Middle East Centre

Roundtable Discussion and Launch of Public Culture and Islam in Modern Egypt by Hatsuki Aishima (National Museum of Ethnology, Osaka) with Morgan Clarke (University of Oxford). The event will be chaired by Laurent Mignon (University of Oxford). What does it mean to be an intellectual in Egypt today? What is expected from an "authentic scholar"? Hatsuki Aishima explores these questions by examining educated, urban Egyptians and their perceptions of what it means to be "cultured" and "middle class" - something that, as a result of the neoliberal policies of Egyptian government, is widely thought to be a shrinking sector of society. Through an analysis of the media representations of 'Abd al-Halim Mahmud (1910-78), the French-trained Sufi scholar and the Grand Imam of al-Azhar under president Anwar al-Sadat, Aishima discusses the connection of Islam to these middle-class considerations and makes an original contribution to the debate on the commodification of religious teaching and knowledge. Public Culture and Islam in Modern Egypt is thereby a unique addition to the fields of anthropology, Middle East and media studies. Hatsuki Aishima is Associate Professor at the National Museum of Ethnology in Osaka, Japan. She read DPhil in Oriental Studies at St Antony's College (2005-11). Before arriving in Osaka in July 2016, she taught at Free University of Berlin and the University of Manchester. Her publications have appeared in the Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute and Die Welt des Islams.

Lecture delivered by Professor Tariq Ramadan (Professor of Contemporary Islamic Studies, Middle East Centre) on 4th March 2016 at the Middle East Centre.

Seminar on the civil war in Syria, with Dr Gilles Dorronsoro (Panthéon-Sorbonne University), Arthur Quesnay (Panthéon-Sorbonne University), Adam Baczko (Panthéon-Sorbonne University) on Monday 22nd February 2016 at the Middle East Centre. Please note; the recording stops abruptly. We apologise for this. This event was co-sponsored by Maison française d'Oxford and the Middle East Centre.

Seminar presented by Professor Marilyn Booth at the Middle East Centre on 26th February 2016.

Lecture presented by Professor Avi Shlaim (Middle East Centre) and Richard Makepeace (Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies) at the Middle East Centre, St Antony's College on 19th February 2016.

Seminar by Dr Adeel Malik (Globe Fellow, Islamic Centre Lecturer in the Economies of Muslim Societies) at the Middle East Centre, 12th February 2016.

Seminar by Habib Battah (Research fellow at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism) at The Middle East Centre, St Antony's College, 10th February 2016.

Lecture given by Dr Seth Anziska (Department of Hebrew and Jewish Studies, UCL) at the Middle East Centre, St Antony's College, 9th February 2016. This event was co-sponsored by the MEC and the School of Interdisciplinary Area Studies. Seth Anziska, UCL.

Lecture given by Dr Mohammad Talib (Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies) on "Accounts of madrassahs post-9/11: Bearings of Recent History" at St Antony's College Middle East Centre on 29th January 2016.

Lecture given by Dr HA Hellyer on "Beyond Uprising: Inside Egypt's Unfinished Revolution" at Middle East Centre, St Antony's College on 25th January 2016.