Research Seminars
Research Seminars (Thursdays 13.15-14.30)
The CMES Research Seminar is the main collective seminar at the Centre. LU researchers and invited national and international leading scholars present ongoing research and analyses of a broad range of exciting topics of relevance for the Middle East.
Until further notice, all meetings are held in a hybrid format - both at CMES (Finngatan 16) and on Zoom. Please click on the seminar dates to learn more and register for Zoom participation.
Autumn Programme 2023
ECO-Syria - Exploring Conflict-Environment Interactions for Sustainable Development and Conservation
Pinar Dinc (CMES & Political Science), Mo Hamza (CMES & Division of Risk Management and Societal Safety), Maria Andrea Nardi (CMES & Human Geography), Lina Eklund (CMES & Physical Geography and Ecosystem Science), and Hakim Abdi (CMES & Centre for Environmental and Climate Science)
Greek-Turkish Relations From the ‘Megali Idea’ to the Population Exchange of 1923
Rainer Liedtke (University of Regenburg)
Atoms for Peace in the Middle East – Technology, Labor, and Peace in US Policy
Heba Taha (CMES and Political Science, Lund University)
Economic Diversification and Green Transition in the Gulf States
Martin Hvidt (University of Southern Denmark)
Turkey and Sweden’s NATO Application
Paul Levin (Stockholm University)
De-escalation and Realignments – A New Middle East?
Dalia Dassa Kaye (Visiting Fulbright Schuman Scholar)
Can Algeria’s History Teach Us About Israel-Palestine Today?
Arthur Asseraf (University of Cambridge)
Book Launch: Muhammad Abduh – Modern Islam and the Culture of Ambiguity
Oliver Scharbrodt (CMES & Centre for Theology and Religious Studies)
Green Growth Hegemony and Counter-Alternatives in Turkey
Mine Islar (Lund University Centre for Sustainability Studies)
Seminar Archive
3 February, Public Seminar with Cecilia Uddén (Radio Sweden)
Recent diplomatic recognition of Israel by Middle Eastern states
11 February, Research Seminar with Spyros Sofos (CMES)
The Meanings of the People in Turkish Politics: A Genealogy
25 February, Research Seminar with Orwa Ajjoub (CMES)
The Development of the Theological and Political Aspects of Jihadi-Salafism
11 March, Research Seminar with Isabel Bramsen (Lund University) and Anine Hagemann (University of Copenhagen)
The Missing Sense of Peace [in Syria and Yemen]: Diplomatic Approachment and Virtualization during the COVID-19 Lockdown
25 March, Research Seminar with Kaveh Madani (Yale University)
Rethinking Environmental Security: The Lessons Learned from the Middle East
31 March, Public Seminar with Mohammed Almahfali (CMES), Mark LeVine (CMES), Kholoud Mansour (CMES), Maria F Malmström (CMES), Charlotta Sparre (Swedish Dialogue Institute for the Middle East and North Africa), Karin Aggestam (CMES)
Panel Discussion on the Arab Spring Ten Years On
8 April, Research Seminar with Darcy Thompson (CMES)
A Question of Legality or Legitimacy? Examining the Norm of Democracy Promotion in International Relations
22 April, Research Seminar with Isabell Schierenbeck (University of Gothenburg)
A New Israeli Political Landscape? Recent Trends and Future Implications
6 May, Research Seminar with Fanny Christou (CMES)
New Perspectives on Migration Patterns in Sudan in the Context of Climate Change
20 May, Research Seminar with Morten Valbjørn (Aarhus University)
What is so Sectarian about Sectarian Politics? Identity Politics and Authoritarianism in a New Middle East
3 June, Research Seminar with Amir Naghibi (CMES)
Application of Artificial Intelligence for Sustainable Development in the Middle East
2 September, Research Seminar with Mo Hamza (Lund University)
Refugee Decision-Making in First Countries of Asylum
14 September, Research Seminar with Sarah Anne Rennick (Arab Reform Initiative)
Exile, Identity, and Mobilization- New Dynamics in Post-2011 Arab Diasporas
30 September, Research Seminar with Pinar Dinc (CMES)
The Dersim Genocide in Turkey
14 October, Research Seminar with Rola El-Husseini Dean (CMES)
Politics Makes for Strange Bedfellows - Exigency and Sectarian Politics in Lebanon
20 October, Public Seminar with Lina Eklund (CMES), Rola El-Husseini Dean (CMES), Mo Hamza (Lund University), Rouzbeh Parsi (Swedish Institute for International Affairs), Anders Persson (Linneus University), Karin Aggestam (CMES)
Trendspotting: "Breakthroughs" in the Middle East
28 October, Research Seminar with Svante Lundgren (CMES)
When the Assyrian Tragedy Became Seyfo
11 November, Research Seminar with Lisa Strömbom (Lund University)
Digital Communication and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
25 November, Research Seminar with Hossein Hashemi (CMES), Amir Naghibi (CMES), Sara Brogaard (CMES), Ali Mansourian (CMES) and Pengziang Zhao (CMES)
AI in the Service of Socio-Politically Adapted Sustainable Dust-Storm Control in the Middle East
1 December, Public Seminar co-organized by UPF, with Isak Svensson (Uppsala University)
"Jihadist Peace": Is Peacemaking Possible in Islamist Armed Conflicts?
9 December, Research Seminar with Torsten Janson (CMES)
Learning, Belonging, Resisting - Palestinian Youth in Lebanese Higher Education
3 February, Research Seminar with Michelle Pace (Roskilde University), Paola Rivetti (Dublin City University), Francesco Cavatorta (Université Laval), Ziad Abu Mustafa and Muhammad Shehada
Revolution and Counter-Revolution in the Middle East and North Africa
17 February, Research Seminar with Barzoo Eliassi (Linnaeus University)
Seeing like the Stateless in an Uneven World of Nation-States - Kurdish and Palestinian Experiences
3 March, Research Seminar with Joel W. Abelmoez (CMES)
Techno-Islam, Gender, and Saudi Politics in Global Media Discourse
17 March, Research Seminar with Liora Sion (University of Copenhagen)
UN Agencies in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
31 March, Research Seminar with Anders Ackfeldt (CMES)
The Aesthetics, Ethics & Creativity of Swedish Muslim Art Creators
2 May, Book Launch with Pınar Dinç (CMES), İmren Borsuk (Humboldt Universität zu Berlin), Sinem Kavak (Raoul Wallenberg Institute for Human Rights and Humanitarian Law)
Authoritarian Neoliberalism and Resistance in Turkey
12 May, Research Seminar with Oliver Scharbrodt (Lund University)
Creating an Alternative Umma - Clerical Authority and Religio-Political Mobilisation in Transnational Shii Islam
18 May, Public Event with CMES scholars
Open House at CMES
19 May, Roundtable with Oula Kadhum (Lund University), Fouad Marei (Lund University), Stefan Williamson Fa (Lund University), Nada Al-Hudaid (Lund University), Yafa Shanneik (Lund University)
Resistance, Diaspora and Sensory Material Culture - New Insights from Current Research on Transnational Twelver Shiism
6 July, Public Seminar at Almedalen with Cecilia Uddén (Radio Sweden), Isabell Schierenbeck (University of Gothenburg), Robert Rydberg (Ministry of Foreign Affairs), Rouzbeh Parsi (Swedish Institute of International Affairs), Karin Aggestam (CMES)
Demokratispaning i Mellanöstern
6 July, Public Seminar at Almedalen with Charlotta Sparre (Swedish Dialogue Institute for Middle East and North Africa), Emma Sundkvist (Lund University), Joel W. Abdelmoez (CMES), Marie Wikström (Kvinna till kvinna), Karin Aggestam (CMES)
Jämställd fred i Mellanöstern – är det möjligt?
8 September, Research Seminar with Torsten Janson (CMES), Jayne Svenungsson (CMES), Barbara Törnquist-Plewa (CMES) and Mattias Kärrholm (CMES)
Politics of Memory, Space and Religion in Middle Eastern Nationalisms
22 September, Research Seminar with Rami Zalfou (CMES)
Female Labor, Ethnic Inequality, and Sectoral Composition in the Middle East - Evidence from Syrian Census Data
7 October, Book Launch with Dalia Abdelhady (CMES), Ramy Aly (American University in Cairo), Öncel Naldemirci (Umeå University), Ángela Suárez Collado (University of Salamanca), and Pinar Dinc (CMES)
Routledge Handbook on Middle Eastern Diasporas
17 October, Public Panel with Erik Renström (Lund University), Karin Aggestam (CMES), Rola El-Husseini Dean (CMES), Barzoo Eliassi (Linnaeus University), Narges Mosavat (Lund University), Rouzbeh Parsi (Swedish Institute of International Affairs), and Sarah Anne Rennick (CMES)
The Protests in Iran
20 October, Research Seminar with Maria Småberg (CMES)
Transnational Lives and Narratives - Three Scandinavian Women Missionaries and the 1915 Armenian Genocide
3 November, Research Seminar with Kasper Ly Netterstrøm (University of Copenhagen)
The Rise and Fall of Tunisian Democracy
17 November, Research Seminar with Yafa Shanneik (Lund University)
Challenging Global Gender Mainstreaming - Syrian Refugees in Jordan as a Case Study
1 December, Research Seminar with Leysan Storie (Lund University)
The Role of Social Media in Cultural Citizenship - Young Women in the United Arab Emirates
26 January, Research Seminar with Lejla Sunagic (Division of Risk Management and Societal Safety, Lund University)
On Power of Desire in Risk-Taking - A Case Study of Syrians’ Migration to Europe
9 February, Seminar with Svante Lundgren (CTR, Lund University), Hege Markussen (CTR, Lund University), Fanar Haddad (University of Copenhagen) and Karin Aggestam (CMES, Lund University)
Fluid Boundaries and Intertwined Identities – Religious Belonging and Ethnic Identification in the Middle East
[Co-organised with the Centre for Theology and Religious Studies at Lund University]
23 February, Research Seminar with Nada Al-Hudaid (Centre for Theology and Religious Studies, Lund University)
In the “Khidma” Service of Ahl Al-Bayt – Practicing Piety Through Art Among Shia in Kuwait and the UK
13 April, Research Seminar with Annika Björkdahl (Department of Political Science, Lund University)
Heritagization & Conflict Transformation – From Toxic to Curative Heritage of Conflict
20 April, Research Seminar with Ann-Kristin Jonasson (Department of Political Science, University of Gothenburg)
Preventing Extremism and Terrorism in Jordan
4 May, Research Seminar with Joachim Östlundh (Department of History, Lund University)
Scripture and Scholarship – The Swedish Search for Ancient Egypt, 1677–1739
11 May, Research Seminar with Arvin Khoshnood (Department of Human Geography, Lund University)
Prospects for Democracy in Iran – Challenges and Opportunities
25 May, Research Seminar with Stefan Döring (Department of Peace and Conflict Research, Uppsala University)
Drought and Altruism – Insights from Surveys of Refugees from Iraq and Syria
8 June, Research Seminar with Nina Gren (Department of Social Anthropology, Lund University)
Borderization of Palestine
29 June, Public Seminar at Almedalen with Göran Rosenberg (author and journalist), Lisa Strömbom (CMES and Department of Political Science, Lund University), Anders Persson (Linnaeus University) and Karin Aggestam (CMES and Department of Political Science, Lund University)
The End of Liberal Democracy in Israel?
29 June, Public Seminar at Almedalen with Lina Eklund (CMES and Dept. of Physical Geography and Ecosystem Science, Lund University), Pinar Dinc (CMES and Dept. of Political Science, Lund University), Sara Brogaard (CMES and LU Centre for Sustainability Studies, Lund University), Stefan Döring (Uppsala University) and Karin Aggestam (CMES and Department of Political Science, Lund University)
What Are the Climate Challenges in the Middle East?

Convenors
Karin Aggestam
Karin [dot] aggestam [at] svet [dot] lu [dot] se (Karin[dot]aggestam[at]svet[dot]lu[dot]se)
Ronny Berndtsson
Ronny [dot] Berndtsson [at] tvrl [dot] lth [dot] se (Ronny[dot]Berndtsson[at]tvrl[dot]lth[dot]se)