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Item Food Sovereignty Workshop(Ohio State University. Middle East Studies Center, 2022-10-13) McClimans, Melinda; Hoy, Casey; Phipps, Brandy; Kowalkowski, Brian; McCorriston, Joy; Usher, Kareem; Varisco, DanielGlobally, 27% of people faced moderate or severe food insecurity in 2019, representing more than 2 billion people. Community-Centered Approaches for Food Systems Transformation discussed the question: "How we might reprioritize research and teaching based on community partnership rather than "expertise?" In other words, how might learning from communities take precedence over learning about them. The workshop began with a call to action as we discussed the cultural contexts of local food systems locally and around the world. In her keynote, Dr. Phipps shed light on research and grassroots projects that address this urgent crisis, highlighting the work currently being done by communities to produce nutrient-dense, culturally relevant cuisine. Dr. Phipps' keynote was followed by examples of community food systems work being done in the U.S., Belize, and Yemen. The conversation was moderated by culturally-relevant food systems expert, Associate Professor Mary Rodriguez, who has done work in the Middle East and with diaspora communities in Columbus. Conversations that followed centered on the types of actions that might be taken, and were continued at Ohio State's STEAM Factory the next day, including representatives of local non-profit organizations such Ohio Food Banks, South Side Family Farms, Bronzeville Growers Market. A special thanks to our sponsors and to the speakers, consultants, hosts, and facilitators who helped us make the workshop a success. Thanks to the participants who came to the workshop and joined us in lively conversations. We are so grateful to all of you for sharing your expertise, experiences, and energy with us.Item Recent Trends in Late Antique Iranian Studies(Ohio State University. Middle East Studies Center, 2009-11) Pourshariati, ParvanehFour panels at the Middle East Studies Association Conference, Boston, November 20-24, 2009 organized by Parvaneh Pourshariati, The Ohio State University. The four panels were entitled "Recent Trends in Late Antique Iranian Studies." Each panel was dedicated to a specific theme: "Legal Structures of Iran in Late Antiquity", "Problematics in Chronological Demarcation of Late Antique Iran", "Sacred, and Martial Expressions of Iran in the Late Antique Period", and "Urban, Agriculture, and Administrative Processes and Transformations in Late Antique Iran".Item Update on Extremist Jihadi Groups in Afghanistan and the Middle East(Ohio State University. Middle East Studies Center, 2016-09-26) Payind, AlamThe director of the Middle East Studies Center, Dr. Alam Payind, presents on jihadi extremist groups of the Middle East with an emphasis on Afghanistan.Item OSU Faculty Panel on Afghanistan: How Much Do We Know?(Ohio State University. Middle East Studies Center, 2001-09) Payind, Alam; Crane, Howard; Griesberger, John; Dale, StephenPost-9/11 panel on Afghanistan held at the Wexner Center for the Arts and presented by the Middle East Studies Center at The Ohio State University. Panelists: Dr. Alam Payind, Director of the Middle East Studies Center, The Ohio State University; Dr. Howard Crane, Professor of Art History, The Ohio State University; Dr. John Griesberger, Director of International Education, The Ohio State University; and Dr. Stephen Dale, Professor of History, The Ohio State University.Item Symposium on Iraq and Afghanistan(Ohio State University. Middle East Studies Center, 2008-02-13) Payind, Alam; al-Bakaa, TahirThe Middle East Studies Center, partnering with the Mershon Center for International Security Studies, presented a symposium on Iraq and Afghanistan on February 13, 2008. The symposium featured two distinguished scholars, Dr. Alam Payind and Dr. Tahir al-Bakaa, who gave their views on the current situations in Afghanistan and Iraq, respectively. The scholars, who continue to be influential in their countries, provided a picture of the way recent events have been seen from insiders’ points of view, and the way that they see their countries’ histories. Professor Richard Herrmann, director of the Mershon Center, introduced the scholars and provided insights on U.S. foreign policy, which he gained from listening to their discourses.Item Symposium on Central Asian Security(Ohio State University. Middle East Studies Center, 2008-05-23) Payind, Alam; Abdullaev, KamoludinThe Center for Slavic and East European Studies along with the Middle East Studies Center hosted a panel on Central Asian Security May 23, 2008 at the Mershon Center for International Security. The two main speakers were Dr. Kamoludin Abdullaev, a scholar from Dushanbe, Tajikistan, and Dr. Alam Payind, Director of the Middle East Studies Center. Dr. Abdullaev spoke about the status of societal reconciliation following the Tajik Civil War (1992-1997) and what effects that has had on the regional security situation. Afghanistan and Tajikistan are at the heart of security concerns for the Central Asian region. One of the main issues is the Afghan drug trade, which traverses the former-Soviet Central Asian republics, including Tajikistan, on its way to Russia and Europe.Item Hydraulic Engineering and Water Management Under Harsh Conditions: Ancient and Modern Lessons From Yemen(Ohio State University. Mershon Center for International Security Studies, 2015-09-21) Hehmeyer, IngridHer current field research focuses on the history of water technology in medieval Yemen, where she investigates technical innovations in hydraulic engineering and strategies for water management that allowed people to live under harsh environmental conditions. Part of this project involves a study of the methods of astronomical timekeeping used for allocating water, during both day and night.Item Symposium on Extremist Jihadi Groups(Ohio State University. Mershon Center for International Security Studies, 2016-03-09) Payind, Alam; Al-Azm, Amr; Herrmann, RichardThe symposium addressed the complex issues related to extremist jihadi groups in the Middle East. The panelists introduced the topic by providing detailed background information on these groups as well as the on area itself. They then provided an up-to-date analysis on the current situation in these regions. It concluded with a discussion of the implications for U.S. foreign policy followed by a Q&A session.Item Entangled Bodies of Learning: Gender, Islam, and Secularism in the Modern Turkish Republic(Ohio State University. Mershon Center for International Security Studies, 2013-02-18) Hassan, MonaTwo striking educational trends with their roots in the early Turkish republic have fostered the unexpected emergence of Turkish state-sponsored female preachers. The social engineering of religious education and the coeducational principle of gender equality have facilitated an unprecedented feminization of religious higher education in Turkey and a related increase in professional opportunities for these female graduates. Employed by Turkey's Directorate of Religious Affairs, female preachers seek in turn to educate the public through regular sermons, lectures, and consultations in their assigned districts across the country. Located at the fraught intersection of religion, politics, gender, education, and secularism, Turkey's state-sponsored female preachers aptly illustrate the elaborate complexities of secular modernity.Item Everyday Modernity, Urban Space and Citizenship: Public Beaches in Early Republican Istanbul(Ohio State University. Mershon Center for International Security Studies, 2013-02-04) Bozdogan, SibelAfter more than a decade of relative insignificance in the shadow of the new capital Ankara, the first efforts to renew Istanbul's crumbling urban infrastructure and to transform the city from an oriental, imperial capital to a modern republican city took off in the 1930s, primarily through the work of the French urban planner Henri Prost who worked for Istanbul Municipality between 1936 and 1951. In this period, urban planning became an integral dimension of the republican project of re-making the city into a theater of modern life, and its people, into modern citizens. As the most visible forms of displaying healthy bodies (especially women's bodies) in public space, promenading, swimming and dancing came to be seen as quintessentially "modern" activities. Consequently parks, beaches and gazinos (music halls) became the paradigmatic spaces of modernity representing the "opening up" of a traditional Muslim society along secular western models of mixed-gender recreation while evoking the prevailing cult of body, youth and health that had captured Europe's imagination in the interwar period. Within this broader historical context, this lecture focuses on the emergence of beaches along Istanbul's Bosporus and Marmara shores, presenting them as symbolically charged urban sites where republican notions of modernity, secularization and citizenship acquired spatial expression. Rather than reading them as unequivocal expressions of a top-down state ideology however, they will be discussed as ambivalent sites where the official republican project of modernity and "social engineering" from above came in contact with the everyday lives of ordinary Istanbulites from below.Item Turkey Since 1980(Ohio State University. Mershon Center for International Security Studies, 2013-04-04) Pamuk, Şevket; Arat, YeşimŞevket Pamuk is professor of economics and economic history at Boğaziçi (Bosphorus) University in Istanbul, and professor and chair in contemporary Turkish studies at London School of Economics and Political Science. He has published many books and articles on the economic history of modern Turkey, the Ottoman Empire, Middle East and Europe. He is a past president of European Historical Economics Society and the current president of Asian Historical Economics Society. He is also co-editor of European Review of Economic History. Yeşim Arat is professor in the Department of Political Science and International Relations at Boğaziçi University (Bosphorus) in Istanbul. She has worked on questions of women's political participation and democratization in Turkey. Her scholarly work includes her books, Patriarchal Paradox: Women Politicians in Turkey; Rethinking Islam and Liberal Democracy: Islamist Women in Turkish Politics; Violence Against Women in Turkey, with Ayşe Gül Altınay; as well as numerous articles in edited volumes and professional journals. She was the provost of her university from 2008 to 2012 and is a member of the Science Academy, Turkey.Item American Jews, Israelis, Palestinians, and the U.S. Presidential Election(Ohio State University. Mershon Center for International Security Studies, 2012-10-24) Sylvan, DonThis interactive session will begin with some empirically based observations about internal Israeli politics, as well as a few about internal Palestinian politics. The majority of the talk will concentrate on preference patterns of American Jews in the upcoming U.S. presidential election, and the sometimes intense dialogue that has emerged as the campaign proceeds.Item Egypt and the Arab Spring Revolution(Ohio State University. Mershon Center for International Security Studies, 2012-01-09) Abdel-Khalek, Gouda; Korayem, Karima; Aly, HassanThe Arab people revolted against unjust economic models that have left the vast majority of society destitute and marginalized in their own countries. For decades, inappropriate policies were prescribed and imposed by the very same international actors that are called upon today to facilitate the transition. The main questions to be addressed are:What are the main factors causing revolutions in the Arab world? What packages are on offer from G8, EU, IMF, World Bank and EBRD? How are these packages structured and targeted? What sectors will benefit? And what are the constraints? How much of a problem is inequality? Will concerns about social justice seriously be addressed? Why did Egypt new government initially turn down IMF and World Bank offers of policy support packages? The Arab Spring Revolution is facing three main challenges: Restoring Security: The lack of security is the first complaint of the Egyptians at present; they don't feel safe in the streets, at home, at work, etc. Lack of security has been also reflected in traffic chaos, which forms another source for public complaints. There are several factors which have lead to this result and which need to be tackled strictly. Although the security is relatively better at present as compared to eight months ago, when the youth revolution started, there are still much to be done to achieve an overall security in the country. Having a Comprehensive Economic View: The government lacks an economic view that targets raising growth and creating employment opportunities. The problem with the government is that each minister is dealing on his own with the problems and challenges in his ministry, which are many, without having an economic view for all the ministries to revolve the production wheel again, with all what this implies of raising production and creating employment. To achieve that, the government needs to have a think tank (as a high profile institute, or a group of well chosen experts), that puts alternative scenarios for an overall economic plan in which all the ministries have an assigned role to play, and also identifying the policies which enhance the private sector's role in investment and production within the market economy system adopted in Egypt. Establishing Democracy: The question is how to achieve democracy, with all what it involves of having multiple competitive political parties and a respectable election rules for choosing the president with limited powers by law. Changing the previous system which has been prevailing for almost 60 years (after the 1952 revolution), and which consists of one dominant party that formulates consistently the government is not an easy task. Even when Sadat, followed by Mubarak, allowed the existence of more than one political party, there continued to be one dominant party headed by the president and has always formed the government. One important factor for achieving democracy is that all those parties are competitive in power and have equal chance to formulate the government.Item Language and Identity: The Impact on the Middle East(Ohio State University. Mershon Center for International Security Studies, 2012-05-22) Suleiman, CameliaLanguage and Identity in the Israel-Palestine Conflict: The Politics of Self-Perception in the Middle East discusses how the conflict between Israel and Palestine is, and remains to be, one of the most widely and passionately debated issues in the Middle East and in the field of international politics. An important part of this conflict is the dimension of self-perception of both Israelis and Palestinians caught up in its midst. Here, Suleiman, using her background in linguistic analysis, examines the interplay of language and identity, feminism and nationalism, and how the concepts of spatial and temporal boundaries affect self-perception. She does this through interviews with peace activists from a variety of backgrounds: Palestinians with Israeli citizenship, Jewish Israelis, as well as Palestinians from Ramallah, officially holders of Jordanian passports. By emphasizing the importance of these levels of official identity, Suleiman explores how self-perception is influenced, negotiated and manifested, and how place of birth and residence play a major role in this conflict. This book therefore holds vital firsthand analysis of the conflict and its impact upon both Israelis and Palestinians, making it crucial for anyone involved in Middle East studies, conflict studies and international relations.Item The Arab Awakening: One Year On(Ohio State University. Mershon Center for International Security Studies, 2012-04-21) Muasher, MarwanMarwan Muasher is vice president for studies at the Carnegie Endowment. He served as foreign minister (2002–04) and deputy prime minister (2004–05) of Jordan, and his career has spanned the areas of diplomacy, development, civil society, and communications. He is also a senior fellow at Yale University.Item China's Policies Toward the Middle East(Ohio State University. Mershon Center for International Security Studies, 2012-04-16) Zhu, FengZhu Feng is professor of international studies and deputy director of the Center for International and Strategic Studies at Peking University. He is also senior research fellow at the China Institute of Peace and Development and the Center for Contemporary World Affairs. He writes extensively on regional security in East Asia, the North Korean nuclear issue, U.S. national security strategy, and China-U.S. relations.Item Central Eurasian Studies Society 2011 Annual Meeting(Ohio State University. Mershon Center for International Security Studies, 2011-09-15) Levi, Scott; Liu, MorganAnnual Meeting of the Central Eurasian Studies Society is an event put on by the preeminent scholarly organization for Central Asian studies. CESS is a private, non-political, non-profit, North America-based interdisciplinary organization of scholars who are interested in the study of Central Eurasia: a region that stretches from the Black Sea region, the Crimea, and the Caucasus in the west, through the Middle Volga region, Central Asia and Afghanistan, and on to Siberia, Mongolia and Tibet in the east.Item Islam and Rationality: The Impact of al-Ghazālī(Ohio State University. Mershon Center for International Security Studies, 2011-11-10) Tamer, GeorgesAbu Hāmid al-Ghazālī (1058-1111) is a central figure in the history of Islamic theology, jurisprudence, philosophy and Sufism. Of Persian origin, he lived and worked in Baghdad and in other intellectual centers of the Muslim world of the 11th and 12th century. Besides his teaching activity in Baghdad and Tus (in Iran), al-Ghazālī wrote in Arabic and Persian on an enormous variety of subjects, which primarily include theology, Islamic law, logic, philosophy, mysticism, and epistemology. A major concern in his works involves the development of an approach to God which is both Islamic and rational; he also strove to integrate religious rationality in the worship of God and in spiritual life. His eminent works on this topic have been widely influential. Indeed, in general, the discourse on rationality, as accepted by orthodox Islam, was largely established, articulated, and solidified by al-Ghazālī. Al-Ghazālī's influence was so widespread that he earned, in the medieval period, the unique title "The Proof of Islam" (Hujjat al-Islām); this honorific, merited by his preeminent scholarship, acknowledged the illustrious way in which he combined logic and ethics, knowledge and action, rationality and spirituality, orthodoxy and renewal of religious thought. To commemorate the 900 year-long legacy of al-Ghazālī, an international and interdisciplinary conference will take place on November 10-12, 2011. Leading scholars in intellectual history, philosophy, Islamic law and theology, and medieval Christian and Jewish thought will convene to discuss vital aspects of al-Ghazālī's work. Dealing with the increasingly important topic of Islam and rationality, and raising relevant questions related to the inter-religious exchange of ideas, the conference will aim to invigorate discourses between philosophy, religious studies, cultural history, and Islamic studies. The goals of this dialogue are to enhance research of and initiate new studies into the impact of al-Ghazālī's vast work and to create continuing forums for international conversation between scholars and the public on the topics of Islam, reason, and cross-cultural exchange.Item Ideology versus Profit: Drugs and Insurgencies in Afghanistan and Colombia(Ohio State University. Mershon Center for International Security Studies, 2012-04-02) Azami, DawoodAfghanistan and Colombia are two major drug-producing countries experiencing protracted and bloody armed conflicts which have claimed the lives of tens of thousands of people. Colombia's leftist rebels, FARC, and the Taliban in Afghanistan are sophisticated insurgency movements with ideologically dominated political agendas. However, there are signs that FARC's socialist ideology and the Taliban's ideology -- a mixture of nationalism and religious fundamentalism -- are in decline with both groups increasingly relying on narcotics to fund their violence. Militant groups and organized crime live in symbiosis with each other in many parts of the world. FARC's links with drug trade are well established with profits from the drug trade and trafficking. Meanwhile, Taliban's links to the drug trade are increasingly becoming clear. Comparisons are now being drawn between the Taliban movement in Afghanistan and other belligerent groups with links to drug production and trafficking. Some Afghan officials and members of international community in Afghanistan have expressed their concerns about the possible "FARCification" of the Taliban. While describing motivations, recruitment and mobilization of insurgents in Afghanistan and Colombia, Dawood Azami -- visiting scholar and award-winning broadcast journalist -- assesses the intensity of ideology and compares it with the groups' focus on power accumulation and profits. He analyzes the impact of the groups' involvement in the drug trade on their physical resources, political capital and ideology.Item The Syrian Crisis and its Impact on the Middle East(Ohio State University. Mershon Center for International Security Studies, 2012-01-18) Al-Azm, Amr; Tamer, Georges; Herrmann, Richard; Payind, Alam; Jenkins, CraigAmr Al-Azm is assistant professor of Middle East history and anthropology at Shawnee State University, and an active member of the Syrian opposition. He was a first-hand observer and participant of the reform processes instigated by Bashar Al-Assad, and he serves on the executive committee of the Antalya Gathering (Conference for Change in Syria).
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