All posts by tabsir

ON MILITANCY AND THE ART OF THE EGG

Anthropology/Sociology, Conferences and Talks, Literature, Osama Bin Laden, Poetry, Yemen

The Colloquium for Unpopular Culture and NYU’s Program for Asian/ Pacific/ American Studies present a new series: AUSCULTATIONS: sound, noise, (nervous heart)beats

FLAGG MILLER (University of California at Davis)
ON MILITANCY AND THE ART OF THE EGG: THEOLOGICAL LESSONS FROM THE OSAMA BIN LADEN AUDIOCASSETTE COLLECTION

Cosponsored by NYU’s Hagop Kevorkian Center for Near Eastern Studies

When: Monday 19 April 2010, 12:30pm
Where: Room 471, 20 Cooper Square (East 5th and Bowery)
Free and open to the public

The alleged fantasies of Islamic militants provide Western audiences with an ample repertoire not only for stereotyping Muslims but also for severing acts of terror from realms of human experience. With the aim of bringing Muslim militants’ narratives of violence back to the complexities of situated cultural interaction, Flagg Miller will investigate the ways in which militancy is conceptualized through audiocassette-mediated sound production. In the winter of 2002, over 1500 audiocassettes from Osama Bin Laden’s former compound in Qandahar, Afghanistan were acquired by Cable News Networks. Miller will focus on one cassette entitled “With the mujahidin” (ma` al-mujahidin) that features participants cooking breakfast in a makeshift Afghan Arab kitchen. Continue reading ON MILITANCY AND THE ART OF THE EGG →

Iranian and Central Asian Numismatics

Archaeology and Antiquities, Central Asia, Conferences and Talks, Iran, Islamic Economics


Sogdian coin, 6th century AD, British Museum


The Middle Eastern and Central Asian Studies Program at Hofstra University will be hosting a day-long workshop on “Early Iranian and Central Asia Numismatics: In Memoriam Boris Kochnev (1940-2002).” The program will be held in CV Starr Hall, room 109 on Sunday, April 18 from 11:00 am – 5:00 pm. Details of the program are provided below. For more information, please contact Prof. Aleksandr Naymark .

Preliminary program

Session I
11:00 am – 12:30 pm

Michael Bates
(American Numismatic Society, New York, USA)
Surprises from Arab/Sasanian Fars, 640-710

Stefan Heidemann
(Jena University, Germany – Bard College Graduate Center, New York, USA)
A New Iranian Mint for Drahm in Sasanian Style: Isbahan

Konstantin Kravtsov
(Hermitage Museum, Sankt-Petersburg, Russia)
Semidrachms of Farrukhan the Great in the Collection of the State Hermitage Museum Continue reading Iranian and Central Asian Numismatics →

Picturing Palestine

Arab-Israeli Conflict, Conferences and Talks, Palestine, Photography


Escape from Gaza by Karim Ben Khelifa

On Tuesday, April 13, photojournalist Karim Ben Khelifa will be speaking at Hofstra University on “Picturing Palestine: Gaza and the West Bank.” This will be held in 201 Barnard Hall from 9:35-11 am. The event is sponsored by the Middle Eastern and Central Asian Studies Program at Hofstra.

For more information, contact Professor Varisco at daniel.m.varisco@hofstra.edu.

Arabian Idol: for better and for verse

Gender and Sexuality, Poetry, United Arab Emirates, YouTube Watch

The BBC has an interesting video available online on the popular Emirates television show take-off on “American Idol” but for poets speaking Arabic. Among the final contestants was Hissa al-Hilal, whose frank response to sexist clerics has made her a household name despite being under almost a full hijab. If you think poetry does not pay in this part of the world, think again. The winner walked away with about 1.4 million dollars and Hissa earned 817 thousand dollars. She apparently won the votes of the panel of critics, but lost out to the audience.

May you never be uncovered

Ethics, Film and Video, Gender and Sexuality, Pakistan


Photograph in a brothel in Pakistan by Kate Orne

Prostitution in Pakistan? Yes it exists, despite the most dire consequences if discovered. Photographer Kate Orne has been documenting the underworld of Pakistani prostitution since 2005 and has formed a website to bring attention to the plight of these women. Prints can be purchased at the website with benefits going to two schools for children and a clinic. Check out the presentation and gallery at http://www.mayyouneverbeuncovered.org/

Fruitful Picks at the Pomegranate Gallery

Iraq, Lebanon, Literature, Music and Dance


Drinking Juice, 2003
Bronze Cast by Oded Halahmy

The following upcoming events are scheduled for the Pomegranate Gallery in Manhattan:

WHITE MASKS: Elias Khoury’s remarkable novel of the Lebanese civil war
Book signing and Reception
Thursday, April 15th, 2010, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
“No Lebanese writer has been more successful than Khoury in telling the story of Lebanon…Khoury is one of the most innovative novelists in the Arab world.” Washington Post Book World

SWEET DATES IN BASRA: A new novel by Jessica Jiji
Book signing and Reception, with live Middle Eastern music
Thursday April 29th, 2010, 6:00 to 9:00 p.m.
“In this story of love and search for identity, Jessica Jiji succeeds fully in capturing passions, depth of feeling, and strong relationships beyond ethnic and religious differences.” – Naim Kattan, author of Farewell Babylon

REMEMBERING BAGHDAD: An Evening of Iraqi Music, with Yair Dalal, Omar Bashir and Erez Mounk
Saturday, May 1st, 2010, 7:00 p.m. Continue reading Fruitful Picks at the Pomegranate Gallery →