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MESA 2008 Meetings in Conjunction

Saturday, November 22 is affiliate meetings day. The first program session will be held Saturday from 5-7pm. Groups wishing to schedule functions may do so by completing a "Meetings in Conjunction Scheduling Form" available here.

Events Scheduled as of Monday, November 17, 2008

AMIDEAST–America-Mideast Educational and Training Services
Education Abroad Programs Consortium meeting, Saturday, 11/22, 5-6:30pm, Jefferson
Education Abroad Programs Arabic Language Advisory Board, Tuesday, 11/25, 1-3pm, Park Tower Suite 8209

AMIDEAST Education Abroad Programs Informational Sessions

Sunday, 11/23 and Monday, 11/24, 1-2pm, Truman

Join AMIDEAST staff as they provide an overview of AMIDEAST's exciting new Education Abroad Programs in the Arab World, which include semester programs in Cairo, Amman, and Kuwait, an intensive Arabic summer program in Morocco, and a "learn and serve" summer program in Tunisia.

TAARII–The American Academic Research Institute in Iraq
board meeting, Saturday, 11/22, 12nn-2pm, Balcony B

AATA–American Association of Teachers of Arabic
board meeting, Saturday, 11/22, 9am-12nn, Jefferson
*panel, Saturday, 11/22, 1:30-3:30pm, McKinley
business meeting, Saturday, 11/22, 4-5pm, McKinley
workshop on digitizing Arabic text (in association with Yale University Library), Sunday, 11/23, 9am-3pm, Virginia C ***see Yale University Library entry for details

*Arabic Heritage Programs in the US: Problems and Solutions
Organized by Mahmoud Abdalla

Chair/Discussant: Mahmoud Abdalla, Michigan State U

Ghazi Abuhakema, Montclair State U–Heritage and Non-Heritage Arabic Students’ Language Learning Strategies
Sonia Shiri, UC Berkeley–On Challenging Language Ideologies and Arabic Heritage Curricula
Mahmoud Abdalla, Michigan State U–Negotiating the Syllabus: the Case of Arabic Heritage Learners
Emma Trentman, Michigan State U and Sara Hillman, Michigan State U –Examining the Linguistic Competence of Arabic Heritage Speakers

AATP–American Association of Teachers of Persian
language workshop and business meeting, Saturday, 11/22, 8:30am-4:00pm, Harding
reception in honor of Ustad Manouchehr Kasheff, Saturday, 11/22, 4-4:30pm, Harding

AATT–American Association of Teachers of Turkic Languages
business meeting, Saturday, 11/22, 10-11pm, Coolidge
graded reader project working session, Sunday, 11/23, 12nn-6pm, Jackson (co-sponsored with NMELRC)

AIAS–American Institute of Afghanistan Studies
board of trustees meeting, Saturday, 11/22, 10am-12:30pm, Truman

AIIrS–American Institute of Iranian Studies
board meeting, Saturday, 11/22, 3-5pm, Truman

AIMS–American Institute for Maghrib Studies
board meeting (by invitation only), Saturday, 11/22, 9am-1pm, Taylor
business meeting (open to all AIMS members and potential members), Saturday, 11/22, 3-4:30pm, Virginia A
reception (please join us in honoring Keith Walters for his years of service to AIMS: open to all AIMS members), Saturday, 11/22, 7-9pm, Tyler

AIYS–American Institute for Yemeni Studies
board meeting, Saturday, 11/22, 2-5pm, Taylor
business meeting, Monday, 11/24, 5-7pm, Park Tower Suite 8219

AUC–American University in Cairo
reception, Saturday, 11/22, 8-10pm, Marshall South

AIS–Association for Israeli Studies
reception, Saturday, 11/22, 7:30-9pm, Truman

AMEWS–Association for Middle East Women's Studies
JMEWS business meeting, Saturday, 11/22, 4-5:15pm, Delaware B
AMEWS business meeting, Saturday, 11/22, 5:30-6:30pm, Delaware B
AMEWS reception/panel, Saturday, 11/22, 6:30-8:30pm, Delaware B

AMCA-Association for Modern & Contemporary Art of the Arab World, Iran, & Turkey
reception, Saturday, 11/22, 7-9pm, Park Tower Suite 8216

ASPS–Association for the Study of Persianate Societies
business meeting, Saturday, 11/22, 2-3pm, Jefferson
board meeting, Saturday, 11/22, 3-4pm, Jackson
JPS editorial board meeting, Saturday, 11/22, 5-6:30pm, Jackson
planning meeting, Sunday, 11/23, 9-11:30am, Tyler

AAS–Assyrian Academic Society
board meeting, Saturday, 11/22, 1-3pm, Park Tower Suite 8218

CANMES–Canadian Committee of MESA
business meeting, Sunday, 11/23, 1-2:30pm, Taylor

Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Reform in the Arab World: A Retrospective and Look Ahead Commemorating Five Years of the Arab Reform Bulletin
Monday, 11/24, 4:30-6:30pm, McKinley

CASA–Center for Arabic Study Abroad
governing board meeting, Saturday, 11/22, 7-10:30pm, Johnson
consoritum luncheon, Monday, 11/24, 12:30-2:30pm, Balcony A

Georgetown University, Center for Contemporary Arab Studies
reception, Saturday, 11/22, 7:30-9:30pm, Balcony C&D

Professor Gilles Kepel and the Sciences Po Middle Eastern and Mediterranean Studies Program in Paris
The French Touch, Saturday, 11/22, 8:30-10:30pm, Balcony B

Harvard University Center for Middle Eastern Studies and Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Islamic Studies Program
reception, Saturday, 11/22, 7-8pm, Wilson Rooms

IJMES–International Journal of Middle East Studies
manuscript open house, Saturday, 11/22, 3:30-4:30pm, Tyler

ISIS–International Society for Iranian Studies
board meeting, Saturday, 11/22, 1-3pm, Tyler
business meeting and Lifetime Achievement Awards Ceremony, Saturday, 11/22, 3-4pm, Coolidge

JMEWS-Journal of Middle East Women's Studies
business meeting, Saturday, 11/22, 4-5:15pm, Delaware B

KSA–Kurdish Studies Association
panel, Saturday, 11/22, 1:30-3pm, Park Tower Suite 8222
business meeting, Saturday, 11/22, 3-4:30pm, Park Tower Suite 8222

MELA–Middle East Librarians Association
MELA's annual meeting will be held in conjunction with MESA on November 20-21 at the Library of Congress, Jefferson Building, Room LJ-119.  For registration and directions, please check the MELA website at http://www.mela.us/. 

MEM–Middle East Medievalists
board meeting, Saturday, 11/22, 3-4pm, Park Tower Suite 8223
business meeting, Saturday, 11/22, 4-5pm, Park Tower Suite 8212
reception, Saturday, 11/22, 7-8:30pm, Park Tower Suite 8212

MEOC–Middle East Outreach Council
outreach coordinators workshop, Friday, 11/21, 12:30-4:30pm, Nathan Hale
business meeting, Saturday, 11/22, 3:15-6pm, Marshall South
board meeting, Sunday, 11/23, 7:30-8:45am, Taft

MESA–Middle East Studies Association
CAF meeting, 10am-1pm, Saturday, 11/22, Marshall South

NMELRC-National Middle East Language Resource Center
graded reader project working session, Sunday, 11/23, 12nn-6pm, Jackson (co-sponsored with AATT)

NYU–New York University
reception sponsored by the Department of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies and the Hagop Kevorkian Center for Near Eastern Studies, Saturday, 11/22, 7:30-9:30pm, Taft

PARC–Palestinian American Research Center
board meeting, Saturday, 11/22, 11am-3pm, Taft
membership meeting, Saturday, 11/22, 3-4:30pm, Balcony A
reception, Sunday, 11/23, 6-6:45pm, Marshall West (follows PARC double session in same room)

Princeton University, Program in Near Eastern Studies
reception, Sunday, 11/23, 5-6pm, Taft

SAR–Scholars at Risk Network
special panel, Saturday, 11/22, 1:30-3:30pm, Johnson

Responding to Attacks on Academic Freedom, features SAR scholars Abdul Sattar Jawad, U of Mississippi and Fatemah Haghighatjoo, Five Colleges Women's Research Center; with presentations by representatives from the Arab Society for Academic Freedom (ASAF) and SAR.

Meeting on Codes and Measures of Academic Freedom, 4-5pm, Johnson

SAR is drafting a model code of academic freedom in the form of an interactive Wiki. International case examples will support each article of the code and may be sorted by region. (Note that cases already included in the code are mainly drawn from MESA CAF letters). Before going live, SAR hopes to include case examples from a variety of regions and countries, preferably those submitted by regional experts. The code is in its initial stages, but once it is online, SAR plans to allow the public to suggest changes to the code and propose appropriate case examples for the various articles. Suggestions by the public will be filtered by editors who are experts in academic freedom issues or the region in question.

Interviews with SAR scholars, Saturday, 11/22, 11am-5pm, Park Tower Suite 8216

SAS–Society for Armenian Studies
annual membership meeting, Sunday, 11/23, 12:00nn-1:30pm, Jefferson

SSBBS–Society for Shaykhi, Babi, and Bahai Studies
panel, Saturday, 11/22, 7:30-9:30pm, Park Tower Suite 8219

The Surah Titles of the Qayyum al-asma' of Sayyid 'Ali Muhammad Shirazi
(1819-1850): Gateways to the Earliest Thought of the Bab
Stephen Lambden, UC Merced

Ishraqi Philosophy in Baha'i-Zoroastrian Dialoque: Baha'u'llah's Tabernacle of Unity.
Susan Maneck, Jackson State U

Baha'i Persian Publishing in the Late 19th and early 20th Century Iran: Some Preliminary Thoughts
Farzin Vejdani, Yale U

SSA–Syrian Studies Association
breakfast reception featuring a special presentation by The Syrian Ambassador, H.E. Dr. Imad Moustapha, Saturday, 11/22, 9-11am, Coolidge on "Syria/USA Relations: A Thaw or a False Start?"
board meeting, Saturday, 11/22, 2-4pm, Park Tower Suite 8224
business meeting, Saturday, 11/22, 4-5pm, Park Tower Suite 8219

University of Texas at Austin, Center for Middle Eastern Studies
reception, Saturday, 11/22, 8-10pm, Taylor

TSA–Turkish Studies Association
board meeting, Saturday, 11/22, 12nn-2pm, Jackson
reception, Saturday, 11/22, 7-8pm, McKinley
business meeting, Saturday, 11/22, 8-10pm, Coolidge

WOCMES–World Congress for Middle Eastern Studies
council meeting, Sunday, 11/23, 10:00am-12:00nn, McKinley

Yale University Library
workshop on digitizing Arabic text (in association with AATA), Sunday, 11/23, 9am-3pm, Virginia C

Yale University Library and the American Association of Teachers of Arabic will co-sponsor a one-day workshop about project planning for the digitization of Arabic text.  The workshop will take place on November 23, 2008 from 9 a.m. to 3 p. m. at the 2008 annual meeting of the Middle Eastern Studies Association (MESA).  Registration is required.

This workshop is aimed at academics, language instructors, librarians, archivists, curators, and other information professionals who want to provide full text access to Arabic language material online.  The workshop will provide project management information, based on the experience of U.S. universities, libraries, and other institutions, and give attendees essential information about the digitization of Arabic text materials.. 

The workshop will include a mixture of presentations on topics related to digitization projects, such as text or collection selection, copyright concerns, and staffing.  The conversion of scanned images to searchable Arabic text will be explained using two software products specifically created for the Optical Character Recognition of Arabic text.  In addition, attendees will learn about related technical topics such as metadata, formats, and preservation needs.  Also, the instructors will demonstrate the AMEEL repository, which holds full text digital copies of scholarly journals from the Middle East.

This workshop is supported by funding from the U.S. Department of Education, under its Title VI TICFIA program and is part of the Project AMEEL grant (Arabic and Middle Eastern Electronic Library). Additional support is provided by Yale University Library.