In an age of surveillance, censorship, and closed borders, this symposium will consider ways of doing research in and on the SWANA region. Points of discussion will include conceptual and methodological innovations in the face of restrictions, engaging with non-academic discourses, and possible lessons from post-colonialism in an increasingly inchoate world. Please register at https://forms.gle/p9vYMnyEZWkpGT1D9

10:00 Introduction and Welcome

Seema Golestaneh (Southwest Asia and North Africa Program & Near Eastern Studies)

10:15 - 12:00 Doing Research in the Region: Challenges, Tactics, Possibilities roundtable

Opening comments by Farzin Lotfi-Jam (Architecture), with remarks by Ziad Fahmy (Near Eastern Studies), Pamela Karimi (Architecture), Mostafa Minawi (History), Zinab Attai (Goverenment), and Amr Lehta (Near Eastern Studies)

1:30 - 2:45: SWANA and Critique Workshop

Parisa Vaziri (Near Eastern Studies & Comparative Literature) will lead a workshop, discussing a pre-circulated reading

3:00 - 4:15: Beyond Academic Prose: Art, Activism, Expressions

Visual artist Tracy Chawan will lead a hand-on workshop on political posters from the region.

Lunch and coffee will be served.