Annual Meeting Policies

The MESA annual meeting provides an opportunity for MESA members to share their current research, be inspired by the latest research trends and methods, to gather with colleagues to plan future collaborative research projects, and generally to share their academic knowledge and love of the region they study.

Program requirements include MESA membership and meeting pre-registration.

To be on the MESA program, one must be a MESA member. After all, the MESA meeting is organized by members for members. MESA welcomes the participation of foreign scholars and those who do not normally study the Middle East, who may be unfamiliar with the association and its meeting, by considering a one-time membership exemption. MESA membership is open to anyone with an interest in the Middle East. Membership dues are income-based. Pre-registration is required of all participants.

Both membership and pre-registration must be completed before submission for the annual meeting.

Paper presenters are required to submit their papers.

Paper presenters are required to submit a copy of their papers to the MESA Secretariat and to the panel chair and discussant (if assigned) by October 15 of the year of the meeting. The copy for the Secretariat may be sent as a Microsoft Word document attached to an email message. The copy for the panel chair and discussant should be submitted by whatever means are acceptable to those persons. The papers received by the Secretariat are bound into catalogues and placed on display at the annual meeting. Copies of the papers–with the authors' permission–are made available for purchase after the meeting. The author retains all copyright permissions. Because MESA understands that some people will not want their paper sold, an author may instruct MESA not to make a paper available for sale by simply writing "Not Available For Sale" on the front or first page of the document. There is no suggested paper length. Your topic and your depth of coverage should determine the length of your paper. For tips on presenting your paper, please go here.

The deadline for regsitration fee refunds is August 15 of the meeting year.

Because the Secretariat makes substantial commitments of time and money organizing the annual meeting, for program participants the deadline for requesting a refund of the meeting registration fee is August 15 of the year of the meeting. After that date, participants who withdraw from the program are not entitled to a refund.

No-Show Policy

A no-show has been defined as someone who is not physically present at his or her panel, who has not notified anyone of an inability to participate, and has not submitted a paper to be read by the panel chair or another person. No-shows inconvenience everyone: the chair, discussant, fellow panelists, and those attending the panel. In essence they waste everyone's time without having demonstrated the common courtesy of notification. Persons identified as no-shows will not be considered for the following year's program. To avoid becoming a no-show, simply let someone know if you cannot participate, even if at the last minute.

Notify the MESA Secretariat if the details of your participation change.

If you change your paper title, move to another institution, etc., please notify the MESA Secretariat so that the correct information can be reflected in the meeting program. Please also keep the MESA Secretariat informed of address changes so that publications and information from MESA are directed appropriately. Communicate program changes to Mark Lowder at mlowder@u.arizona.edu. Changes in membership information should be directed to Sara Palmer at palmers@email.arizona.edu.