Centering Central Asia: Gender, State, and Nation

The UCSB Center for Middle East Studies Conference “Centering Central Asia: Gender, State, and Nation” will be held on Friday, April 24 & Saturday, April 25, 2009. A schedule of events appears below.
Friday, April 24 at the Multicultural Center Theater
7:30-8:00 pm Nancy Gallagher, Professor, History Dept., UCSB. Talk on NGOs in Afghanistan
8:00-10:00pm Introduction of film by Director, Meena Nanji. Film “View from a Grain of Sand”

Saturday, April 25 in the McCune Conference Room, HSSB 6020
8:45am-5:30 pm CONFERENCE

Panel 1: Gender and Society in Iran and Central Asia
Adrienne Edgar, Associate Professor, History, UCSB. “Gender, Nation, and Modernity in Soviet and Post-Soviet Central Asia”
Ashraf Zahedi, Resident Scholar, Beatrice Bain Research Group, University of California, Berkeley. “Rethinking Gender Policies in Afghanistan”
Nayereh Tohidi, Chair & Professor, Gender and Women’s Studies Dept.,California State University, Northridge. “Gender and Transition in Post-Soviet Azerbaijan”
Mary Hegland, Associate Professor, Dept. of Anthropology and Women & Gender Studies, Santa Clara University. “Gender, Family, Kin, Sexuality Transformation in Iran and Tajikistan”
Plenary Speaker: Janet Afary, Keddie-Balzan Fellow, University of California, Los Angeles.”The Sexual Politics of the Islamic Republic of Iran”

Panel 2: Central Asia, Pakistan, and Iran in Global Perspective
Adeeb Khalid, Professor, Dept. of History, Carleton College. “After the Soviets: Islam in Contemporary Central Asia”
Shahnaz Rouse, Professor and Chair, Sociology Faculty, Sarah Lawrence College. “State Practices Versus Non-State/Civil Society Peace Initiatives in Pakistan”
Mateo Mohammad Farzaneh, Ph.D. Candidate, UCSB. “A U.S.-Iran Détente?: Views from Iran”
Mona Sheikh, Visiting Research Scholar, Orfalea Center for Global and International Studies, UCSB. “Talking with Taliban Activists: Militant Jihad in Pakistan”
Plenary Speaker: Olivier Roy, Lecturer, School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences and the Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris. “Imposing Emancipation: What is the West Doing There?”

5:30-6:30pm Reception, with music by members of the Middle East Ensemble

The conference is sponsored by the CMES and co-sponsored by the Interdisciplinary Humanities Center. All events are free and open to the public. For additional information please contact Laura Pollick, Center for Middle East Studies, 805-893-4245.

jwil 15.iv.09