Discover Northwestern Qatar’s presence at the Middle East Studies Association (MESA), a global learned society that brings together scholars, educators, and others interested in the study of the Middle East from around the world.
MESA fosters the study of the Middle East, promotes high standards of scholarship and teaching, and encourages public understanding of the region and its peoples. Through its programs, publications, and services, the association advances education, intellectual exchange, professional distinction, and academic freedom. Its interdisciplinary community engages with the Middle East including Southwest Asia, the Arab world, and North Africa as well as the region’s transnational and global connections. Its annual meeting is a leading international forum for scholarship, intellectual exchange, and pedagogical innovation.
November 21 – 24, 2026
6:00 p.m. – Panel: Solidarities and Social Media
Yasmeen Mekawy
Making Solidarity Sexy: Desire, Play, and the Affective Politics of Digital Engagement
Sulafa Zidani – Organizer and chair
Navigating Global (Il)Legibility: Mediating Arabness Through Cultural Production
11:00 a.m. – Panel: Gendered Screens, Viral Publics: Media Platforms and Popular Culture
Yasemin Celikkol
Algorithmic Folklore: The Platform Life of Şalvar in Contemporary Turkey
Maryam Al-Musleh – Recent alumna and IAS fellow
Performing Femininity on 1960s–1970s Gulf Television: A Textual Analysis of Abdul-Aziz El-Nimesh’s Portrayal of the Female Character Umm Alioui Through Cross-Gender Performance
1:30 p.m. – Panel: Sonic Politics: Music, Affect, and Publics
Leila Tayeb
Listening in the Midst: Sound and Affective Capacitation in 2011 Libya
11:00 a.m. – Panel: Producing Lebanon: An Ongoing Project
Jowel Choufani
Preserving Lebanon Through Preserves: Food, Markets, and Nation in Crisis
8:30 a.m. – Panel: Visual Regimes of War, Evidence, and Colonial Violence
Heather Jaber
The Digital Grammars of Bahdala: Sovereignty, Affect, and War Visuals in the Israeli War on Lebanon and Gaza
Osman Osman
Defining a Genocide: Knowledge Entrepreneurs in Al Jazeera’s Coverage of Sudan
11:00 a.m. – Panel: Extractive States: Reflections from the Middle East
Sami Hermez – Discussant
The Institute for Advanced Study in the Global South will host a booth in the MESA Book Exhibit throughout the meeting. Institute staff will showcase #IAS_NUQ_Press publications focused on the Arab region, including undergraduate fellow papers and Arab Media Briefs, and share information about visiting fellowship opportunities and upcoming programs on Arab media.
