Middle East Initiative Fall 2010 Events Schedule

Middle East Initiative Events, Fall 2010

All events are free and open to the public. Please check our calendar as events may be added and time and location are subject to change.

Tuesday, September 14th, 2010, 5:00-6:30 pm
SPEAKER SERIES
CONFRONTING FASCISM IN EGYPT: DICTATORSHIP VS. DEMOCRACY IN THE 1930S
Israel Gershoni, Professor of Middle Eastern History at Tel Aviv University
Location: Fainsod, Littauer Building, 3rd Floor, Harvard Kennedy School
Co-Sponsored by The Middle East Forum at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies

Wednesday, September 15th, 2010, 6:00-8:00pm
MIDDLE EAST FILM SERIES
"NO ONE KNOWS ABOUT PERSIAN CATS" (Iran, 2009)
Bringing a dose of humor and a fresh perspective to a very serious subject, this film is an exciting, quietly powerful tribute to the courage of Iran's underground musicians.
The film will be shown from 6:15 to 8:00 pm. Complimentary pizza and soft drinks will be available starting at 6:00 pm. Co-Sponsored by the Outreach Center at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies.
Location: Wiener Auditorium, Taubman Building, Ground Floor, Harvard Kennedy School

Monday, September 20th, 2010, 4:00-5:30pm
SPEAKER SERIES
LEFT, RIGHT OR CENTER: ISRAEL'S POLITICAL MAP
Dr. Einat Wilf,Member of Knesset on behalf of the Labor Party of Israel
Location: Wiener Auditorium, Taubman Building, Ground Floor, Harvard Kennedy School

Tuesday, September 21st, 2010, 4:00-5:30pm
TEACH IN AND PANEL DISCUSSION
MAKING SENSE OF THE CONTROVERSY: CAMPUS TEACH IN ON THE MUSLIM COMMUNITY CENTER ISSUE IN MANHATTAN
Diana Eck, Professor of Comparative Religion and Indian Studies, Faculty of Arts and Sciences and Member of the Faculty of Divinity; Director of the Pluralism Project and Master of Lowell House; Ali Asani, Professor of Indo-Muslim and Islamic Religion and Cultures, Faculty of Arts and Sciences; Chair of the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations and Associate Director, Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Islamic Studies Program; and, Mark Tushnet, William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Law, Harvard Law School
Location: Fong Auditorium, 110 Boylston Hall, Harvard Campus
Co-Sponsored by the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, Pluralism Project, Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Islamic Studies Program and Harvard Foundation

Tuesday, September 21st, 2010, 5:30-7:00pm
SPEAKER SERIES
THE LATEST ROUND OF PALESTINIAN - ISRAELI NEGOTIATIONS: PROSPECTS FOR SUCCESS
Diana Buttu, Attorney, Former legal advisor to Palestinian negotiators, Palestinian citizen of Israel
Location: Bell Hall, Belfer Building, 5th Floor, Havard Kennedy School

Friday, September 24, 2010, 3:00-4:30pm
SPEAKER SERIES
ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN THE ARAB WORLD
Fadi Ghandour, CEO and Founder of ARAMEX
Location: Bell Hall, Belfer Building, 5th Floor, Harvard Kennedy School
Co-Sponsored by the Harvard Kennedy School Corporate Social Responsibility Initiative and the Mossavar Rahmani Center for Business

Tuesday, September 28th, 2010, 6:00pm
FORUM EVENT
Ahmet Davutoglu, Turkish Foreign Minister
Co-Sponsored by Harvard Institute of Politics and the Kokkalis Program on Southeastern and East-Central Europe
Location: Littauer Building, 2nd Floor, Harvard Kennedy School. Entrance with Harvard ID only (*).

Wednesday, September 29, 2010, 4:00-7:30pm
SPEAKER SERIES
POWER, POLITICS AND VIOLENCE IN CONTEMPORARY PAKISTAN
Fatima Bhutto, Journalist and Author of Songs of Blood & Sword. Public Talk followed by a book signing at the Harvard COOP (1400 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge)
Location: Littauer Building, 1st Floor, Trustman Room 150, Harvard Kennedy School
Co-sponsored by the Outreach Center at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies and the Carr Center for Human Rights at the Harvard Kennedy School

Monday, October 4th, 2010
SPEAKER SERIES
PALESTINIAN MONETARY FUND AND PALESTINIAN ECONOMY
Jihad Al-Wazir, Palestinian Monetary Authority Governor
Location: Fainsod, Littauer Building, 3rd Floor, Harvard Kennedy School
Location and time: TBD

Thursday, October 7, 2010, 5:00-6:30pm
SPEAKER SERIES
UNDERSTANDING THE YEMENI STATE
Steven C. Caton, Professor of Contemporary Arab Society in the Department of Anthropology, Harvard University
Location: Fainsod, Littauer Building, 3rd Floor, Harvard Kennedy School

Wednesday, October 13th, 2010, 4:00pm- 6:00pm
SPEAKER SERIES
FORGOTTEN SAINTS: HISTORY, POWER, AND POLITICS IN THE MAKING OF MODERN MOROCCO
Sahar Bazzaz, Author, Associate Professor, Holy Cross College
Location: The Center for Middle Eastern Studies (38 Kirkland St.)
Co-Sponsored by the Outreach Center at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies

Tuesday, October 19th, 2010, 5:30-7:00pm
SPEAKER SERIES
MODERNISM, ISLAMISM, AND THE QUESTION OF IDENTITY IN ARCHITECTURE
Nasser Rabbat, Aga Khan Professor of the History of Islamic Architecture and Director of the Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture at MIT
Location: Bell Hall, Belfer, 5th Floor, Harvard Kennedy School
Co-sponsored by the Outreach Center at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies

Monday, October 25th, 2010, 12:00-2:00pm
SPEAKER SERIES
Luncheon with Ambassador Yousef Al Otaiba, UAE Ambassador to the United States
Location: Center for Public Leadership, Taubman Building, 1st Floor, Harvard Kennedy School, Co-Sponsored by Center for Public Leadership and the Dubai Initiative

Thursday, October 28th, 2010, 4:00-6:30pm
SPEAKER SERIES
CONTEMPORARY ARAB THOUGHT: CULTURAL CRITIQUE IN COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE
Elizabeth Kassab, Author, Research fellow at the German Orient Institute in Beirut
Location: Fainsod, Littauer, 3rd Floor, Harvard Kennedy School

Wednesday, November 17th, 2010, 6:00-8:00pm
MIDDLE EAST FILM SERIES
"SALT OF THIS SEA" (France, 2008)
Soraya, born in Brooklyn in a working class community of Palestinian refugees, learns that her grandfather's savings were frozen in a bank account in Jaffa when he was exiled in 1948 and fulfills her dream of "returning" to Palestine. There she finds that in order to be free of the constraints that dictate the lives of her people, she must take matters into her own hands, even if it is illegal.
The film will be shown from 6:15 to 8:00 pm. Complimentary pizza and soft drinks will be available starting at 6:00 pm. Co-Sponsored by the Outreach Center at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies.
Wiener Auditorium, Taubman Building, Ground Floor, Harvard Kennedy School

Friday, November 19th, 2010, 4:00-6:00pm
FORUM EVENT
Prince Turki Al-Faisal, Chairman of the board of the King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies in Riyadh; former Director General of Saudi Arabia's General Intelligence and Former Saudi Ambassador to the nited States, the United Kingdom and Ireland.