Shibley Telhami (University of Maryland) and Marc Lynch (George Washington University) will give a joint talk titled "Academic Freedom and Middle East Scholars after October 7" as part of Cornell University's Freedom of Expression theme this year.

Description: American college campuses have been at the center of charged political disputes in the weeks since Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, and the subsequent attacks by Israel on Gaza. These heated debates have focused on the pressures on university presidents to take a stand, the behavior of student groups, allegations of antisemitism, and the censorship of pro-Palestinian speech. But less attention has been paid to one group directly affected by the controversies: the scholars who work on and teach about the Middle East, who often concentrate professionally on issues related to the Israeli-Palestinian issue. Presenting findings from opinion polling among scholars before and after the war started, carried out by the Middle East Scholars Barometer, Marc Lynch and Shibley Telhami will discuss the results and the ramifications.

This event is sponsored by the Department of Near Eastern Studies with generous support from the College of Arts & Sciences, Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies, Comparative Muslim Societies Program, Critical Ottoman & Post Ottoman Studies, Religious Studies Program, Jewish Studies Program. Center for Racial Justice and Equitable Futures, Department of Government and Society for the Humanities.

Talk by Violeta Moreno-Lax (Professor of Law, Queen Mary University of London and the University of Barcelona)

This paper takes issue with the exclusionary understanding of solidarity underpinning the European Union (EU)’s response to the Ukrainian refugee crisis. Through a detailed examination of the Temporary Protection scheme deployed since the beginning of the Russian invasion and its surrounding context, including the EU’s response to non-Ukrainian forced migrants fleeing the conflict, I will show how solidarity has been employed as an ‘othering’ device to discriminate or, at least, stratify access to international protection. Whereas up to 6 million (white/Christian) Ukrainian refugees have been granted access to asylum in the EU since the beginning of the war, benefiting from a series of facilitation mechanisms built on the basis of (proclamations of) ‘solidarity with Ukraine’, other (brown/predominantly Muslim) forcibly displaced populations fleeing the conflict have been met with suspicion, containment, and rejection at the border. What this comparison will unveil is, therefore, the lack of a unified approach to the understanding of solidarity in this domain that has had the (indirect/unintended?) effect of institutionalizing Islamophobia – or at least a highly securitized understanding of Islam – vis-à-vis those in need (and entitled to) international protection in the EU. In this situation, reliance on a conceptualization of solidarity as an exclusion/othering tool that impedes, rather than facilitates, access to international protection for the vast majority of (non-white/non-Christian) refugees is not only at odds with the 1951 Refugee Convention, but is also contrary to the general principle of non-discrimination on grounds of race, making the whole scheme deeply problematic and incompatible with key international legal standards.

Co-sponsored with the Institute for European Studies

Talk by Till Mostowlansky (Research Professor in Anthropology, Geneva Graduate Institute, Switzerland)

The establishment of Soviet rule in the southern parts of Central Asia bordering the British Empire has largely been researched through the lens of geopolitical competition. Virtually nothing is known about how the region’s Muslim populations experienced this period of revolution and war leading up to the 1947 partition of India. Using Persian, Russian and Urdu sources, this talk explores the Muslim networks that linked Central Asia with South Asia at the time. It further discusses how the study of these trans-imperial connections contributes to a nuanced understanding of attempts at re-engagement, as well as persistent disconnection, in the present.

Talk by Ali Houissa, (Curator, Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies, Cornell University Library)

Our CMS seminar today will be led by the curator of the Middle Eastern Collection in Olin Library, who will be hosting us to see precious objects in the library's collection about Islam. We have many world-class books, some of them centuries old, which show the history and evolution of Islam over a long period, and across many cultures. This is a wonderful opportunity to see some of the treasures of Cornell’s collection that are rarely seen, and which span centuries of time and thousands of miles of geography in Islamic lands, from Morocco to Indonesia.

Talk by Dilip Menon (Department of International Relations, Director, Centre for Indian Studies in Africa, University of Witwatersrand)

This is a preliminary paper on the remarkable figure of Vakkom Mohd. Maulavi (1873-1932) of Travancore, on the south-western coast of India, through his writings in the journal Deepika, that he edited. The articles spoke to the reforms of Islamic modernism that were ongoing in Egypt (reported in the widely circulated Al Manar), and imagined a space of Indian Ocean Islam. Vakkom Maulavi was also concerned with the question of people’s rights under the rule of the autocratic Maharaja of Travancore. As publisher of the newspaper Svadeshabhimani edited by the redoubtable and intemperate journalist Ramakrishna Pillai, the duo waged a war of words on the questions of ethical governance and popular representation. There has been a tendency in South Asia to study the history of Muslims separately from their conjoined lives with Hindus and those of other religions. This paper thus speaks to the emerging literature on Indian Ocean Islam (Nile Green, Wilson Chacko Jacob, Seema Alavi, Mahmood Kooria et al) while at the same time arguing for the role of Muslim intellectuals in defining a democratic and secular public sphere.

Dilip M. Menon is the Mellon Chair of Indian Studies and the Director of the Centre for Indian Studies in Africa at the University of Witwatersrand, South Africa. He was educated at the Universities of Delhi, Oxford and Cambridge and earned his PhD from Cambridge. His research for the past decade has engaged with issues of caste, socialism and equality in modern India. He is the author of Caste, nationalism and communism in south India: Malabar, 1900-1948 (Cambridge 1994), The blindness of insight: Essays on caste in modern India (Navayana 2006), The cultural history of Modern India (editor, Social Sciences Press and Berghahn 2006), Capitalisms: Towards a Global History (co-editor, Oxford, 2020), and the translator of Potheri Kunhambu's 1893 Malayalam novel Saraswativijayam (Book Review Literary Trust 2002)

Cosponsored with the South Asia Program

Talk by Yunus Sozen (Political Science Department, LeMoyne College)

In the last decade, Turkey has not only become the largest refugee recipient country but also one of the major immigrant destination countries in the world. All this happened during the rule of the right-wing populist Justice and Development Party which also took the lead in the breakdown of Turkey’s defective democracy and the establishment of an electoral authoritarian regime in its place. In this paper, I critically evaluate the immigration and right-wing populism literature based on an exploration of how the right-wing populist government in Turkey conceptualizes the Turkish nation and citizenship. I argue that the conceptual frameworks utilized in this literature lead to interpretive frameworks that misunderstand the particular conception of the nation by Turkey’s right-wing authoritarian populist rulers and their pro-immigration and citizenship policies.

Co-sponsored with COPOS

Talk by Ruslan Yusupov (Postdoctoral Fellow, Cornell Society for the Humanities)

Hundreds of mosques in China have since 2018 witnessed their domes and minarets amputated. The effort is part of a larger nationwide campaign to “Sinicize” Chinese Islam. This talk contextualizes the campaign within the politics of religious freedom in the totalizing state. This is because the so-called “Arabic” features of these mosques were previously approved by the very authorities that now go after them. In many cases discussed, the implementation of the campaign by the local authorities results paradoxically in architectural alterations that serve the needs of the Muslim communities. The story of how these communities adapt to the repressive policies of the state and turn them into benefits, therefore, reveals the precarious status of Islam in China.

Talk by Erik Bleich (Charles Dana Professor of Political Science, Middlebury College)

What can we see about American newspaper coverage of Muslims using a systematic, large-scale analysis? By comparing the tone and nature of coverage over time, we demonstrate how negative American newspapers have been in their treatment of Muslims across the two-decade period between 1996 and 2016, both in an absolute sense and compared to a range of other groups as diverse as Catholics, Jews, Hindus, African Americans, Latinos, Mormons, and atheists. The striking negativity also holds in countries such as Australia, Canada, and the UK. While 9/11 did not make coverage more negative in the long run, it did dramatically increase the prevalence of references to terrorism and extremism. Our comprehensive overview shows how distinctive coverage of Muslims has been in the United States and beyond.

Planning for study abroad? No matter how you identify or where you're studying, early planning is the key to a successful study abroad experience.

Join us for a facilitated discussion with fellow students about navigating your intersectional identities while studying abroad. A panel of returned study abroad students will share their experiences, knowledge, and advice for expressing your whole self in a different culture. This is a great opportunity to ask questions and think about your identity in a new context—outside the norms of Cornell, your hometown, or your home country.

This global freedom of expression event is an opportunity to explore critical issues related to free expression of your identity and how you encounter the world. As a student abroad, you have a deeply personal chance to experience cultural exchange, collaborate productively in a global context, and have challenging conversations while staying true to yourself—all vital skills for successful participation in democracy.

The Office of Global Learning is here to help as you think about your identity in a global context, learn about new norms and ways of life, and find the support you need.

In-Person Event

Attend the panel in Statler Hall 165