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PARC sponsored Dan Walsh, who holds an M.A. in Arab Studies from Georgetown University, to present the Palestine Poster Project Archives (PPPA) in cities across the West Bank during the month of June 2012. Walsh was invited to speak by the Ramallah Municipality and carried on with his presentations of the PPPA at other venues in the region. The PPPA website contains almost 7,000 posters that offer an encyclopedic record of the history of modern Palestine—its culture, heritage, and struggle for sovereignty and opposition to occupation. Walsh also discussed the growth of Palestine posters in the 21st century.
Walsh spoke at the following venues:
This event was supported with funding from the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs through the Council of American Overseas Research Centers. Building on Strengths and Supporting Communities: Utilizing Research and Evaluation in ContextJune 2012 ![]() From June 5 through 7, 2012, PARC and Bethlehem University sponsored a conference entitled "Building on Strengths and Supporting Communities: Utilizing Research and Evaluation in Context." The first two days of the conference focused on building individual faculty and university research and program evaluation infrastructure and included 19 faculty members from five West Bank universities. The program involved training in models of evaluation; skill development in specific tools used for evaluation research such as logic models and SPSS-based analysis and factor analysis; as well as tools of qualitative research. ![]() The third day of the conference was for 18 individuals from NGOs and sought to build on the existing research and program evaluation infrastructure. The program involved an overview of models of evaluation and skill building in the area of logic models. The additional theme of reaching out to and partnering with a university was included. Both groups were given ample opportunities for networking. In addition to the valuable substantive information, many new partnerships were formed among and between the researchers, Palestinian universities, NGOs, and U.S. universities. The U.S. faculty members leading the program will continue to provide support to Palestinian faculty members in implementing their newly acquired skills, as well as nurturing for the new partnerships. The conference was lead by three U.S. faculty members: Elizabeth Beck, Georgia State University; PARC Faculty Development Seminar fellow from 2010 Mahasin Saleh, University of Nevada, Reno; and Soleman Abu-Bader, Howard University. ![]() This event was supported with funding from the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs through the Council of American Overseas Research Centers. Social Media and the OccupationNovember 3, 2011 ![]() At a conference entitled "Social Media and the Occupation," Palestinian and international panelists discussed Israeli authorities' and Palestinian activists' use of social media. The event was hosted by the Media Development Center (MDC) at Birzeit University and the Palestinian and American Research Center (PARC). The event attracted local and international journalists, media and communication professionals, and students. Ramsey George, co-founder of the online blog 7iber.com, commented on the diversity of participants. "This is an interesting lineup for a talk on this topic. We have a professor, someone who kind of sits in the middle, and the true media activist," said George. Duke University professor Rebecca Stein was the keynote speaker. Stein is a two-time PARC fellow who studies the relationship between the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and Israeli popular culture. Her latest project focuses on the interplay between the Israeli military occupation and new media and technologies in the Israeli context -- both the ways such technologies are employed by activists as tools of protest, and how they are used by the Israeli state, both governmental and military bodies, to serve its policies in the Palestinian territories. ![]() Drawing from her current research, Stein noted that social media is often credited as a "digital diplomacy" tool for grassroots activists. She also described, however, the complexity underlying the alleged "digital utopia" paradigm. Stein contended that "what is forgotten is that these technologies are also available to authorities and repressive state forms, and they can be mobilized from the top just as easily as they can be mobilized from the bottom." Stein asserted that while the Israeli authorities are increasingly using social media, the majority of their social media strategies have been improvisational. "I think the state is really trying to remake its image having this social media in mind, but I think the effects have yet to be seen," Stein said. Abdelrahim Abdallah, the coordinator of the Research and Policy Unit, questioned "the dominant narrative of the Arab Spring … that social media moved the masses and brought democracy to the Middle East." George concurred, describing how socio-political mobilization has occurred by other means in the past: "Unions in Egypt have been organizing for 50 years. The popular committees in Palestine have existed for a long time. Social media tools have just helped push their messages into the mainstream media." ![]() In response to these critical perspectives on social media as a catalyst, student panelist Nejla Keyed asserted that social media can work as a tool to overcome the obstacles Palestinians face under the occupation. "Instead of just watching the mainstream news and getting higher blood pressure from the frustration, we now have the possibility to talk to the IDF spokesman through Twitter. We can also reach people from the USA, from Europe.... And we can reach other Palestinian people." Keyad further stated, "Because we have checkpoints that prevent us from meeting on the ground, it's important for us to use social media." Keyad also suggested that in some cases, social media may allow people on the ground to provide more credible information than what is offered by governments. PARC is grateful to the Educational and Cultural Affairs Bureau of the U.S. State Department through CAORC for funding to support PARC fellowships. Ibrahim Abu-Lughod and the Engaged Intellectual: Resurrecting a ModelApril 2011
PARC was one of three organizations joining to cosponsor the Ibrahim Abu-Lughod Institute of International Studies' annual conference entitled "Ibrahim Abu-Lughod and the Engaged Intellectual: Resurrecting a Model." The conference was held on April 12, 2011 to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the passing of Professor Ibrahim Abu-Lughod. The five conference sessions revolved around the personal and professional life of Abu-Lughod, providing an opportunity to reflect on the ways in which his achievements reflect the ideals of an engaged intellectual. Speakers also highlighted Abu-Lughod's contributions toward building Palestinian society during his time at Birzeit University. Students, lecturers, researchers, and prominent intellectuals representing diverse fields attended. In his opening speech, Dr. Khalil Hindi, president of Birzeit University, praised the role of Abu-Lughod in enriching Palestinian academic life and his distinguished contributions at Birzeit University. Dr. Asem Khalil, the director of the Ibrahim Abu-Lughod Institute of International Studies, also paid tribute to the life of Abu-Lughod by describing how he established the Association of Arab-American University Graduates (AAUG) in the United States.
Mecalla Dive Natavar from Princeton University chaired the second session. Lila Abu-Lughod, Columbia University, presented a paper entitled "Forced Entry: My Father's Education into Politics" in which she offered a personal reflection on her father's experiences and shared insight about her father's life that she gathered through interviews with his friends and colleagues. Roger Heacock from Birzeit University presented his paper "Subject or Concept? An Interdependent Dyad." Journalist Alain Gresh, editor of Le Monde Diplomatique, presented a paper entitled "Western Intellectuals Against their Society: In Praise of Fitna." The third session, with Nubar Hovsepian of Chapman University as chair and discussant, focused on Abu-Lughod's later years spent in Palestine. Author Hassan Khader presented his paper entitled "Ibrahim Abu-Lughod in Palestine: Late Cultural Encounters." Abdel Karim Barghouthi of Birzeit University presented a paper entitled "Misery of Enlightened Awareness: The First Palestinian Curriculum." Lourdes Habash, also from Birzeit University, presented a paper entitled "A Refugee Responds by Writing." Rashad Twam, Birzeit University, concluded the session by discussing his paper on the personal library of Abu-Lughod.
In the fourth session, speakers drew comparisons between Abu-Lughod and other intellectuals. Abdul-Rahim Al-Shaikh of Birzeit University presented his paper entitled "Palestinians at the Golden Gate: Abu-Lughod Versus Said." Sameeh Hamoudeh, also from Birzeit University, discussed a paper entitled "Indigenous Intellectuals Confront Hegemony: Ibrahim Abu-Lughod and Ward Churchill." Rasha Tuffaha, an independent researcher, discussed her paper entitled "Fadwa Tuqan: Above the Lines." Khaled Odetallah of Birzeit University presented his paper entitled "Four Theses on the Epistemology of Commitment" at the conclusion of the session. The final session of the conference was dedicated to family and friends of Abu-Lughod. Raed Bader read reflections about Abu-Lughod written by Naseer Aruri, Saed Chedid, Elaine C. Hagopian, Rashid Khalidi, Fouad Mughrabi, Jamal Nassar, and James Zoghbi. Funds from the U.S. Department of Education were used to support PARC's participation in this conference. Current Political Debates in PalestineNovember 16, 2010 ![]() Panelists included four of PARC's 2010 MESA panel presenters:
The session was moderated by GW's Political Science and International Affairs Professor Nathan Brown. PARC gratefully acknowledges the support of George Washington University, the U.S. Department of Education, and the Educational and Cultural Affairs Bureau of the U.S. State Department through CAORC. Palestine: What We KnowFriday, October 16, 2009 ![]() This conference featured a special talk by Rashid Khalidi and a multi-disciplinary survey of the state of scholarship on Palestine. Presenters discussed what we know, what we don’t know, and what obstacles we need to overcome in order to advance the field of Palestinian Studies.
Jerusalem: The History of the Future
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Beshara Doumani, Salim Tamari, Hanna Abu Hanna, Kimberly Katz |
For two days in July, 2008 more than 100 participants attended a conference entitled "Family Papers and Public Archives Conference: Sources for Research on the Social History of Palestine" that was organized by the Institute of Jerusalem Studies (IJS) and Birzeit University. The conference was partially sponsored and funded by PARC, the Palestine Investment Fund, and Heinrich Böll Foundation. PARC board member Beshara Doumani was the keynote speaker and presented a methodological paper on Palestinian family archives. Many PARC fellows and members attended this important conference. Various sessions included: Personal Papers as a Source for Historical Research, Jerusalem Court Records, Archives of the 1948 War, Photography and Visual Culture, and the British Mandate Seen through Family Papers. See the complete agenda.
At the end of the conference Salma Khalidi announced that she is donating her family papers (two hundred years of documents, correspondence and photographs) to IJS. Several participants made similar initial commitments. For instance, Ahmad Murwat, from the Nazareth Archives center, donated a copy of the diaries of the head of the Russian Seminary Emil Kozma from the end of the 19th century.
One important feature of the conference was the announcement of the launch of an IJS archives website. The site will have scans of original diaries, sections of published material from IJS, historical photographs in lower resolution, and other archival material. This website is expected to be a significant source for researchers in Palestine studies.
The conference received good media coverage from Al Jazeera Mubashir (Al Jazeera’s live TV broadcasting), which broadcast the first day of the conference live to some 25 million viewers. Local media coverage included Maan and Palmedia. The IJS website address is http://www.jerusalemquarterly.org.
PARC is grateful for funding from the U.S. Department of Education to support this event.
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