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Middle East and North African Studies Symposium

Art and Social Change: March 14 - 16, 2023

Join the Middle East and North African (MENA) program March 14th - 16th, 2023 for our annual MENA symposium.

This year’s theme is Art and Social Change.

I am one of the cochairs of the MENA Symposium. It has led me to think critically about how to study a region and listen to its voices, while recognizing my position as a white American in discussions.
Claire Baco BA ’25
Shingle Springs, California
More about Claire
Cochairing the MENA Symposium has allowed me to highlight my interest in the region and share that with the L&C community. This year’s theme of Art and Social Change focuses on something I care about.
Jade Weihz BA ’23
Phillipsburg, New Jersey
More about Jade

Schedule of Events

March 14

2-3:30 p.m. Keynote with Princess Alia Al-Senussi, PhD, Webinar: “Artist as Activist” - Albany 207

Description: Art has power to mobilise change: social, political and cultural, and the artist can be an important medium that represents, or challenges, the views of the citizens. Social activism within the sphere of the visual arts is best understood as a creative engagement questioning and attempting to challenge established norms and boundaries. We need to consider the role of the artist in representing the nation and influencing the debate on societal change, especially the power of women artists in MENA who help to correct misconceptions on women’s role in society. Today’s artists have an advantage too as they operate in a very different setting to traditionally conceived: they can reach wider audiences via a commonly understood language of technology and social media. Zoom link.

Princess Alia Al-Senussi, PhD Princess Alia Al-Senussi, PhD

Princess Alia Al-Senussi, PhD, is an active member of the contemporary art world with a focus on cultural strategy and patronage systems. She is a cultural strategist, writer, patron, public speaker and academic.

Princess Alia has served as Art Basel’s UK and MENA Representative for over a decade, and is also currently Senior Advisor, International Outreach for Art Basel. In 2019 she was appointed Senior Advisor to the Ministry of Culture, Saudi Arabia, where she focuses on developing international partnerships whilst working on a variety of projects across the Ministry’s commissions and the Diriyah Biennale Foundation. Princess Alia is a visiting lecturer at Brown University’s Watson Institute, working with the Middle East Studies Program.

Princess Alia is currently a member of the Tate Modern Advisory Council (London), the Strategic Advisory Panel of the Delfina Foundation (London), the Board of Trustees of The Showroom (London), the Board of Trustees of FUNTASIA/Elisa Sednaoui Foundation (UK / Egypt / Italy), the Board of Governors of Aiglon College (Switzerland) as well as a member of Therme Advisory Board (Germany) and the UCCA Contemporary Circle (China).

She continues to serve as a founding member of the Tate’s Acquisitions Committee for the Middle East and North Africa, the Board of 1:54 The African Art Fair, and the Middle East Circle of the Guggenheim, the Middle East Studies Advisory Committee at Brown University, the Serpentine Future Contemporaries (and founding committee member) as well as was a founding member of the Board of Patrons of Art Dubai, having played an integral role in the founding of the fair. Princess Alia is also a member of the British Museum committee for the acquisition of Middle Eastern art.

Dr Alia has a PhD in Politics from SOAS (London), examining the nexus of power and cultural patronage, featuring Saudi Arabia as a case study. She graduated Magna Cum Laude in International Relations (honors) and Middle East Studies from Brown University and holds an MA in Political Science from Brown and an MSc in Law, Anthropology and Society from the London School of Economics.

5-6 p.m. Opening Dinner (Smith Hall)

Enjoy some delicious Lebanese finger food from Ya Hala! Hang out with your friends and listen to some Arabic tunes.

March 15

4:45-6:15 p.m. Student Panel (Miller 102)

Listen to presentations from students on their academic research on the MENA region.

Lee Hinkle: Music in the MENA Region: Subversions of Dominant Ideologies and Tensions Surrounding Modernity
Quinn Bicer: War, Displacement, and the Legacy of Humanitarianism in the Middle East
Daniel Pang: Fundamentalist Feminism in Egyptian Islam
Claire Baco: Sociolinguistic Hierarchy in Morocco

6pm-8pm: Muslim Student Association banquet on Islam and Mental Health (South Chapel)

The MSA is holding a banquet on Islam and Mental Health with guest speaker Counselor Raumene Rahatzad from Sound Heart Integrative Counseling. Free Mediterranean food included. RSVP here.

March 16

3:30-4:30 p.m. Join us for a Q&A session with Ambassador Mushingi (Miller 102)

Ambassador Mushingi will discuss work in foreign service, his time working in Morocco, the experience of a foreign service career in Africa, and how in his time abroad he has witnessed the idea of art and social change.

5-6:30 p.m. Keynote Speaker: Mona Haydar (Miller 102) Webinar: “Finding your Purpose”

Description: Using your unique gifts and talents to better and beautify the world. Zoom link.

Mona Haydar Mona Haydar

Mona Haydar is a Syrian American Muslim raised in Flint, Michigan. An English major and a poet, Mona Haydar holds an MA in Christian Ethics from the Union Theological Seminary in New York. In 2016 she turned her talents to rap music. When her debut song “(Hijabi) Wrap my Hijab” went viral, Billboard Magazine placed it among “The 20 Best Protest Songs of 2017” and named it one of the “Top 25 Feminist Anthems of All Time.” Most recently, Mona co-hosted the PBS three-part travel series The Great Muslim American Road Trip, which aired in July 2022. The 3000-mile journey across Route 66 explored Islam’s deep roots in America to understand the centuries-long Muslim experience in the United States.

Five
L&C’s five academic student-led symposia reflect our commitment to inquiry, innovation, collaboration, and global engagement.