Arab Revolutions: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives from the Humanities
Arab Revolutions: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives from the Humanities
A one-day symposium to promote understanding of the ongoing revolutions in the Arab world.
Please join us for a symposium seeking to explore socio-cultural and political revolutions throughout the Arab World from both historical and contemporary perspectives. Speakers from across the humanities will discuss how their respective disciplines are engaging with the global challenges of change and reform that are sweeping the Arab world, how the past has influenced the present calls for democratization that are currently witnessed in this region, and how these revolutions are covered and reflected in the arts and the media.
Program sponsors: Departments of Communication and History, the Miller Center for Historical Studies, the Anwar Sadat Chair for Peace and Development, the School of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures and Honors Humanities.
Program
9:00-9:30 AM: Coffee and pastries
9:30 AM: Opening remarks
Dean of Arts and Humanities Bonnie Thornton Dill
Conference Organizers: Valérie Orlando, Peter Wien, and Sahar Khamis
10-11 AM: Session I: Arab Revolutions from a Historical Perspective
Keynote Speaker: Eugene Rogan, The Middle East Centre, Oxford University
"Re-writing The Arabs: A History in Light of the Uprisings of 2011"
11:00-11:15 AM Coffee Break
11:15-12:30 PM: Panel Discussion
EveTroutt Powell, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
Dina Khoury, George Washington University, Washington, DC
Orit Bashkin, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL
Kimberly Katz, Towson University, Baltimore, MD
Moderator: Peter Wien, University of Maryland, College Park, MD
12:30-2 PM: Lunch
2:00-3 PM : Session II: Arab Revolutions in the Arts
Khalil Bendib, Artist, Satirist and Cartoonist, Berkeley, CA
“Arab Spring Weather Forecast”
Moderator: Valérie Orlando, Director, Honors Humanities Program & Professor of Francophone Literatures and Cultures, University of Maryland
3:00-3:15 PM: Coffee break
3:15-4:30 PM: Session III: Arab Revolutions in the Media
Sahar Khamis, University of Maryland, College Park, MD
Nada Al Wadi, Journalist and Activist from Bahrain
4:30-4:45 PM: Refreshments and Break
4:45-5:30 PM: Roundtable discussion made up of students and faculty in History, Communication and Honors Humanities
5:30-7 PM: Reception, sponsored by Honors Humanities