Watson Events

Feb 28th Webcast

March 1st Webcast

Additional information and agenda can be found on the New Directions in Palestinian Studies event website.

There is now a critical mass of innovative scholars in the US, Europe, and the Middle East who work on Palestine and the Palestinians. The field has grown quantitatively and qualitatively, with new lines of inquiry pushing in several new directions simultaneously. New Directions in Palestinian Studies, a series of annual and thematically organized symposia supported by the Middle East Studies at Brown University in cooperation with other universities and institutes, provides a space for systematic reflection on the fast-paced academic knowledge production on Palestine and the Palestinians. The symposia bring together established and emerging scholars in a low-pressure workshop environment to take stock of research trends, to identify promising new questions and sources, to exchange experiences and insights, and to encourage networking across disciplinary and field boundaries. New Directions in Palestinian Studies is founded and led by Beshara Doumani.

2014 Theme: Political Economy and Economy of the Political

Palestinian studies has long been shaped by a hot and ongoing conflict and by the special place of the “Holy Land” in the global imaginary. This has resulted in a hyper focus on some areas of research, such as politics and identity; and a general neglect of others, such as political economy and social history. The theme of political economy, broadly construed to include a range of approaches from social history to discursive constructions of “economy,” has been chosen as a focus for the first symposium, because it constitutes an enduring perspective that has recently gained significant traction. Sa’ed Atshan is the coordinator for the 2014 symposium, Molly Ratner is the research assistant, and Barbara Oberkoetter is the program manager. 

More Information

Center for Middle East Studies