[LCM Events] FW: Democratizing the Middle East?

[Loai Naamani]

January 12, 2006

 

Dear Colleague:

 

We are pleased to extend an invitation to you to attend a conference
entitled Democratizing the Middle East? which will be held at Tufts
University on January 26 and 27, 2006. As you know, this topic is important
to an American understanding of the Middle East.  The conference would also
help students, faculty, and policy makers put into perspective current U.S.
policies that aim to promote "freedom" and "democracy" in the Middle East.
This conference is being sponsored by the Fares Center for Eastern
Mediterranean Studies at Tufts, with the co-sponsorship of the Fletcher
School, the Provost's Office, the University College of Citizenship and
Public Service, as well as the Kevorkian Center at New York University, the
Kayyami Foundation, the Islamic Legal Studies Program at Harvard Law School,
and the Boston Forum on the Middle East.

The program (see end of message for details) for the conference will begin
in the afternoon on Thursday, January 26, and will include conference
sessions on January 26 and 27. I hope very much that you will be able to
accept this invitation to attend the conference. I speak for everyone at
Tufts when I say that we would be delighted and honored by your presence.

If you are interested in registering for the conference, please contact the
Tufts University Conference Center by Fax at 617-627-3856, or by telephone
617-627-3568, or e-mail to conferences at Tufts.edu.

Sincerely,
Leila Fawaz
Issam M. Professor of Lebanese and Eastern Mediterranean Studies
Founding Director, Fares Center for Eastern Mediterranean Studies

  _____  

 

This conference seeks to make a significant contribution to an American
understanding of the Middle East. The conference also aims at helping
students, faculty, and policymakers put into perspective current U.S.
policies that aim to promote "freedom" and "democracy" in the Middle East. 

Democratizing the Middle East?

January 26-27, 2006

Tufts University
Medford/Somerville, Massachusetts

 A Conference Sponsored by
The Fares Center for Eastern Mediterranean Studies, Tufts University

Cosponsored by
The Fletcher School, Tufts University
Office of the Provost, Tufts University
University College of Citizenship and Public Service, Tufts University
The Fares Foundation
Islamic Legal Studies Program, Harvard Law School
Hagop Kevorkian Center for Near Eastern Studies, New York University
The Khayyami Foundation
The Boston Forum on the Middle East


CONFERENCE SCHEDULE

Thursday, January 26

2:30 p.m.                      Registration
Cabot Intercultural Center

3:00 - 3:15 p.m.           Welcome         
Jamshed Bharucha, Provost, Senior Vice President, and Professor of
Psychology, Tufts University

Fares I. Fares, Trustee, Tufts University; Executive Committee Member, Fares
Center for Eastern Mediterranean Studies, Tufts University; and Chairman of
the Board, Wedge Alternatives Ltd.

Leila Fawaz, Founding Director, Fares Center for Eastern Mediterranean
Studies, and Issam M. Fares Professor of Lebanese and Eastern Mediterranean
Studies, Tufts University

3:15 - 4:45 p.m.    Keynote Address
Historical Precedents for Middle East Democracy
Speaker: Rashid Khalidi, Edward Said Professor of Arab Studies, and
Director, Middle East Institute, School of International and Public Affairs,
Columbia University 
Chair: Stephen W. Bosworth, Dean, The Fletcher School, Tufts University

4:45 - 6:30 p.m.    Constitutions and the Law
Session I        
Speakers:
David Kretzmer, Visiting Professor of International Law, The Fletcher
School, and Visiting Scholar, Fares Center for Eastern Mediterranean
Studies, Tufts University 
Bruce Rutherford, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Colgate
University
Said Arjomand, Distinguished Service Professor, Department of Sociology,
State University of New York-Stony Brook
Chair: Frank E. Vogel, Director, Islamic Legal Studies Program, and The
Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Adjunct Professor of Islamic Legal
Studies, Harvard Law School 
 
6:30 p.m.        Reception
Cabot Intercultural Center

Friday, January 27

8:30 a.m.        Refreshments and registration            Cabot
Intercultural Center

9:00 - 10:45 a.m.    Elections and Civil Society     
Session II        
Speakers:
Augustus Richard Norton, Professor of International Relations and
Anthropology, Boston University
Eva Bellin, Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, Hunter
College
Mustapha Al-Sayyed, Charles Evan Hughes Professor of Jurisprudence,
Department of Political Science, Colgate University
Taoufik Bakkali, Middle East Partnership Initiative Coordinator, U.S. Agency
for International Development, Morocco
Chair: Malik Mufti, Associate Professor of Political Science, Tufts
University

10:45 - 11:00 a.m.    Break

11:00 a.m.-12:45 p.m. Religion and Democracy
Session III        
Speakers:
Vali R. Nasr, Professor of Middle East and South Asia Politics, Department
of National Security Affairs, Naval Postgraduate School
Ayman Abdel Nour, Editor, All4Syria, and political analyst
Mark Tessler, Samuel J. Eldersveld Collegiate Professor of Political
Science, Vice Provost for International Affairs, and Director, the
International Institute, University of Michigan
Discussant: The Honorable Barbara Bodine, Senior Fellow and Director, Middle
East Governance Initiative, Belfer Center for Science and International
Affairs, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University
Chair: Farhad Kazemi, Professor of Politics and Middle Eastern Studies, and
Director, Hagop Kevorkian Center for Near Eastern Studies, New York
University

1:00 - 2:00 p.m.    Break

2:15 - 4:00 p.m.    Women and Democracy
Session IV        
Speakers:
Jenny White, Associate Professor of Anthropology, Boston University
Andrea Rugh, Adjunct Scholar, Public Policy Center, Middle East Institute
Mahnaz Afkhami, President, Women's Learning Partnership for Rights,
Development and Peace
Discussant: Diane Singerman, Associate Professor, Department of Government,
School of Public Affairs, American University
Chair: Jeswald W. Salacuse, Henry J. Braker Professor of Commercial Law, The
Fletcher School, Tufts University

4:15 - 6:00 p.m.    American Interests and Middle East Democracy
Session V        
Speakers:
F. Gregory Gause, III, Associate Professor of Political Science, and
Director, Middle East Studies Program, University of Vermont 
Shibley Telhami, Anwar Sadat Professor for Peace and Development, University
of Maryland (College Park)
 The Honorable William A. Rugh, Associate, Institute for the Study of
Diplomacy, Georgetown University
Discussant: Stephen W. Van Evera, Professor of Political Science,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Chair: Ali Banuazizi, Professor of Psychology, and Co-director, Middle
Eastern and Islamic Studies Program, Boston College

6:00 - 7:00 p.m.    Concluding Remarks
Speakers: 
Larry Diamond, Senior Fellow, Hoover Institute, Stanford University, and
Codirector, International Forum for Democratic Studies, National Endowment
for Democracy
Rami G. Khouri, Editor-at-large, The Daily Star, Beirut
Chair: Stephen Bosworth, Dean, The Fletcher School, Tufts     University

7:00 - 7:10 p.m.    Closing Remarks
Leila Fawaz, Founding Director, Fares Center for Eastern Mediterranean
Studies, and Issam M. Fares Professor of Lebanese and Eastern Mediterranean
Studies, Tufts University 

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