The Majlis

🎙️ Dive into the heart of the Middle East's dynamic landscape with our Host Dr. Adnan Husain and special guest Dr. Juan Cole in Episode 35 of "The Majlis Podcast"! 🌍 In this episode, our host Dr. Adnan Husain embarks on a riveting exploration of the latest developments shaping the Middle East and the Islamic world. From bustling city streets to the corridors of power, Dr. Husain and Dr. Cole unpack the complex tapestry of politics, culture, and society that defines the region. In this episode, we'll confront the stark realities of the ongoing situation in Palestine head-on. Amidst the tumultuous geopolitical climate, we'll explore the responses reverberating across North America to the harrowing genocide unfolding in the region. Dr. Husain and Dr. Cole provide a compassionate yet incisive examination of these crucial issues, shedding light on the urgent need for solidarity and action. About our Guest Dr. Juan Ricardo Cole is a public intellectual, prominent blogger and essayist, and the Richard P. Mitchell Collegiate Professor of History at the University of Michigan. Dr. Cole is very active on social media and uploads his insightful comments regularly on his website https://www.juancole.com/ You can find his latest book here "Peace Movements in IslamHistory, Religion, and Politics" Juan Cole, Editor and contributor. (London: I. B. Tauris/ Bloomsbury Academic, 2021).

In this episode, our host Dr. Adnan Husain and Queen's Professor Dr. Ardi Imseis, explore the complexities of international law, human rights and the urgent imperative of addressing the current situation of Palestine. From the halls of academia to the corridors of power, "The Majlis" invites listeners to engage with pressing global issues through the lens of informed analysis and compassionate dialogue. Join us for a compelling conversation that transcends borders and amplifies the voices of those seeking truth, justice, and dignity for Palestinians. Through meticulous research and unwavering dedication to justice, Imseis's scholarship offers invaluable insights into the legal frameworks that underpin the Palestinian struggle. As we unpack the historical narratives and contemporary realities shaping the question of Palestine, Imseis's work serves as a guiding beacon, challenging prevailing norms and advocating for a rights-based approach to peace and justice. About Dr. Ardi Imseis (LLB, LLM, PhD): Dr. Imseis joined the Queen’s Faculty of Law in 2018, following a 12-year career as a UN official in the Middle East, first with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), and then with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Full Bio Here⁠ Dr. Imseis' Latest Book: The United Nations and the Question of Palestine: Rule by Law and the Structure of International Legal Subalternity (Cambridge University Press, 2023).

In this special episode of both "the Majlis podcast" of the Muslim Societies-Global Perspectives project at Queen’s University in Kingston, ON and "Guerrilla Radio", an activist companion podcast to "Guerrilla History podcast", Adnan Husain and Matt Deitsch, part of the "Guerrilla Radio activist network", discuss campus organizing, the repression of Palestinian solidarity at universities, and how faculty and students have responded. A diverse group of students and faculty from Syracuse University joined the program to discuss the range of issues about academic freedom, the denial of expertise, the persecution of racialized communities, and repression of pro-Palestinian solidarity. They issued a call and petition making concrete demands that has articulated the shape of the intersectional struggle for freedom and justice in the neoliberal university and for Palestine. Statement of Solidarity in Opposition to the Repressive Climate on US Campuses (Faculty for Justice in Palestine-Syracuse University) USACBI, BDS call for Faculty of Palestine chapters: https://usacbi.org/faculty-for-justice-in-palestine/ Co-Host:  Matt Deitsch is a filmmaker, writer, educator and organizer w/NNOC (National Network on Cuba), Friends of Swazi Freedom, Progressive International and in Democratic Socialists of America’s International Committee.  He has a political economy background through work at the IDEAs Institute, a development economics institute located in India. Guests: Sophie Clinton is from Syracuse, NY, and is currently studying to get their MPA at Syracuse University. Their research focuses on the study of global atrocities, historical memory, and genocidal patterns with a focus on contemporary Latin America. Their current project is on the ways in which family planning policies under the authoritarian regime of Augusto Pinochet played a role in queer erasure and heightened violence against the queer community. Their other research interests include historical atrocities in the Middle East and South Asia. MoAde M. J. is a recent alum of Syracuse University and the University of Illinois at Chicago with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science. They are a poet, essayist, and creative nonfiction writer who pays special attention to the fields of regenerative agriculture and afrofuturism. They founded the @blackatcuse Instagram account to provide a platform for radical honesty about the experiences that Black and Indigenous students have at Syracuse University.  Biko Mandela Gray is a writer and ethicist concerned about life, liberation, and freedom. He is also an associate professor of religion at Syracuse university, where he teaches on politics, ethics, and race. He is the author/co-author/co-editor of three books, all of which interrogate the religious and/or philosophical dimensions of antiblackness in the west. Carol Fadda grew up in Beirut, Lebanon and is currently faculty member at Syracuse University. Her teaching and scholarship lie at the intersections of American Studies, transnational SWANA studies, and women’s and gender studies. She focuses in her work on critical engagements with race, gender, war trauma, carcerality, cross-racial solidarities, and transnational belonging across the US and the SWANA region. Dana Olwan teaches in the Women’s and Gender Studies Department at Syracuse University. She is a core member of Faculty for Palestine-Syracuse University chapter.

In this episode, our host Dr. Adnan Husain talks with award-winning writer, multi-instrumentalist, composer and Professor of Intercultural Performing Arts, Dr. Rachel Beckles Willson. In this episode, Dr. Husain and Dr. Beckles Willson explore her latest book, 'The Oud: an illustrated history' while discussing the beauty and significance of this musical instrument, one of the most relevant in music cultures of the Middle East/North Africa and increasingly around the globe. About... Rachel Beckles Willson, https://om.rachelbeckleswillson.com 'The Oud: an illustrated history' : https://www.interlinkbooks.com/product/the-oud/ Hamza El Din: Greetings, Oud Duo

On this episode, Dr. Adnan Husain invites back Dr. Arial Salzmann, Associate Professor of Islamic and World History at Queen’s University, to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the 2003 Invasion of Iraq by the US military and its allies. With almost 500,000 Iraqis dead, the Iraq War continues to shape the modern Middle East. Together with Dr. Husain, Dr. Salzmann offers an in-depth analysis of the devastation of the Iraq war and reflects upon the war’s history, the contemporary social and political ramifications, and the continued lack of accountability for anyone responsible for the mass casualties in Iraq.

In this episode, Dr. Adnan Husain speaks with the historian of the modern Middle East, Dr. Djene Bajalan, about the Kurdish struggle in Iran and its impact on the ongoing protests in country. The discussion follows Dr. Bajalan’s article in Jacobin and offers insight into the nature of the protests in Iran, particularly focusing on the centrality of the Kurdish community. For more of his work, you can follow Dr. Bajalan on Twitter and listen to his podcast “This is Revolution”. To sign up for the MSGP newsletter, please follow this link.

In this special episode, M.A student Shahroz Khan catches up with the Mediterranean historian and an alum of The Majlis, Amel Bensalim. She inaugurated The Majlis as a podcast during her time as an M.A student at Queen's University, where she worked with Dr. Husain and Dr. Salzmann on the Hafsid Dynasty and trained as a 'Mediterranean-ist'. As a Ph.D. student at Princeton University's history department, Amel is currently working with Dr. Marina Rustow and researching the Geniza Documents, and how they paint an image of the medieval world. For more information on Geniza, you can go to The Princeton Geniza Project. To follow more of Amel's work, you can find her Twitter.

In this episode, Dr. Adnan Husain speaks with historian and essayist Prof. Juan Cole from the University of Michigan, about a new collection of essays and studies in his latest book Peace Movements in Islam. Contrary to the distorted and mainstream view of Islam as somehow inherently or uniquely violent, Prof. Cole argues that there is a dazzling array of Muslim organizations and individuals that have worked for harmony and conciliation through history. Expanding  Islam and its relationship to movements for peace, this episode discusses the necessity of bringing attention to how Muslims have looked to their faith to find inspiration for creating and uplifting peace movements throughout the world.  You can find more of Prof. Cole's work on his website or find him on twitter. 

In this episode, Dr. Adnan Husain speaks with gender studies scholar Dr. Dana Olwan as they discuss her most recent book "Gender Violence and the Transnational Politics of the Honor Crime". Dr. Olwan's research examines how certain forms of violence become known, recognized, and contested across multiple geopolitical contexts—looking specifically at a particular form of gender-based violence known as the “honor crime” and tracing how a range of legal, political, and literary texts inform normative and critical understandings of this term.

On Jan. 29, 2017, a lone gunman entered a mosque in Quebec City and opened fire on dozens of Muslim Canadians ending a prayer service. By the time the shooting had ended, tragically six worshippers had been killed, and 19 more injured. In this special episode, Dr. Adnan speaks to Canadian author, filmmaker, and creative producer Student Asim about his latest project in commemoration of the Quebec City mosque shooting. By going on the website islamophobia.io/jan29, listeners can participate in the project by writing a Letter of Remembrance for the Quebec City Mosque Massacre Victims.