning tools''This new project has been been approved and signed by University of Zakho (Kurdistan Region of Iraq) and CMES, Lund University. The project will start with a course ''Research Methodology'' for master students from two departments at UOZ. | The coming issue of Dragomanen is about "leisure"The coming issue of Dragomanen, the annual publication of the Swedish Research Institute in Istanbul, has been co-edited by Anders Ackfeldt and Leif Stenberg and is dedicated to the topic of leisure.
CMES researcher Helen Avery contributes with a piece written in Swedish "Strandliv", on what the beach means for people in Gaza.
Also, the CMES affiliated research Orwa Ajjoub contributes to the publication with the article “How Do Damascenes Spend Their Leisure Time during the War?”
| | | | "Rethinking the political economy of rural struggles in Turkey: Space, structures, and altered agencies"By focusing on recent water struggles in rural Turkey against run‐of‐the‐river hydropower plants (SHPs), the research by CMES affiliate Sinem Kavak delves into the societal and economic factors that enable or inhibit the emergence of strong mobilizations through a comparison of four localities of the Eastern Black Sea region. More about Sinem´s research | | | | An Exploratory Study of the Obstacles for Achieving Quality in Distance Learning during the COVID-19 PandemicNew research by CMES Raed Bashitialshaaer: "The results indicate that the professors and students faced self-imposed obstacles, as well as pedagogical, technical, and financial or organizational obstacles. Recommendations are presented to overcome and understand these obstacles to benefit in the future during unexpected or similar problems." Read more here
| CMES Dr. Khaldoon A Mourad proposes a possible Water Compact for a functioning water governance system in SomaliaThe water sector in Somalia is fragmented and needs coordination to establish a functioning water governance system. Read more about the work in Somalia
| | | | CMES Mohammed Almahfali is part of the new Dawit Isaak LibraryThe Dawit Isaak Library is a freedom of expression library at Malmö City Archives.
It opened on 16 September 2020 to the public and is located in Malmö City Archives' existing premises.
Read more here
| | | | Geopolitical Ecologies of Violence and ResistanceCMES researchers Pinar Dinc and Lina Eklund presented in a POLLEN (Political Ecology Network) conference. Their paper is "Nationalistic arson? An interdisciplinary approach to forest fires and conflicts." | | | | | | Erik Renström proposed as Lund University’s new vice-chancellorThe University Board has now decided to recommend Erik Renström as the new vice-chancellor of Lund University for the term of office 2021 to 2026. Renström, a physician and professor of Experimental Endocrinology, has extensive academic experience. He is currently dean of the Faculty of Medicine at Lund University. “I am convinced that Erik Renström will lead Lund University in an excellent manner. He has the qualities and experience required to safeguard and develop a university of this stature”, says the chair of the Lund University Board, Jonas Hafström. | The faculty’s measures for a safe study environment this semesterStudents are to feel secure when studying at the Faculty of Social Sciences. The faculty has therefore implemented a number of measures to ensure that teaching in our premises will comply with the Swedish Public Health Agency’s recommendations: - We have adapted the furniture arrangement at our premises in order to maintain social distancing.
- Classrooms will be used for a longer period during the day in order to spread out teaching sessions.
- Hand sanitiser will be available outside classrooms from 17 September
- Disinfection wipes are available in computer rooms/at computer stations that users can disinfect the keyboard and mouse before and after use.
| Reducing the spread of infection – everyone’s responsibilityWe must all take collective responsibility for maintaining a safe study environment. It is therefore very important that as a student you: - maintain social distancing! (1.5 m)
- stay at home if you have symptoms of a cold or illness
- wash hands often and thoroughly or use hand sanitiser
- leave the classroom and corridor after a lesson is over
- respect the current delimitations of the premises
- respect the arrangement of furniture in classrooms and do not move ta and chairs
- do not move furniture that has been cleared away
More information for students: https://www.sam.lu.se/en/covid-19 | The board of the SWEDISH RESEARCH INSTITUTE IN ISTANBUL (srii.org) hereby announces one or several fellowship grants of 36 000 SEK for the spring term of 2021. The application should be sent as one pdf-file, addressed to the board of the Swedish Research Institute in Istanbul, under the
e-mail sriiapplication@gmail.com
before October 25, 2020. Decisions on the applications will be taken in mid-November. Further inquiries should be directed to the secretary of the board, Dr Ragnar Hedlund (ragnar.hedlund@gustavianum.uu.se). | Invitation to Researchers’ Night – digitally
”Researchers are ordinary people with extraordinary jobs”To give students from upper secondary school and other interested a picture of what a researcher is and what research means. This year's theme for Researchers’ Friday is Research for a sustainable future.
The university wants to present several different research areas at Lund University and therefore want to have you as part of this event. Register your participation via email to stefan.zamudio@vattenhallen.lu.se before October 23. |
FACULTY GRANTSEach year the Faculty of Social Sciences announces a number of recurring grants that are available to apply for certain categories of faculty staff:
- faculty travel and research grants
- application months
- educational development funding
More information and application dates here
| Future Week 12–18 OctoberThis year’s theme is Forces in Motion. Program here | showcase the diverse and timely work we do on the Middle East and on its impact globally, across all disciplines at Lund University. | | | |
The 5th World Symposium on Sustainable Development at Universities (WSSD-U-2020) scheduled to be held in Visby this summer, was instead reorganised to an online event 27th - 28th of August. The presentation of Helen Avery (CMES) and Birgitta Nordén (MAU) will be published as a chapter in the upcoming book "Universities, Sustainability and Society: Supporting the Implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals" to be published as part of the World Sustainability Series (Springer). Their chapter "We can only do it together: Addressing global sustainability challenges through a collaborative paradigm" discusses how collaboration, creativity and transdisciplinary approaches to sustainability challenges are currently blocked by competitive structures and suggests measures that would allow sustainability to occupy a central place in academic work. |
About this newsletterWith the objective to provide an overview Middle Eastern studies undertaken at Lund University, this newsletter is intended to give updates on research, events, and other related news. It is also intended to form a window towards the society, showcasing important Middle Eastern research conducted at Lund University.If you have information that you want to be included in the next edition of the newsletter, please contact maria.lofstedt@cme.lu.se. |
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