London Middle East Institute, SOAS Annual Report 2012/2013 and Financial Report 2011/2012 LMEI ANNUAL REPORT 2012-2013 LMEI ORGANISATION AND MEMBERSHIP (2012-13) Staff of the London Middle East Institute Director: Dr Hassan Hakimian Executive Officer and Company Secretary: Ms Louise Hosking Events and Magazine Coordinator: Mr Vincenzo Paci Administrative Assistant: Ms Valentina Zanardi Coordinating Editor (Middle East in London Magazine): LMEI Board of Trustees Ms Sarah Johnston Designer (Middle East in London Magazine): Prof. Paul Webley (Chair), Director, SOAS Ms Shahla Geramipour Dr John Curtis, British Museum HE Sir Vincent Fean KCVO, HM Consul General to Jerusalem LMEI Advisory Council Prof. Ben Fortna. SOAS Lady Barbara Judge (Chair) Prof. Graham Furniss, SOAS Sheikh Mohamed Bin Issa Al Jaber, MBI Al Jaber Foundation Mr Alan Jenkins (Founding Patron and Donor of LMEI) Dr Karima Laachir, SOAS Prof. Muhammad Abdel-Haleem, OBE, SOAS Prof. Annabelle Sreberny, SOAS HE Mr Khaled al-Duwaisan GCVO, Ambassador, Embassy of Dr Barbara Zollner, Birkbeck, University of London the State of Kuwait Mrs Haifa Al Kaylani, Arab International Women’s Forum Dr Khalid Bin Mohammed Al Khalifa, University College of Bahrain Prof. Tony Allan, Geography Department, King’s College Dr Alanoud Alsharekh, LMEI and Fellow, St Antony’s College Mr Farad Azima, Iran Heritage Foundation Mr Stephen Ball, KPMG LMEI Research Associates Dr Noel Brehony, MENAS Associates Ltd Mr Charles Buderi, Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle LLP Dr Hamid Keshmirshekan Ms Zeynep Dereli, APCO Worldwide Dr Mohammad Nafissi Prof. Magdy Ishak Hanna, British Egyptian Society Dr Kathryn Spellman Poots HE Mr Mazen Kemal Homoud, Ambassador, Embassy of the Prof. Sami Zubaida Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan Mr Alan Jenkins Mr Zaki Nusseibeh SOAS Academic Members Prof. Muhammad Abdel-Haleem Dr Karima Laachir Prof. Gilbert Achcar Dr Mark Laffey DONATIONS, SPONSORSHIP and AFFILIATIONS Dr Fiona Adamson Dr George Lane Dr Arshin Adib-Moghaddam Dr Martin Lau Founding Patron and Donor Dominique Akhoun-Schwarb Dr Christopher Lucas Sheikh Mohamed Bin Issa Al Jaber, MBI Al Jaber Foundation Prof. Nadje Al-Ali Dr Makeen Makeen Prof. Abdul Hakim Ibrahim Al- Prof. Trevor Marchand Matroudi Dr Thomas Marois Institutional Affiliates Dr Randa Alami Dr Dina Matar Aga Khan University (International) Institute for the Study of Prof. Tony Allan Dr Nima Mina Muslim Civilisations Mr Ahmad Alkhashem Ms Shabnam Mirafzali The Arab-British Centre Prof. Peter Austin Dr Simon Morley Bonyad Jaleh Esfahani Prof. Mashood Baderin Dr Corinna Mullin British Foundation for the Study of Arabia (BFSA) Prof. Doris Behrens-Abouseif Dr Matthew Nelson British-Yemeni Society Dr Teresa Bernheimer Dr Scott Newton Centre for Supporters of Human Rights Dr Helen Blatherwick Dr Caroline Osella Forum Iran Dr Elisa Cavatorta Dr Wen-chin Ouyang LSE Middle East Centre Prof. William Gervase Dr Dan Plesch Persian Music Club Clarence-Smith Dr Marina Pyrovolaki Petroleum Institute Dr Anna Contadini Dr Elaheh Rostami-Povey Refugee Art & Culture Enterprise Dr Bhavna Dave Mr Mohammad Said Dr Francois de Blois Mr Muaadh Salih Dr George Dedes Dr Ruba Salih Dr Tamar Drukker Prof. Iain Scobbie Ms Sorour Dundon Dr Mustafa Shah Mr Ian Edge Dr Ayman Shihadeh Dr Ayman El-Desouky Prof. Colin Shindler Dr Heather Elgood Dr Amrita Shodhan Dr Nada Elzeer Prof. Nicholas Sims-Williams Dr Johathan Ercanbrack Dr Graham Smith Ms Narguess Farzad Dr Renate Söhnen-Thieme Dr Bassam Fattouh Ms Savitri Sperl Prof. Ben Fortna Dr Stefan Sperl Mr Nick Foster Prof. Annabelle Sreberny Individual Affiliates pay £30 per year, £10 for students, for Dr Nelida Fuccaro Dr Sarah Stewart which they receive an annual subscription to ‘The Middle East Prof. Andrew George Dr Stefano Taglia in London’ magazine, inclusion on e-mail and mailing lists for Dr Hassan Hakimian Dr Hanan Toukan Dr Marlé Hammond Prof. Charles Tripp notification of upcoming events, and special rates for LMEI Dr Adam Hanieh Dr Anicee Van Engeland conferences and publications. Dr Jane Harrigan Mr Frans van Koppen Dr Jan-Peter Hartung Dr Leslie Vinjamuri Institutional Affiliation is £250 per year. Institutional Affiliates Prof. Brian George Hewitt Dr Gabriele vom Bruck are entitled to the same benefits as Individual Affiliates, please Prof. Catherine Hezser Mr Burzine Waghmar see below, along with the free use of a room at SOAS for an Dr Doreen Hinchcliffe Dr Yair Wallach event lasting up to two hours, and up to four copies of each Prof. Almut Hintze Dr Mark Weeden edition of the magazine. They will also be acknowledged in LMEI Dr Konrad Hirschler Dr Lynn Welchman Dr Steve Hopgood Dr Myriam Wissa publicity material, including the website: www.soas.ac.uk/lmei/. Dr Erica Hunter Dr Abigail Wood Prof. Bruce Ingham Prof. Owen Wright Corporate Sponsorship is £1,500 per year. Benefits include Dr Salwa Ismail Dr Katharine Zebiri those enjoyed by Institutional Affiliates, please see below, Prof. Massoud Karshenas Dr Cosimo Zene together with up to two tailored private briefings per year, free Prof. Hugh Kennedy Dr Saeed Zeydabadi-Nejad copies of LMEI occasional papers, and special advertising rates Dr Laleh Khalili Ms Rafeef Ziadah with the LMEI. Prof. Geoffrey King The aim of the LMEI, through education and research, is to promote knowledge of all aspects of the Middle East including its complexities, problems, achievements and assets, both among the general public and with those who have special interest in the region. In this task it will build on two essential assets. First, it is based in London, a city which has unrivalled contemporary and historical connections and communications with the Middle East: political, social, cultural, commercial, scientific and educational. Secondly, the LMEI is at SOAS, the only tertiary educational institution in the world whose explicit purpose is to provide training and scholarship on the whole Middle East from prehistory until today. Director’s Letter 3 Publications 4 Lectures, Seminars and Other Events 6 LMEI Centres and Summer School 9 PhD Theses on the Middle East 12 Acknowledgements 13 Financial Statement 14 LMEI ANNUAL REPORT 2012-2013 2 ,, Last year was another extremely busy year for us at the London Middle East Institute. With major events sweeping the region throughout 2012/13, our role and mission proved ever more important: ‘to advance knowledge and understanding of the Middle East among both the general public and for those with a specialist interest in the region’. The initiatives in this report – a mixture of old and new – are a testament to the range and diversity of LMEI’s interests as well as the high quality of regional expertise, from inside and outside SOAS, on which we draw. As always, we continued with our well-established and ongoing programmes and at same time introduced an excellent range of pioneering initiatives. These included four very high-profile conferences: ‘Education in Egypt’ (with the British Egyptian Society, in September 2012), ‘The Future of Yemen’ (with the British Yemeni Society, in January 2013), ‘The Second International Conference Director’s Letter Director’s on the Iranian Economy’ (in Istanbul, June 2013), and finally a ground-breaking conference on ‘The Contemporary Art in the Middle East’ (in July 2013). Our two sub-centres – The Centre for Iranian Studies and The Centre for Palestine Studies – have continued to provide a clear academic identity and focus for their respective constituencies and have helped galvanise much energy and interest in these fields, as evidenced by various events reported in this volume. Likewise, our flagship magazine, The Middle East in London, continues as a cornerstone of our outreach activities, attracting much interest. Exciting and new programmes have not prevented us from attending to our longer-term and continuing interests and commitments. You will get a sense of our other busy schedules throughout the year by glancing through this report: from our regular lecture series on the contemporary Middle East to various occasional lectures, debating panels, cultural events, book launches and, of course, publications. As the world continues to be fascinated by our region – sometimes apprehensively of course – we remain convinced of the relevance of our mission for both the academic milieu and the wider communities. Hassan,, Hakimian 3 LMEI ANNUAL REPORT 2012-2013 Volume 9 - Number 5 October – November 2013 The Middle East in London (MEL) £4 | €5 | US$6.5 The past year has been action packed for The Middle East in London, LMEI’s bi-monthly magazine. The uprisings in the region Publications and the changes they have prompted have permeated a number of issues and articles. The magazine continues to cover a wide range of topics including art, economics, politics, exhibitions, food and media while the extensive reviews and events section gives an overview of the many Middle East related events going on in London. This year, there have been in-depth features on the Kurds, protest, media, Saudi Arabia and religious minorities, featuring insightful and informative pieces from members of the academic community and the wider Middle Eastern community in London. Highlights have included interviews with Hoda al- Helaissi, one of the first women to sit on the Majlis ash-Shura in Saudi Arabia and Abdel Bari Atwan, editor-in-chief of London- based newspaper Al Quds al-Arabi. In November 2012, the board said ‘thank you and goodbye’ to the magazine’s Coordinating Editor, Rhiannon Edwards, who edited THIS ISSUE : CULINARY CONNECTIONS Ɣ Kebab and mezze globalised Ɣ An interview with Claudia Roden Ɣ Coffee then and now Ɣ Water: A drink for some excellent issues over the year she was with the magazine. epicures Ɣ Beekeeping in Britain and Arabia Ɣ Food in Persian poetry Ɣ Sultans of Rome Ɣ Sarah Johnson, a journalist currently working at the Guardian, PLUS Reviews and events in London has taken her place. The year to come promises to be as exciting as the last one with issues planned on culinary connections, Palestine, Iran and Lebanon.