The Center for Middle Eastern Studies presents

Mohammed Sharafuddin
CMES Visiting Scholar, Associate Professor of English and American Literature, University of Sana'a

Dr. Sharafuddin received his M.A. from the University of Kansas in 1983 and his Ph.D. from the University of York (UK) in 1988. He has taught in various universities including Augsburg College, University of Minnesota, George Washington University, the Arab Open University (Kuwait) and the University of Sana'a.

Contact: ...

Ahmad Sadri
Professor of Sociology, and James P. Gorter Chair of Islamic World Studies, Lake Forest College

Professor Sadri will start with the world debut of the new rhymed translation of the 700-year-old satirical Rhyme of the Cat and Mouse by Obeyd of Zakan. This talk aims to put the poem in its social, political and philosophical contexts and explore reasons for its staying power as the beloved national satire of Iran.

Professor Sadri provided the new translation used in artist Hamid Rahmanian's stunning illustrated edition of the Shahnameh...

"Claim No Easy Victories: Can the Social Sciences Serve the Equity Interest of the Poor?"

This talk argues that  much of the academic discourse on inequality, educational and otherwise, has been hijacked, if you will, by two elite discourses, both self-congratulatory, both framing inequality in ways that don’t give us as much real-world leverage as we might have. On the one hand, scholars may be so afraid of “blaming the victim” they may be unable to consider a full-range of the possible levers to change, often working to the detriment of the most disadvantaged...

This workshop is a forum for graduate students to present their current research to peers interested broadly in the study of Europe.

Lecture by Luis Jaime Castillo Butters, RFK Visiting Professor in Latin American Studies, Harvard University

High status burials featuring females embodying the identity of priestesses in the Pre-Columbian Moche liturgy have been found consistently in the north coast of Peru, dating as early as 600 A.D. By Lambayeque times (A.D. 950) elite females seem to have been elevated to the status of Queens, and buried alongside male rulers. Female power was probably extended to the community level, and by the XVI century, when the Spanish Conquistadores took control of this...

HARVARD UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY DISSERTATION DEFENSE

"Domesticating Detroit: An Ethnography of Creativity in a Postindustrial Frontier"
Presented by Julia Yezbick

Monday, April 11, 2016
3:30 p.m. in Tozzer 203

Film screening of How to Rust
Followed by oral defense  
 
“Domesticating Detroit” is an ethnographic investigation into the intersecting worlds of artistic practice, creativity, real estate, philanthropy, and urban revitalization through the material lens of the single-family home. Throughout Detroit's...

Politics requires more than voting and electoral mobilization. It requires knowledge of law, organization, identity, history, and culture. This reality is very much evident in Native American life today, where Native communities are sovereign nations within the United States yet must still negotiate politically within a federal democratic system that, at times, inconsistently honors their rights, their land and water, and their ways of life.

This one-day symposium will explore a range of mechanisms for political expression with leading members of Native communities,...

Feathers of Fire: An Ancient Persian Epic Brought to Life With Shadow Puppets

With Award Winning Iranian Artist Hamid Rahmanian
in collaboration with Larry Reed and...

RYO MORIMOTO, RI Postdoctoral Fellow (Ph.D. Anthropology, Brandeis University, 2015)

Moderator: Andrew Gordon, Juliet and Lee Folger Fund Professor of History, Harvard University

Reischauer Institute Japan Forum and Weatherhead Center Program on U.S.-Japan Relations Special Lecture Series on Japan's 2011 Disasters

JOSHUA FOGEL, Canada Research Chair and Professor of History, York University

Moderator: David Howell, Professor of Japanese History, Harvard University

Reischauer Institute Japan Forum presentation

RUTH ROGASKI, Associate Professor of History, Vanderbilt University

Moderator: Ian J Miller, Professor of History, Harvard University

Harvard Asia Center and Reischauer Institute presentation

Reception and installation viewing to follow

“Ah humanity!” is a large-scale audio-video installation on view from April 10 (Sunday) – April 16 (Saturday) from 8:00-10:30 p.m. Sponsored by the Harvard University Committee on the Arts the installation will feature a single channel of video...