The workshop is open to interested faculty and graduate students. If you would like to join us at lunch, please contact Adam Morrison at cmes@cmes.ucsb.edu so that we can get an accurate head count.   October 30, 2015: 9:45 AM Greetings and Introduction 10:00 – 10:50 Bilal Orfali (American University of Beirut), “Mystical Poetics: Courtly Themes in Early Sufi Akhbār” (via Skype) 11:00- 11:50 Adam Sabra (University of California, Santa Barbara), “The Cosmic State: Ibn al-‘Arabi’s Political Theology” 12:00 –…

This four-day research collaboration workshop will take place at UC Santa Barbara on the five-year anniversary of the Tahrir Square Uprisings in 2011 that toppled Egypt’s long-term dictator Hosni Mubarak. These uprisings in Egypt accelerated waves of anti-crony-capitalist demonstrations, worker organizing, youth revolts, media insurgencies, and police brutality protests that overthrew governments, mobilized populations throughout the Middle East, and inspired the world. These Tahrir uprisings are called the 25 January Revolution in Egypt and the Arab world. It was on…

Event Description: The Department of History and the Center for Middle East Studies are delighted to sponsor a book launch and signing for Sherene Seikaly’s new book with Stanford University Press, Men of Capital: Scarcity and Economy in Mandate Palestine.   Comments By: Joel Beinin, Donald J. McLachlan Professor of History and Professor of Middle East Studies, Stanford University Erika Rappaport, Professor of Modern British History, UCSB Response by Professor Sherene Seikaly   Event Flyer

Monday, October 10th, 5:00 pm IHC McCune Conference Room (HSSB 6020) How did the Mediterranean emerge as a coherent and recognizable place in the early modern period? By looking to the semi-licit world of piracy and to the development of its laws and practices in particular, we can trace a convergence of understandings and agreements across Mediterranean space. Ironically enough, these outlaws and scofflaws of the time played major roles in forging the critical connections that drew the shores of…

“Protest and Politics in Historical Perspective,” Panelists: Professor Giuliana Perrone, PhD UC Berkeley, “Black Lives Matter in Context: The Long HIstory of Black Activism in America” Professor Nelson Lichtenstein, PhD UC Berkeley, “$15 an Hour: Is it a Social Movement?” Professor Alice O’Connor, PhD Johns Hopkins University, “By the People: Self-Governance and the Isla Vista Ballot Initiatives” Q&A and Reception to follow the presentations

Mhoze Chikowero, Professor of History, UCSB, “The End of an Era in Zimbabwe?” Elena Aronova, Professor of History, UCSB, “Trolls, Bots, Cyberwarfare and the Cold War Origins of Putin’s Information Wars” Monday, December 4, 5-6:30, UCSB McCune Conference Room Poster here: Mugabe poster

Histories of Economy Flyer2 MAY 18 1:30-1:45: Introduction Adam Sabra, University of California, Santa Barbara Sherene Seikaly, University of California, Santa Barbara 1:45-3:15: Commerce and Capital Adam Hanieh, “Space, Scale, and the Middle East’s Contemporary Political Economy” Jessica Goldberg, “Sea Change in Medieval Ifriqiyya” Ziad Abu-Rish, “Complicating the Post-Colonial Narrative” 3:15-3:30: Break 3:30-5:00: Money and Finance Warren Shultz, “Numismatics and Islamic Economic History” Aaron Jakes, “Colonial Economism” Munther al-Sabbagh, “Measuring Interest Rates in the Ottoman Periphery” MAY 19 11:00-12:30: Rural…

Please join us in recognizing the achievements of both the undergraduate and graduate students of the department.