Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Lund University
Encyclopedia
History
The center for MIddle Eastern studies (CMES) was founded in 2007 on behalf of a new effort to conduct and coordinate research on the Middle East within Lund UniversityLund University
Lund University , located in the city of Lund in the province of Scania, Sweden, is one of northern Europe's most prestigious universities and one of Scandinavia's largest institutions for education and research, frequently ranked among the world's top 100 universities...
.
SInce Lund University's foundation in 1666 Islamology and semitic languages (linguarum orientalium) have been taught, but no coordinated effort to focus research existed. In 2007 the center was inaugurated by Jordanian Price Hassan bin Talal and has since hosted internationally renowned scholars like Robert Fisk
Robert Fisk
Robert Fisk is an English writer and journalist from Maidstone, Kent. As Middle East correspondent of The Independent, he has primarily been based in Beirut for more than 30 years. He has published a number of books and has reported on the United States's war in Afghanistan and the same country's...
, Darius Rejali
Darius Rejali
Professor Darius Rejali is an Iranian-born American academic specialised on torture, who teaches political science at Reed College.- Biography :...
, Aaron David Miller
Aaron David Miller
Aaron David Miller is an American Middle East analyst, author, and negotiator. He is on the U.S. Advisory Council of Israel Policy Forum, is Public Policy Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center, and has been an advisor to six Secretaries of State. Miller worked within the United States Department...
, and Naomi Sakr.
Structure
CMES functions both as an international hub for multidisciplinary research and an academic department, holding courses, open seminars and movie screenings that are attended by experts in their fields. The four core structures of CMES are:- Research
- Academics
- Publishing
- Outreach
Staff
- Director: Leif StenbergLeif StenbergLeif Stenberg is the director of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Lund University. Leif Stenberg received his B.A degree from Lund University in 1987 and wrote his doctoral thesis on the Islamization of science, supervised by Jan Hjärpe, in 1996...
- MA Program Director Torsten Jansson
Visiting Researchers:
- Mark LeVineMark LeVineMark LeVine is a professor of history at the University of California, Irvine. He is also a musician. He received his B.A. in comparative religion and biblical studies from Hunter College and his M.A. and Ph.D. from New York University's Department of Middle Eastern Studies...
- Abdulhadi KhalafAbdulhadi KhalafAbdulhadi Khalaf is a Bahrani leftist political activist and academic. He received his primary and secondary education in Bahrain, then went abroad for college. He obtained a doctorate in sociology from Sweden's University of Lund in 1972...
- Eric Hooglund
- Lory Dance
- Mathias Mossberg
- Ingmar Karlsson
- Mona Abaza
MA Program
The MA program ran its first cycle during the fall of 2010. It is a two year (four-semester), program that offers a wide range of specialization within Middle Eastern Studies. The first semester is composed of compulsory courses in basic theory and multidisciplinary studies in relation to the Middle East. The second semester covers a wide range of elective courses (such as political structures, media, sociology, hydro-politics, and Islam) offering the students the possibility to focus their studies according to their interests. The third semester is an internship semester where the students are given the possibility to study at a different university like the American University in Beirut or intern somewhere in the Middle East. The fourth semester is composed of courses and work related to the MA thesis.During the four semesters, students are offered Arabic classes in preparation for the third semester. Turkish and Persian language classes are also given. In addition to the language classes, several of the research projects (as well as the center itself) offer various types of internships, during the academic year of 2010-2011 about 10 internships were filled by the students of the MA program.
Students are also offered a subsidized membership in The Association of Foreign Affairs - UPF to help them engage in the student life of Lund.
Research Directions and Projects
CMES has four general research directions, which are funded by the Swedish Research Council under the 'umbrella' project "The Middle East in the Contemporary World". A number of projects exist within the four major research domains.Contemporary Interpretations of Islam and Muslim Culture
- Sufism in contemporary syria headed by Leif StenbergLeif StenbergLeif Stenberg is the director of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Lund University. Leif Stenberg received his B.A degree from Lund University in 1987 and wrote his doctoral thesis on the Islamization of science, supervised by Jan Hjärpe, in 1996...
- Art and consumer culture in EgyptEgyptEgypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
lead by Mona Abaza - Discourses of resistance through political development in IranIranIran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
headed by Eric Hooglund.
Hydro politics, Security and International Law
This project focuses on water management that aides in the prevention of conflicts that may arise from water-resources.
- Conflict and Cooperation over the Jordan river explores the relationships between local and Virtual WaterVirtual waterVirtual water refers, in the context of trade, to the water used in the production of a good or service. For instance, it takes 1,300 cubic meters of water on average to produce one metric tonne of wheat. The precise volume can be more or less depending on climatic conditions and agricultural...
ways to conserve water in the Jordan River. The project is headed by Dr. Karin Aggestam - Promote integrated water resources management (IWRM). This projects aims to address trade-offs between national and international water management options.
Migration and Mobility
Covers three research projects (that were initiated in 2011), the projects are headed by Abdulhadi Khalaf
Abdulhadi Khalaf
Abdulhadi Khalaf is a Bahrani leftist political activist and academic. He received his primary and secondary education in Bahrain, then went abroad for college. He obtained a doctorate in sociology from Sweden's University of Lund in 1972...
and Petter Pilesjö while two of the projects concern the Gulf Cooperation Council area while the third covers the Iraqi part of Kurdistan:
- “The Plight of Foreign Workers” tracks the conditions and possibilities for foreign workers to organize themselves.
- “Migrant workers and the judicial ambiguities in the GCC ” explores through official documents complaints submitted to the GCC courts regarding foreign workers and how the judiciary treats these cases.
- “Migration patterns in Iraqi Kurdistan and their relations to environmental factors” aims to research how the environment affects migration through GIS, Remote sensing and fieldwork
Other Projects
Within the center other research projects also exist:- "The Parallel States Project" explores an alternative solution to the Israeli–Palestinian conflictIsraeli–Palestinian conflictThe Israeli–Palestinian conflict is the ongoing conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. The conflict is wide-ranging, and the term is also used in reference to the earlier phases of the same conflict, between Jewish and Zionist yishuv and the Arab population living in Palestine under Ottoman or...
. A conference was also organized during October 2010 in Lund. - "Women for Sustainable Growth" aims to connect female business leaders between the Gulf Cooperation Council and ScandinaviaScandinaviaScandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
and function as a research hub, promoting sustainable growth. - "Islam Consumer Culture and Music in Egypt and Saudi Arabia" studies the debate surrounding music censorship within Rock and Hip-Hop genres and resistance through these genres in KSA and EgyptEgyptEgypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
- "Religion, Identity and Turkey's Integration with the EU", a research project headed by Ambassador Ingmar Karlsson that studies the formation of Turkish identity and its effect on the EU
Middle East Critique
The Center for Middle Eastern studies bought Middle East CritiqueMiddle East Critique
Middle East Critique is a peer reviewed Middle East studies journal published by Routledge for Hamline University. It was published as Critique: Critical Middle Eastern Studies by Carfax Publishing until 2009...
in 2010. Former Bates
BATES
BATES is an acronym for BAllistic Test and Evaluation System, which is a standardized system for measuring solid rocket propellant performance developed by the United States Air Force Research Laboratory in the early 1960s, used for nearly 40 years thereafter, and again beginning in 2010.In modern...
professor Eric Hooglund is the editor-in-chief and founder of the journal. The journal was first published in 1992. Students in the MA program are offered internships within the journal to help them increase their knowledge and experience of academic research.