CALL FOR PAPERS Panel – Middle East Studies in the Post September 11 Era

CALL FOR PAPERS

Panel – Middle East Studies in the Post September 11 Era

45th Annual Meeting of the Middle East Studies Association Conference
MESA 2011

December 1-4, 2011 Washington DC
http://www.mesa.arizona.edu/

Dear all,

We are in the process of organizing a panel entitled: Middle East Studies in
the Post September 11 Era. The panel is intended as a contemporary
exploration of Edward Said’s thesis, first laid out in Orientalism, that
Middle Eastern Studies produces not value-free knowledge but policy-oriented
knowledge and, moreover, is tied to the culture of colonialism. In the post
September 11 era, we have witnessed an increasing tendency to build closer,
more explicit and more multifaceted relationship between universities and
the state, which in the case of Middle East Studies may be approached as
“Neo-Orientalism.” Several examples may be identified within US academic
study of the Middle East and Islam, especially where the field is most
connected to the work of think-tanks, governmental and non-governmental
organizations.

We are seeking submissions related to Neo-Orientalism and Middle East
Studies in the Post-September 11 Era. Possible areas of research and study
include but are not limited to:

Orientalism, Neo-Orientalism and Middle East Studies
Middle East Studies, Think-Tanks and NGOs
"Moderate" Islam and Neo-Orientalism
Orientalism, Neo-Orientalism, and C. Wright Mills’ conception of the
sociological imagination
The Role of Semi-governmental organizations such as NED, NDI, the Woodrow
Wilson Center and others in financing Middle East and Islamic Studies
Comparisons of Orientalism and Neo-Orientalism across US and European
Academic cultures, or elsewhere
The Role of the State in Middle East Studies in the Post-September 11 era,

Deadline: January 30, 2011

Please send abstract to: tugrulkeskin@pdx.edu and mab205@pitt.edu

Organizers:
Mohammed Bamyeh, University of Pittsburg
Tugrul Keskin, Portland State University