Middle East Centre

Ella Shohat (New York University) gives a lecture for the middle east centre, chaired by Yaacov Yadgar (Stanley Lewis Professor of Israel Studies, St Anne's). Comments by Yuval Evri (SOAS).

Moncef Marzouki (Former President of the Republic of Tunisia, 2011-2014) gives the annual George Antonius Memorial Lecture.

Deena Al Asfoor (St Catherine's College) gives a talk for the Middle East Centre. Chaired by Nazila Ghanea (Kellogg College).

George Hawatmeh (Jordan Radio and Television Corporation) gives a public lecture on Arab media in the new age. Chaired buy Philip Robins (St Antony's College). George Hawatmeh is currently the Chairman of the Board of Jordan Radio and Television Corporation. Before his appointment to head the state-owned JRTVC in June 2016, he was an independent communications and media consultant. In this capacity, and as president of AWAN, Arab Media Consultants, a firm he founded in 2007, Hawatmeh publishes three Arabic online news websites and a fourth in English. Since 1998, he also has been working on developing a Web-based encyclopedia on the Arab World. With a career in journalism that started in 1981, Hawatmeh reported for British newspapers and was editor-in-chief for three Jordanian daily newspapers (Al Ghad, Al Ra'i and the English-language Jordan Times). He also published a monthly magazine specialized in covering media issues in the Arab World. In 2000-2001, he served as director of the Jordan Information Bureau in Washington DC.

Sir Vincent Fean KCVO, gives a talk for the Middle East Studies seminar series.

Alexandre Toumarkine (INALCO, Paris) talks about religious freedom in Turkey.

Richard Guy (Consultant Surgeon), Omar Abdel-Mannan (Paediatrician), and Debbie Harrington (Consultant Obstetrician) talk about the challenges of healthcare in Gaza.

Norman G Finkelstein gives a talk for the Middle East Studies seminar series. Norman G. Finkelstein received his PhD from the Princeton University Politics Department in 1988. He is the author of ten books that have been translated into 50 foreign editions, including THE HOLOCAUST INDUSTRY: Reflections on the Exploitation of Jewish Suffering and, most recently, GAZA: An Inquest into Its Martyrdom.​

Mariam Memarsadeghi (Tavaana) gives a talk for the Middle East Centre seminar series. Mariam Memarsadeghi is co-founder and co-director of Tavaana: E-Learning Institute for Iranian Civil Society. Launched in 2010, the virtual institute offers secure democracy and human rights educational opportunities, from graduate level seminars to animated PSAs, short tutorials, case studies of democratic transitions, panel discussions, translated ebooks, comedy skits and more. Now a household brand, Tavaana regularly reaches over 15 million Iranians via live e-classrooms, correspondence learning, satellite TV, robust social media networks and a mobile app. TavaanaTech provides the Iranian people with digital literacy training, digital safety alerts and tech solutions for access to a free, safe internet. Mariam is an outspoken advocate for the principles of liberalism, women's rights, democracy (and democratic) education and internet freedom, particularly in Islamic contexts. Her writings have appeared in The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal and other publications. She is a frequent speaker at think tanks and has appeared on the PBS NewsHour, NPR and other English, Persian and Arabic language news programs. Mariam is a 2017 Presidential Leadership Scholar and has been recognized by the Bertelsmann Foundation and the German Marshall Fund as a TransAtlantic Young Leader for her work promoting democracy and human rights globally.

Anne Sa'adah (Dartmouth College) gives a talk for the Middle East Centre Seminar series. Anne Sa'adah holds an A.B. in Social Studies and a Ph.D. in Political Science from Harvard University and is the Joel Parker Professor of Law and Political Science Emerita at Dartmouth College, where she taught from 1984 to 2017. She is currently writing a book about the Middle East, States of Disorder: Explaining the Vicious Circles of Middle East Politics; the book explores institutional paths, leadership and reform strategies, and coalitions. Her past research, including three books, focused on political development and democratic politics (including both democratic failure and democratic renewal) in France, Germany, Britain, and the United States.