The Middle Eastern and North African Graduate Student Association at the University of Arizona Presents:
17th Annual Southwest Graduate Conference in Middle Eastern and North African Studies
Policy, Development, Environment, and Technology
March 9-11, 2017
Thursday, March 7
10:00am Conference Registration opens in the Bonine Commons, Marshall Building, Room 440
Special Event by MENA organization 10:30am-12:00pm Discussion of Dr. Fida Adely’s suggested readings CMES Library
Special Event by MENA organization 2:00pm-3:00pm, Marshall Building, Room 490 Round Table on Contemporary Turkey by Dr. Brian Silverstein
3:15pm-4:45pm Persian Studies Chair: Dr. Kamran Talatoff, University of Arizona Place: Marshall Building, Room 490
Tending the Fruit of the Revolution: Friday Prayer Leaders and the State in Post- Revolutionary Iran Zachary Thomas, MENAS, University of Arizona
The Audience Analysis of the Shahnama’s Illustrations Fatemah Mahvan and Dr. Mohammad Jafar Yahaghi, Persian Language and Literature and Literature, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Iran
Pottery of Nishapur: Hunches on Lifestyles Alyeh Mehin, MENAS, University of Arizona
Friday, March 10
Conference Registration available in the Bonine Commons, Marshall Building Room 440
8:30am-10:00am Persian Linguistics Chair: Dr. Simin Karimi Place: Marshall Building, Room 490
The Interpretation of Missing Noun Phrases in the Iranian Languages Ryan Walter Smith, Department of Linguistics, University of Arizona
Morphological Causatives in Persian Rana Nabors, Department of Linguistics, University of Arizona
On the Syntax of Event Conditionals in Persian Roya Kabiri, Department of Linguistics, University of Arizona
10:15am-11:45am Levantine Studies Chair: Dr. Leila Hudson, University of Arizona Place: Marshall Building, Room 479
Salafism, Assad, and Syria Robert Nixon, MENAS, University of Arizona
Being a ‘Stranger’ in Familiar Lands: Bodies Out of Place, Discrepant Fantasies, & Ontological (Im)possibilities for Syrian Refugees in Lebanon Rachel Rosenbaum, School of Anthropology, University of Arizona
Falafel and Hummus as Symbols of National Identity for Palestinians and Israelis: How Are They Mobilized in the Nationalistic Discourses of Palestine and Israel, in a Context of Conflict Brittany Power, MENAS, University of Arizona
12:00pm-1:15pm Political Islam Chair: Dr.Yaseen Noorani, University of Arizona Place: Marshall Building, Room 479
Egypt’s Ambivalent Reponses to the Iranian Revolution Islam Allosh, MENAS, University of Arizona
Questioning ISIS Ideology through Textbooks: A Comparison between the Curriculum of ISIS Schools and the Iraqi Ministry of Education Textbooks Faraj Hamdan, MENAS, University of Arizona
1:30pm-3:00pm Francophone Studies Chair: Dr. Denis Provencher Place: Marshall Building, Room 479
The Dual Coding Theory and Vocabulary Acquisition: A Pilot Study of Beginner Level French Students Miriam Akoto, Department of Literature and Languages, Texas A&M University– Commerce
The Fading of a Culture: The Case of Francophone North America Erin Zipse, Department of French and Italian, University of Arizona
The International Organization of La Francophonie (OIF)’s Intervention in Inter- State Relations in Africa: A Case Study of Conflicts in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda Francis Mbawini Abugbilla, Department of French and Italian, University of Arizona
3:15pm-4:45pm Semitic Linguistics Chair: Dr. Samira Farwaneh Place: Marshall Building, Room 490
Passive Morphology in Arabic and Faifa Dialect Essa Alfaifi, MENAS, University of Arizona
The Use of Mizrahi Hebrew Features in Popular Songs: A Qualitative Study Kyle Jones, MENAS, University of Arizona
The January 25th Revolution and Poetry of Revolt: A Case Study of the Egyptian Halamantishi Poetry Elsayed Issa, MENAS, University of Arizona
6:00pm-7:15pm Keynote Address: “Education in the Arab World: Quality, Inequality and Learning”
Keynote Speaker Dr. Fida Adely, Georgetown University
7:30pm Reception in the Bonine Commons, Marshall Building, Room 440
Saturday, March 11
9:00am-10:30am Turkish and Ottoman Studies Chair: Dr. Linda Darling Place: Marshall Building, Room 490
Social Policing: Remaking Security and the Social in Turkey Hayal Akarsu, School of Anthropology, University of Arizona
Crisis of Hegemony in Turkey and the Authoritarian Turn of the AKP Onur Kapdan, University of California, Santa Barbara
Reorganizing the Family Through Law: Ottoman Family Law Hakan Karpuzcu, Near East Studies, Princeton University
10:45am-12:15pm Education in the MENA Region Chair: Lyndall Herman, PhD Candidate Place: Marshall Building, Room 490
Intercultural Competence in Arabic as Foreign Language Textbooks: A Content Analysis Ahmad Ismail, Second Language Acquisition and Teaching, University of Arizona
The Diaries of Khalil al-Sakakini: A Constructivist View on Learning Areej Mawasi, School of Education, Arizona State University & Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Colonialism, Schooling and Religious Integration in Tunisia: A Case Study of Colonial Educational Activity in the École de Garçons de Thala Between 1922 to 1942 Kamilia Rahmouni, MENAS, University of Arizona
The Middle East and North Africa Graduate Student Organization at the University of Arizona (MENA) began more than a decade ago with the help of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies (CMES) and the School of Middle Eastern and North African Studies (MENAS). We have a long history of activity both on and off campus and are devoted to furthering scholarship of the Middle East and North Africa. The organization provides a platform for graduate students to participate in the planning of cultural events and academic exchanges related to the region. Furthermore, MENA aims to serve the University of Arizona and larger Tucson community in pursuit of a deeper sense of the culture, diversity, and history of this region. MENA began hosting the Annual Southwest Graduate Conference in Middle Eastern and North African Studies in April 2001. Dedicated to providing an opportunity for graduate students to receive valuable feedback on their academic papers in context and delivery, the conference has expanded to include graduate students from numerous universities within and outside the United States.
MENA would like to thank the following individuals for their support Professor Adel Gamal Faculty panel chairs MENA Board Members Professor Anne Betteridge Professor Yaseen Noorani Aaron J. Graybill Professor Tyler Peterson Professor Simin Karimi Robert Nixon Jennifer Paine Professor Leila Hudson Lara Tarantini Allyson Lee McAdams Professor Kamran Talattof Brittany Power Mariam Hawatmah Professor Maha Nassar Zachary Thomas Ehab Tamimi Professor Samira Farwaneh David Koopman Lyndall Herman Professor Brian Silverstein Kamilia Rahmouni Professor Denis Provencher Atacan Atakan Professor Linda Darling John Perugini Charles Joukhadar Alyeh Mehin
MENA would also like to thank the following co-sponsors: Dr. Adel Gamal, and