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New edition of Aula Árabe Universitaria

The annual series of conferences organized with the cooperation of university programs in Madrid and Cordoba will begin on September 27, 2021.

For this third edition, Aula Árabe Universitaria 3 (AAU3) has continued to grow and is once again being held in person, though in a hybrid format. It will feature 18 conferences organized with the cooperation of undergraduate and graduate university programs (Masters degree and PhD programs) in the Autonomous Region of Madrid (UAH, UAM, UCM, Nebrija University, UC3M, Saint Louis University’s Madrid Campus and the URJC) and Cordoba (Loyola University and University of Cordoba) throughout the academic year of 2021-22.

The conferences will deal with a wide range of subjects involving the Arab and Islamic world, from ancient history to the modern day, including topics and speakers selected by the associated university programs in accordance with their curricular needs and interests.

This year, 25 university programs are taking part (22 from Madrid and 3 from Cordoba), with 9 from the UCM, 7 from the UAM, 2 from the UC3M and UCO, and one each from the UAH, URJC, Saint Louis University’s Madrid Campus, Nebrija University and Loyola de Andalucía. Of these, 15 are MA programs, 9 are bachelor’s degree programs and 1 is a PhD program.

Aula Árabe Universitaria (AAU) is an inter-university cooperation program organized by Casa Árabe in collaboration with the universities of Madrid and Cordoba. It consists of an annual series of conferences designed for students based on proposals made for speakers and topics by the associated university programs in accordance with their curricular needs and interests. The conferences are held at Casa Árabe’s facilities, normally at the usual time for evening lectures (6:00 p.m.), and as such they are open to the general public, with simultaneous translation when necessary.

Their purpose is to promote knowledge about the Arab and Islamic world, as well as complementing and enriching the training provided in the various associated university programs, fostering dialogue between disciplines, and offering students, professors and researchers of these programmes the chance to make contact with important international speakers and experts in different fields and subjects related to the Arab world.

Students who have attended over 50% of the conferences (9) will be awarded with an Aula Árabe Universitaria certificate. In order to receive the certiticate, they must subscribe to Casa Árabe's newsletter, indicating "Aula Árabe Universitaria" as the subject of interest. In this way, they will receive timely announcements and updates on the different AAU conferences. 

Attendance will be registered through the "Passport to the Arab World", a personalised document which will be stamped at the entrance to each conference and which can be collected at Casa Árabe's headquarters in Madrid. Those students who follow the lectures online will have to register their attendance through the chat on Casa Árabe's YouTube channel, from where they are broadcast.

The hybrid format has made it possible to extend the twinning with IEMed's Aula Mediterrània, which began last year. Students from both programmes can attend the respective lectures online, which will also count for certification purposes, in addition to those that are organised jointly, thanks to the exchange of speakers between the two programmes.


New edition of Aula Árabe Universitaria
  • Reimagining the Arabs: literature and social contracts 

    September 27, 20216:00 p.m.
    MADRID
    Casa Árabe Auditorium (at Calle Alcalá, 62) 6:00 p.m. In order to attend this event in person, you must sign up in advance.
    Register using this form
    In English, with simultaneous translation into Spanish.
    On Monday, September 27, Casa Árabe is bringing back its program Aula Árabe Universitaria, in a third edition planned for the academic year of 2021/22. This will also be the official opening session of the UAM’s Master’s Degree program in Contemporary Arab and Islamic Studies. The event will be held in a hybrid format, with one of the speakers participating remotely.
    Trapped amid tradition and post-modernity, contemporary Arab identity has been misinterpreted and misrepresented. The political landscape of all societies has undergone profound change in recent decades, and the Middle East and North Africa region has not been spared from the world’s transformations either. Despite the promise of events in 2011, the momentum for progress in governance and freedom has broken down violently, and political stagnation has been revived. The elusive nature of globalization, coupled with the unstructured environment of political life, has arguably given way to “liquid times” (Zygmunt Bauman), exacerbated by an emerging “age of anger” (Pankaj Mishra). As a result, many are crying out for a rethinking of the concepts and cognitive frameworks used to narrate the individual human experience and humankind’s joint history.
     
    How can Arab societies re-imagine themselves and take ownership of their histories? Novelist Fadia Faqir explored the limits of patriarchy and the voices of women writers, while Amro Ali has been reflecting on karama (dignity) and the social contract in his latest essay. Casa Árabe, with the cooperation of the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung Foundation and the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (UAM), is organizing this round table discussion, which at the same time will serve as the official opening session of this new edition of Aula Árabe Universitaria (third edition) and the Master’s degree program in Arab and Islamic Studies at the UAM. Taking part will be Nieves Paradela, a professor of Arab Studies at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid; Thomas Volk, director of the regional program “Dialogue with the Southern Mediterranean” of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, and Karim Hauser, Casa Árabe’s International Relations Coordinator.  
     
    Fadia Faqir authored Nisanit, Pillar of Salt, My Name is Salma / The Cry of the Dove and Willow Trees Don’t Weep. Her work has been translated into fifteen languages and published in 19 countries. The foreword to her fourth novel, At the Midnight Kitchen, was published in Weber Studies, and won its fiction award in 2009. Her short story “Under the Cypress Tree” was shortlisted for the Bridport Prize in 2010. She was the director of the Master’s degree program in Gender Studies - Arab World at Durham University’s Centre for Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies until 2004. Her academic writings focus on gender, democracy and Islam, as well as violence against women. She is a writing fellow at Durham University’s St Aidan’s College, where she teaches creative writing. She is also one of the founders of The Banipal Visiting Writer Fellowship, initiator of the Alta’ir Exchange between Durham and Jordan, and a trustee of the Durham Palestine Educational Trust.

    Amro Ali is a researcher with the Forum transregionale Studien (EUME) and the Berlin Graduate School of Muslim Cultures and Societies at the Free University of Berlin, as well as a member of the Young Arab-German Academy of Sciences and Humanities. Prior to that, he was an Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow at the American University in Cairo (AUC), an Associate of the Sydney Democracy Network, and a Visiting Fellow at the Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung (Berlin Center for Social Sciences, WZB). He holds a PhD from the University of Sydney, an MA in Middle Eastern and Central Asian Studies and an MA in Diplomacy from the Australian National University. His fields of research include Arab public spheres, Mediterranean Studies, contemporary Alexandria, intellectual history, cities, citizenship, exile, technological modernity, sociological philosophy and political philosophy, with a focus on Hannah Arendt, Václav Havel and Byung-Chul Han.

  • Geopolitics and Climate Diplomacy in the Mediterranean Region: From Climate Conflict to Cooperation

    October 05, 20216:00 p.m.
    MADRID / ONLINE
    Casa Árabe Auditorium (at Calle Alcalá, 62) and Casa Árabe’s YouTube channel. 6:00 p.m. Prior registration required.
    In English with simultaneous translation into Spanish.
    Second conference of the Aula Árabe Universitaria 3 program, by Jürgen Scheffran, Professor of Geography at the University of Hamburg. It will be on Tuesday, October 5 in our Auditorium in Madrid and on Youtube.
    The Mediterranean region, connecting South Europe, North Africa and Western Asia, is a complex crisis landscape and hotspot of geopolitical conflicts which can spillover into neighbouring regions. Increasingly, the region is exposed to climate change which is a multiplier of risks, interwoven with the region’s geopolitical dimensions, including natural disasters, water and food shortages, energy transformation, human migration, conflict and cooperation. Climate risks are expected to diminish human livelihood security for a growing population and interact with other pre-existing challenges to regional stability. Cooperation across the Mediterranean is difficult, given the wide disparities and divisions of the area. There is growing concern and awareness of climate-related common security challenges, to be addressed in climate diplomacy initiatives and activities, for instance water and energy partnerships, networks for information exchange and regional governance.
    These issues will be addressed at the conference "Geopolitics and the climate diplomacy in the Mediterranean region: from conflict to cooperation," to be given by Jürgen Scheffran, a professor of Geography at the University of Hamburg and Chairman of the Climate Change and Security Research Group (CLISEC) at that university.

    Casa Árabe has organized this second conference in the Aula Árabe Universitaria 3 (AAU3) program with the cooperation of the Master’s degree program “EU and the Mediterranean: Historical, Cultural, Political, Economic and Social Basis,” taught at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM).
    The meeting will be introduced and moderated by Olivia Orozco, Casa Árabe’s Training and Economic Coordinator, and Ruth Ferrero Turrión, a professor of Political Science at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM).

    Students who attend the conference online will be able to register their attendance through Casa Árabe’s YouTube channel chat. By doing so, they can earn their Aula Árabe certificate, which requires them to attend at least half of the conferences in the series. Students who wish to attend in person must register by following this link.

    Jürgen Scheffran is Professor of Geography at University of Hamburg and chair of the Research Group Climate Change and Security in the Center for Earth System Research and Sustainability and the Climate Excellence Cluster CLICCS. After his PhD in physics, he worked in interdisciplinary research groups in environmental science and peace and conflict research at the universities of Marburg, Darmstadt, Paris and Illinois, as well as the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research. In addition to networking activities, he was involved in projects for the United Nations, the Office of Technology Assessment and in the expert commission on  forced migration of the German government. Main research interests are: Climate security, environmental migration and resource conflicts; water-food-energy nexus and urban-rural relations; sustainability, complex systems and models; technology assessment, arms control and international security.

    Master’s degree program on the “EU and the Mediterranean: Historical, Cultural, Political, Economic and Social Basis” (UCM)
    This program is the result of a process of integration among academic networks dealing with European and Mediterranean issues. Its objective is to train professionals with a specific outlook who are able to promote integration between Europe, and the southern and eastern Mediterranean. Its highest priority lines of work are: furthering European construction and the operation of its institutions, developing legal and economic infrastructures, development cooperation, European socioeconomic culture, EU policies and, above all else, its Euro-Mediterranean outreach.

    Aula Árabe Universitaria
    Aula Árabe is a yearly inter-university program organized by Casa Árabe with the cooperation of the universities in the Autonomous Region of Madrid. Its purpose is to promote knowledge about the Arab world and complement the education provided in university programs from a multidisciplinary perspective, offering students contact with relevant speakers and experts in the international arena in various disciplines related with the Arab world. The program mission is also to promote inter-university cooperation. Each university program is assigned a lecture in the conference series, which is open to students of the other associated programs, and to the general public, as well. Those students who have attended over half of the conferences are awarded with an Aula Árabe Universitaria certificate. Attendance is taken both in the event room when the activity is held in person, and through the online platform chat when the event is held in a virtual format.

  • Readings of the Qur’an in Latin Europe (twelfth-sixteenth centuries)

    Readings of the Qur’an in Latin Europe (twelfth-sixteenth centuries)

    October 27, 20216:00 p.m.
    MADRID
    Casa Árabe Auditorium (at Calle Alcalá, 62) 6:00 p.m. Free entry until the event’s capacity is reached. Mask use is required at all times.

    In Spanish.
    Third conference in the Aula Árabe Universitaria program, given by historian John Tolan, from the University of Nantes. It will be taking place on Wednesday, October 27 at our auditorium in Madrid and on our YouTube channel.
    In 1143, Robert de Ketton was given a request by Abbot Peter de Cluny to complete the first translation of the Qur’an into the Latin. This translation, which exists in the form of 24 manuscripts, was one of the main ways in which European readers gained access to the Muslim holy book. Many of those who read it, including Pedro de Cluny himself, did so in order to refute it, because in their mind it was the foundational text for a heretical creed. However, many read the Qur’an for other reasons, which were not always hostile.

    In 1543, four centuries after Robert completed his translation, Theodor Bibliander published it in Basel, along with a collection of other texts about Islam and a preface by Martin Luther. For the Protestant writers Bibliander and Luther, the Qur’an may have been a useful tool in the fight against the Catholic Church, a way to demonstrate that, as Luther claimed, “the Pope’s devil is bigger than the Turks’.” Catholic writers quickly developed counterarguments, combing through the Qur’an to find similarities between its “heresies” and those unfurled by Luther or Calvin. The Latin Qur’an, as we shall see, already formed part of Europe’s intellectual and cultural experience in the twelfth to sixteenth centuries, and the interests and uses given to it by European readers were complex and varied.

    Casa Árabe has organized this conference on “Readings of the Qur’an in Latin Europe (twelfth-sixteenth centuries)” to be given by John Tolan, a professor of History at the University of Nantes and a member of Barcelona’s Royal Academy of Sciences and Arts and Academia Europæa, with the cooperation of the bachelor’s degree program in History and the Master’s degree program on “The Medieval Iberian World: Hispania, Al-Andalus and Sefarad” at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (UAM). Moderating the session will be Santiago Palacios Ontalva, a professor of Medieval History from that university. The event will be presented by Olivia Orozco, Casa Árabe’s Training and Economics Coordinator

    Throughout the conference, Prof. Tolan will also be presenting The European Qur’an: The Latin Qur’an, 1143–1500: Translation, Transition, Interpretation (De Gruyter, 2021), a collective work which he has published along with Cándida Ferrero Hernández (Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona). It will be coming out on the upcoming date of October 25, as a result of the project “EuQu: The European Qur’an” (2019-2025), coordinated with Mercedes García-Arenal (CSIC), Roberto Tottoli (University of Naples, L’Orientale) and Jan Loop (University of Kent).  

    John Tolan is a professor of History at the University of Nantes and a member of Academia Europæa. He has a PhD in History from the University of Chicago, a Master’s degree in History from the same university and graduate studies at the École des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales of Paris (HDR), as well as a bachelor’s degree in Classical Languages from Yale University. He has received various awards and distinctions, including two fellowships from the European Research Council (ERC) and the Diane Potier-Boès Award bestowed by the Académie Française. He has authored several books and articles, including: Los Sarracenos: el islam en el imaginario europeo en la Edad Media (The Saracens: Islam in the European imaginary in the Middle Ages, 2007), Sons of Ishmael: Muslims through European Eyes in the Middle Ages (2008), Saint Francis and the Sultan: The Curious History of a Christian-Muslim Encounter (2009) and Faces of Muhammad: Western Perceptions of the Prophet of Islam from the Middle Ages to Today (2019: translated into the Spanish by Rafael Peinado as “Mahoma el Europeo: Percepciones occidentales del Profeta del Islam desde la Edad Media a nuestro días”, to be published in 2022 by the University of Extremadura’s Publishing House).

    Bachelor’s Degree in History (UAM)
    The bachelor’s degree in History aims to educate individuals with a high level of cultural knowledge, possessing a wide range of skills, who can analyze and interpret the social realities of the past and present, remaining open to other cultures.
    Further information by following this link.

    Master’s degree program on “The Medieval Iberian World: Hispania, Al-Andalus and Sefarad”
    The University Master’s degree program on “The Medieval Iberian World: Hispania, Al-Andalus and Sefarad” is an innovative offering promoted by the University of Malaga and the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, with the goal of attempting to provide more in-depth knowledge and teach further research methods on the medieval Iberian world.
    Further information here.

    EuQu: The European Qur’an
    Further information on the ERC Synergy project  “EuQu: The European Qur’an”
     
  • Ethnographies of Charity: Muslim men and women volunteering in Portugal
    Photo: Raquel Carvalheira, Lisbon, 2018.

    Ethnographies of Charity: Muslim men and women volunteering in Portugal

    November 04, 20216:00 p.m.
    MADRID / ONLINE
    Casa Árabe Auditorium (at Calle Alcalá, 62) and Casa Árabe’s YouTube channel. 6:00 p.m. Free entrance until the event’s capacity is reached. Mask use is required at all times.
    In Spanish.
    On Thursday, November 4, Casa Árabe’s headquarters in Madrid will be hosting the fourth session in the Aula Árabe Universitaria series, to be be given by anthropologist Raquel Carvalheira (CRIA - NOVA FCSH). The event can be watched live on our YouTube channel.
    The conference will provide reflection on the importance of analyzing the engagement of Muslim people in social and civic spheres within European contexts not restricted to their status as members of the Muslim community or their religious identity.

    Through an ethnographic example, that of a civil association run by a Muslim woman in Portugal, we will attempt to understand giving and volunteering as acts which help build a multi-faceted sense of belonging. Islamic tradition is invoked in relation with the duties of citizenship using a mainly emotional sort of language. Charity is thus seen as a discursive act through which Muslim and non-Muslim volunteers justify joint activities, forcing us to question approaches which prioritize collective action by Muslims in public representations of their religious identity.

    Casa Árabe has organized this conference on “Ethnographies of Charity: Muslim men and women volunteering in Portugal,” given by Raquel Carvalheira, a professor of Anthropology at the Universidad Nova de Lisboa, with the cooperation of the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (UAM) bachelor’s degree program in Anthropology. The event will be moderated by Ángeles Ramírez Fernández, coordinator of that degree program and the director of the Department of Social Anthropology and Philosophical Thought (UAM). Presented by: Olivia Orozco, Casa Árabe’s Training and Economics Coordinator

    Raquel Carvalheira is an anthropologist and researcher at the Universidade Nova de Lisboa’s Center for Research in Anthropology (CRIA - NOVA FCSH). Her work has focused on Arab and Muslim realities, which have been essential to her academic career, initially in Mauritania and Morocco, and more recently in Portugal. Her thought on these subjects is motivated by gender relations, family, collective action and charity. She is currently a post-doctoral fellow in a research project on Islam in Portugal, as well as a researcher at the Center for Research in Anthropology (CRIA), and a visiting professor at the Universidade Nova de Lisboa’s Department of Anthropology. Her publications in Spanish include “La diáspora marroquí en Portugal” (“The Moroccan Diaspora in Portugal”), in Rajae El Khamsi and Joan Lacomba (coord.), “La diáspora marroquí y sus aportes a los países de recepción” (“The Moroccan Diaspora and Its Contributions to Receiving Countries, 2021) and, in English, “Changing Family Strategies in Contemporary Morocco: Women’s stories, persistent ideologies and matrimonial strategies,” Ethnologia Europæ, (2016). As a result of her PhD research, she published the book “Marrocos no Feminino: Conjugalidade e Familia” (Morocco in the Feminine: Conjugal life and family) in 2020. She is one of the directors of the collective documentary “Um Ramadão em Lisboa” (“Ramadan in Lisbon,” 2019, 66 minutes).

    Degree in Social and Cultural Anthropology (UAM)
    The degree analyzes human diversity offering an “anthropological view” that seeks to originate new practices and interact with society. She approaches the most recent research on current high-social impact topics: international migration, inter-ethnic relations, development and cooperation, gender, health, audiovisuals, poverty and social exclusion.

    Further information about the bachelor’s degree program by following this link
  • Oil development strategies in the Arab world: the case of Algeria

    November 17, 202111:30 a.m.
    MADRID/ONLINE
    Casa Árabe Auditorium (at Calle Alcalá, 62) and Casa Árabe’s YouTube channel. 11:30 a.m. Free entry until the event’s capacity is reached. Mask use is required at all times.
    In Spanish.
    Sixth conference in the Aula Árabe Universitaria program, given by Aurelia Mañé, a professor of Economic Policy from the University of Barcelona. It will be held on November 17 at the Casa Árabe headquarters in Madrid, and on YouTube.
    The conference given by Aurelia Mañé, a professor of Economic Policy at the University of Barcelona (UB), attempts to explain what the development model of the so-called oil economies consisted of, while at the same time reflecting upon the context in which the New World Order came about in the 1970s.

    More specifically, after a brief historical overview of the world economic situation in the early 1970s, the main characteristics of the oil economies will be analyzed, then entering into debate over the reasons for their failure in terms of economic development. Part of this explanation will be illustrated by explaining the case of Algeria, a very important role-player in this initiative.

    Casa Árabe has organized this sixth conference in the Aula Árabe Universitaria 3 (AAU3) series, with the cooperation of the Master’s degree program in International Economics and Development at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM). The conference will be introduced by Juan M. Ramírez-Cendrero, a professor of Development Economics at that university. Olivia Orozco, Casa Árabe’s Training and Economics Coordinator, will moderate the talk.

    Aurelia Mañé Estrada 
    An associate professor at the University of Barcelona (UB) School of Economics and Business and an honorary researcher at the University of East Anglia School of History in the United Kingdom. She is a member of the Geopolitics and Energy Security Department at the Real Instituto Elcano, as well as a member of several university research groups. In the year of 2008, she created the Central Asia Observatory, and in addition to heading that project, she collaborated with Casa Asia on energy issues. She holds a PhD and a bachelor’s degree in Economics and Business Administration from the University of Barcelona and a Master’s degree in International Studies from the same university. Much of her research has revolved around the study of issues related to energy resources, focusing her work on the regions of Central Asia and Algeria. Among her latest publications are “El gran negocio mundial de la energía” (“The Big World Energy Business,” 2016), “Energy Interdependence: The Linkage of the Political Economy of Algeria’s Natural Gas With that of the Western Mediterranean Region, a Methodological Approach” with Roger Albinyana in the journal Revista UNISCI (2018), and she co-authored “Argelia en transición hacia una segunda república” (“Algeria in Transition Towards a Second Republic,” Icaria, 2019) with Laurence Thieux and Miguel Hernando de Larramendi.

    Master’s degree in International Economics and Development (UCM)
    The world economy has yet again become increasingly decisive in understanding an important part of today’s phenomena and troubles. Great international inequalities, the influence of transnational companies, volatility in financial markets, the changing role of some countries on the world stage, the challenges in development and the environment are some of the issues leading us to reach significant conclusions about various societies. All of this justifies the need to study and understand the many aspects and facets of the world economy. The educational process comprising the Master’s degree provides: solid theoretical and methodological foundations for economic analysis, the ability to design and develop research and other studies and specialized knowledge on central aspects in the different fields of world economics and development.
  • State, oil and war in the formation of Iraq

    November 18, 20216:00 p.m.
    MADRID / ONLINE
    Casa Árabe Auditorium in Madrid (at Calle Alcalá, 62) and Casa Árabe's Youtube channel 6:00 p.m. Free entrance until the event’s capacity is reached. Mask use is required at all times.
    In English with simultaneous translation into Spanish.
    Taking place on November 18 at the Casa Árabe headquarters in Madrid is the seventh conference in the Aula Árabe Universitaria program, given by Professor Nida Alahmad (University of Edinburgh).
    Over the past few decades, three themes—the state, oil, and war—have shaped both Iraqi politics and Iraqi studies. These themes emerge from Iraq’s modern history and its representation in academia. Academic work on Iraq witnessed a number of shifts that can be traced to two interrelated factors: access to primary source material, and the political context of the time.

    This lecture will show how the state, oil, and war are interrelated themes rather than definitively bound categories that determine certain effects on Iraq’s political economy. They are markers in historical processes that, since the late nineteenth century, involved the formation of social relations often organized by conceptual categories such as class, sect, nation, and gender. These social relations have constantly informed and constituted one another within particular material and historical contexts. 

    Casa Árabe has organized this conference on “State, oil and war in the formation of Iraq,” given by Nida Alahmad, a professor of Middle East Politics and International Relations at the University of Edinburgh, with the cooperation of the bachelor’s degree program in International Relations at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM) and the bachelor’s degree program in Philosophy, Politics and Economics at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (UAM). The event will be presented by Isaías Barreñada, a professor and the coordinator of the UCM bachelor’s degree program in International Relations. The event will be moderated by Olivia Orozco, Casa Árabe’s Training and Economics Coordinator.

    Nida Alahmad
    Nida Alahmad is a professor of Middle East Politics and International Relations at the University of Edinburgh. Prior to joining this university, she was a Marie Sklodowska-Curie Fellow at Ghent University, a post-doctoral researcher at Georgetown University and a visiting researcher and associate at the European University Institute. She earned her PhD from the New School for Social Research (New York). Some of her most notable recent publications include the chapter titled State, Oil, and War in the Formation of Iraq, in A Critical Political Economy of the Middle East and North Africa, edited by Joel Beinin, Bassam Haddad and Sherene Seikaly (Stanford University Press, 2020). She is currently working on finalizing her book manuscript State Matters: The State, its significance, its matters, and its experts in the case of Iraq.

    Bachelor’s degree in International Relations (UCM)
    Research on the role-players, events and processes occurring within international society became detached from other social sciences after the end of World War I. For decades, the development of International Relations that took place in Western countries had no correspondence in Spain due to the isolationism that dominated Spanish foreign policy, the country’s incomplete economic development and the little scientific and cultural openness that characterized the Franco era. However, the establishment of democracy first and the membership in the European Community later achieved Spain’s full participation in an international stage that underwent an intense process of globalization. The bachelor’s degree in International Relations attempts to provide a structured, multidisciplinary and comprehensive higher education to the international specialists increasingly and urgently needed by Spanish society and the rest of Europe.

    Bachelor’s degree program in Philosophy, Politics and Economics (UAM)
    This degree program promotes interdisciplinary thinking, viewed not as a series of isolated contents from a wide range of disciplines, but rather as the fostering of an atmosphere for authentic discussion, dialogue and integration of theoretical and empirical approaches which are necessarily complementary for both students and teachers. It provides a view of the social sciences from different perspectives, equipping students with the tools they need to analyze an increasingly global, complex and connected world. It is an inter-university degree with joint instruction by the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, the Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona, the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid and the Universidad Pompeu Fabra.
  • Being a journalist in the Middle East
    Photo: Hispan TV

    Being a journalist in the Middle East

    November 25, 20216:00 p.m.
    MADRID
    Casa Árabe Auditorium (at Calle Alcalá, 62) and Casa Árabe’s YouTube channel. 6:00 p.m. Free entry until the event’s capacity is reached. Mask use is required during the entire event and throughout all our facilities.
    In Spanish.
    On the upcoming date of Thursday, November 25, Casa Árabe will be hosting the eighth conference in its Aula Árabe Universitaria program, to be given by Adrián Mac Liman. The conference will be held at our headquarters in Madrid and shown live on YouTube.
    Casa Árabe has organized this eighth session in the event series Aula Árabe Universitaria 3, to be given by Adrián Mac Liman, an international political analyst, writer and journalist, with the cooperation of the University Master’s degree program in International Journalism at the Universidad Rey Juan Carlos (URJC). Introducing the event will be Irene Lozano, general director of Casa Árabe, and it will be moderated by  Amal Abuwarda Pérez, a professor in that Master’s degree program.

    In his presentation, Mac Liman will offer an overview of his extensive experiences covering the Middle East, beginning with the earliest meetings between Arab and Palestinian professionals at the United Nations in the 1970s, then continuing with the invasion of Cyprus in 1974, the fall of Iran’s Shah in 1979, the death of Sadat in 1981, the war in Lebanon in 1982, his work as a correspondent in Jerusalem, the first Intifada, etc., as well as his many encounters with political leaders and significant role-players in the region, including Yasser Arafat, Osama Bin Laden and Butros-Ghali. He will focus in on the way in which the journalist perceives events, as a party concerned with deciphering the language and mindset of others in order to reflect and translate their thoughts.

    Adrián Mac Liman is an international political analyst, writer and journalist with long-standing experience in the Middle East. A journalist from a very young age, he has worked for international media such as ANSA (Italy), AMEX (Mexico) and Gráfica (USA), and was the first correspondent for the newspaper El País, in the United States (USA). A regular contributor to the Madrid evening publication “Informaciones” and the magazine Cambio 16, he was a war correspondent in Cyprus (1974), witnessed the fall of the Shah of Iran (1978) and worked as a special envoy for the newspaper La Vanguardia during the invasion of Lebanon by Israeli troops in 1982. He lived in Jerusalem from 1987 to 1989 as a correspondent for the weekly publication “El Independiente.” After participating in preparations for the Euro-Mediterranean Conference of Barcelona (1995), he joined the Mediterranean Studies Group at the Sorbonne University in Paris as an expert advisor. From 1999 to 2001, he was an analyst and commentator on international politics for the newspaper Diario 16. At present, he contributes to the newspaper La Razón, the digital publications Canarias Ahora, the weekly La Clave and the Centro de Colaboraciones Solidarias (CCS) at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid, which provides its weekly service to more than 800 Spanish-language publications. As an analyst, he participates in programs broadcast by the news network Canal 24 Horas (TVE), as well as news programs on Intereconomía TV, Radio Intereconomía and TV3 (Televisió de Catalunya). He has authored several books on the Middle East, including: Via Dolorosa: Palestina en el tercer milenio (Via Dolorosa: Palestine in the third millennium, Flor del Viento, 1999), Palestina: el volcán (Palestine: The volcano, Popular, 2001), El caos que viene: enemigo sin rostro, guerra sin nombre (The Chaos to Come: A faceless enemy, a nameless war, Popular, 2002), Turquía – un país entre dos mundos (Turkey: A country straddling two worlds), with Sara Núñez de Prado (Flor del Viento, 2004), and Breve historia de Turquía (Brief History of Turkey, Catarata, 2019).

    Master’s degree in International Journalism at the Universidad Rey Juan Carlos
    The purpose of the Master’s degree program in International Journalism is to meet the demand for new professional experts in International Journalism, who are educated to fit into a professional environment of content creation in the field of multimedia and online international relations. It deals with cross-cutting issues that the science of International Relations has studied somewhat late but in a detailed way from the vantage point of journalism: the field of international cultural relations, from the perspective of cultural diversity and interculturalism, and the commitment to human rights. It highlights the need for specialized training to meet the demand for new professionals in this sector, above all in innovative arenas such as Human Rights Journalism, International Solutions Journalism, International Data Journalism and Global Journalism.
  • The contribution of sociolinguistics to the Arabic language

    December 17, 20211:00 p.m.
    MADRID/ONLINE
    Casa Árabe Auditorium (at Calle Alcalá, 62) and Casa Árabe's Youtube channel. 1:00 p.m. Free entry until full capacity is reached. Masks are required at all times.
    In Arabic, with simultaneous translation into Spanish.
    Reem Bassiouney, a writer and professor at the American University of Cairo, will give the ninth lecture in the Aula Árabe Universitaria programme. On 17 December, at 1:00 p.m. in Madrid, and on our YouTube channel. 
    Casa Árabe is organizing this ninth session in the series Aula Árabe Universitaria 3, to be given by Reem Bassiouney, a writer and professor at the American University of Cairo, in collaboration with the Master’s Degree in Intercultural Communication, Translation and Interpreting in Public Services given at the University of Alcalá de Henares. Introducing the event will be Mohana Sultan, a professor and the Arabic coordinator of the Master’s program. Moderating the session is Olivia Orozco, Casa Árabe’s Training and Economics Coordinator.

    The conference will analyze the impact of sociolinguistics on study of the Arabic language, focusing on the relationship between bilingualism, ideology and language policy in the political history of the Arab countries.

    In her discussion, Reem Bassiouney will start by explaining the emergence of sociolinguistics as a relatively modern science, as well as the reasons for and context of this emergence, so as to address some of the research methods and theories that have had an effect on this science over the years. Her talk will revolve around two important themes: on the one hand, bilingualism and, on the other, code-switching, exploring the theories which explain these two aspects with examples from the Arab world in particular.

    After this, she will address the topic of Arabic dialects and their relationship both with classical Arabic (al-fusha) and with each other, to discuss an important core area of sociolinguistics with examples: language politics and its relationship with the political history of countries in the Arab world. Last of all, she will analyze the relationship between ideologies and the implications of languages and dialects in the Arab world by discussing examples and theories.

    The conference will bring the international gathering to a close “Teaching the Arabic language in Spain and Europe,” organized by the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (UAM), Casa Árabe and CIHAR, with the cooperation of the Diplomatic Mission of the Arab League in Madrid, on the dates of December 16 and 17 at the UAM and Casa Árabe, to mark the celebration of 2021 as the International Year of the Arabic Language, and World Arabic Language Day on December 18.

    Reem Bassiouney
    A writer, novelist and expert on sociolinguistics, Reem Bassiouney is the director of the American University of Cairo’s Department of Applied Linguistics and the editor of the Routledge series of studies on language and identity. She earned her PhD in Arabic Linguistics from Oxford University, where she also completed an MA on the subject. She has taught Arabic Language and Linguistics at universities in the United Kingdom and the United States, including Cambridge, Oxford and Utah. She has had many articles published on topics in Arabic Linguistics, including code-switching, language and gender, leveling, register, Arabic and advertising, linguistics and literature, and language policy in the Arab world. Her academic works include: Functions of Code-switching in Egypt (Brill, 2006), Arabic Sociolinguistics (Edinburgh University Press, 2009) and Language and Identity in Modern Egypt (Edinburgh University Press, 2014) and as an editor: Arabic and the Media (Brill, 2013). Several of her novels have won international awards, including the King Fahd Translation Award of 2009 for her novel “The Pistachio Seller” (2007), the 2010 Sawiris Prize for best novel, for “Dr. Hanaa” (2008) and the 2019-2020 Naguib Mahfouz Prize for best Egyptian novel, for “The Mamluk Trilogy” (2018).

    Master’s Degree in Intercultural Communication, Translation and Interpreting in Public Services, University of Alcalá de Henares. 
    Unique in Spain within its field of specialization, the Master’s degree focuses on translation and interpreting in public services from an intercultural and interlinguistic perspective, and is taught by specialty areas, in different language combinations. On the basis of specialized teaching methods which combine traditional classroom teaching with new technologies and online learning, the program’s main goal is to educate future professionals in the field, preparing them to act as linguistic and cultural liaisons between the staff of medical, governmental, educational and other institutions, and their users who do not speak Spanish well or at all. It forms part of the European Master’s in Translation (EMT), a network of Master’s programs acknowledged by the European Union’s Directorate General for Translation.
  • Arab countries in the Horn of Africa

    February 01, 20226:00 p.m.
    ONLINE
    Casa Árabe’s YouTube channel. 6:00 p.m.
    Spanish
    Tenth lecture in the Aula Árabe Universitaria series, given by Elizabeth Dickinson (ICG) and Josep María Royo (Escola de Cultura de Pau, UAB). On February 1, it will be held live on our YouTube channel.
    Casa Árabe is organizing this conference on Arab countries’ relations in the Horn of Africa and the developments involving conflicts in that region, with the cooperation of the Master’s degree program in International Relations and Arab Studies at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. Elizabeth Dickinson, a senior analyst at the International Crisis Group (ICG) and Josep María Royo, a researcher at the Conflict and Peacebuilding Program of the Escola de Cultura de Pau (UAB), will also be taking part. Itziar Ruiz-Giménez Arrieta, coordinator of the UAM’s Master’s program, will be giving her initial reaction to their presentations, and Karim Hauser, Casa Árabe’s International Relations Coordinator, will be introducing and moderating the event.

    It cannot be denied that the countries on the Arabian Peninsula have been moving increasingly closer to those on the Horn of Africa in terms of trade, security, strategy and politics. But what lies at the roots of these relationships, and how is the Gulf influencing the rise of conflicts in the Horn of Africa? Most of all, what underlying interests are at play? Elizabeth Dickinson will be discussing these topics, on the basis of a report which she drafted for the International Crisis Group, and then Josep Maria Royo will analyze how the new situation arising from the peace process between Eritrea and Ethiopia in 2018 appeared to drive momentum towards peace in the Horn of Africa, though not without risks and fragility, linked also to their Gulf region neighbors. Three years later, the conflict in Ethiopia’s Tigray region is once again raising issues about the crucial role of Arab countries and whether it helps build peace or, quite the opposite, increases instability.

    Elizabeth Dickinson has been a senior analyst for Colombia at the International Crisis Group (ICG) since 2019, where her work has focused on monitoring conflict dynamics and peace agreement implementation. Prior to that, she worked for ICG in the Middle East as a senior analyst for the Arabian Peninsula, where she lived for eight years, focusing on the six Gulf Cooperation Council countries. Her research revolved around the Gulf countries’ foreign policies in the Middle East and Horn of Africa. Before joining this organization, she was a journalist for ten years, working for media like Foreign Policy, The National and The Economist. She earned her bachelor’s degree in African and International Studies at Yale University. Follow her on twitter: @dickinsonbeth

    Josep María Royo Aspa has been a researcher at the Conflict and Peacebuilding Program of the UAB’s Escola de Cultura de Pau since the year 2000, as well as being coordinator of the graduate course on the Culture of Peace at the same school. He has co-authored Alerta!: Report on Conflict, Human Rights and Peacebuilding since it was created in 2002. He completed a Master’s degree in International Relations and European Integration, a course of graduate study (DEA) on International Relations and International Public Law, and a degree in Political Science at the Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona.He teaches inside and outside of universities about armed conflicts and peace building in Sub-Saharan Africa. He is a researcher and member of the UAM’s African Studies Group. You can follow him on twitter: @josepmroyo

    Master’s degree in International Relations and African Studies (UAM) The only graduate study program in all of Spain that combines studies on the international arena and Africa at the same time. It is staffed by some of the finest specialists in both fields of study, from both the African Studies Group (GEA) and the International Studies Group (GERI) at the UAM and other universities (UCM, U LLeida, UAB, Univ. Nova de Lisboa, Univ. of Edinburgh, Univ. Pompeu Fabra, Univ. Miquel Hernández, International Human Rights Institute of Strasbourg, Univ. of the Basque Country, etc.), as well as offering two different specialty fields, one with outside internships at more than 25 prestigious institutions, the most highly acknowledged in the “third sector,” and another for initiation into research and preparation for the PhD program.

    The purpose of the Master’s degree program is to provide students with a broad understanding of international and transnational phenomena, the role played by states, international organizations and non-state actors (social movements, armed groups, the media), regional integration processes, the global security and peace-building agenda, development cooperation, human rights, migratory movements, and so on. This training is combined with an in-depth approach to the knowledge of the political, economic, social, cultural and gender realities of Sub-Saharan Africa, and many global and transnational dynamics that influence them.

    Further information on the Master’s degree program
  • Political Islam in crisis?: Lessons from the post-revolutionary Arab world

    From February 09, 2022 until February 10, 2022
    MADRID/CÓRDOBA
    Casa Árabe’s headquarters: Cordoba, at Calle Samuel de los Santos Gener, 9. / Madrid, at Calle Alcalá 62. In Cordoba on February 9 at 7:00 p.m. In Madrid on February 10 at 6:00 p.m. Free entry until the room’s capacity is reached.
    From February 9, 2022 to February 10, 2022 In Cordoba on February 9 at 7:00 p.m. In Madrid on February 10 at 6:00 p.m.
    Stéphane Lacroix, an associate professor of Political Science at Sciences Po and a researcher at its Centre de Recherches Internationales (CERI), is giving this conference as part of the Aula Árabe Universitaria series. It will be held on February 9 and 10, in Cordoba and Madrid, respectively.
    When the Arab revolutions broke out in 2010-2011, political Islam seemed as if it were on the verge of becoming the dominant political force in the Arab region. The Muslim Brotherhood, considered the strongest political opposition in most Arab countries, did very well in the region’s first democratic elections, rising to power in both Egypt and Tunisia. In 2011, the Justice and Development Party won a simple majority in Morocco’s parliamentary elections. However, one decade later, the Islamists face not only internal crisis of an unprecedented magnitude, but also massive repression by the region’s authoritarian states, which have regained power. How can this twist of fate be explained? And what does this say about political Islam’s future?

    This event, the eleventh conference in our event series Aula Árabe Universitaria, will be taking place at Casa Árabe’s headquarters in Cordoba on February 9 at 7:00 p.m. It has been organized with the cooperation of Loyola University’s bachelor’s degree program in International Relations in Cordoba. The event will be presented by Javier Rosón, Casa Árabe’s coordinator in Cordoba, with the participation of María Ángeles Alaminos Hervás, a professor in International Relations at Loyola University. 

    In Madrid, the conference will be held on February 10 at 6:00 p.m. It has been organized with the cooperation of MA EUROSUD - South European Studiesat the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. The conference in Madrid will be presented by Karim Hauser, Casa Árabe’s International Relations Coordinator, with the participation of Waleed Saleh, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. It will be broadcast live on Casa Árabe’s YouTube channel.

    Stéphane Lacroix is an associate professor of Political Science at Sciences Po, and a researcher at its Centre de Recherches Internationales (CERI). His work revolves around religion and politics, with a focus on the Gulf and Egypt. He has authored “Awakening Islam: The Politics of Religious Dissent in Contemporary Saudi Arabia” (Harvard University Press, 2011), “Saudi Arabia in Transition: Insights on Social, Political, Economic and Religious Change” (Cambridge University Press, 2015, with Bernard Haykel and Thomas Hegghammer), “Egypt’s Revolutions: Politics, Religion, Social Movements” (Palgrave Macmillan, 2016, with Bernard Rougier), and “Revisiting the Arab Uprisings: The Politics of a Revolutionary Moment” (Oxford University Press, 2018, with Jean-Pierre Filiu).


    EUROSUD is an International “Erasmus Mundus” Master’s degree program on Southern European Studies, instructed with the view that Southern Europe is a region with its own identity, distinct historical trajectory and independent presence in the world. The program provides a unique opportunity to take part in multidisciplinary study of the region with six partners for two years, and to earn a joint Master’s degree or a double Master’s degree, depending on the combination of three partners awarding the degree. It is acknowledged by the European Commission as an Erasmus Mundus Joint Master’s Degree (EMJMD).

    The program is taught over two years and includes three periods of study abroad. During the first semester, in Glasgow, an overall view of the subject matter is explored. In the second semester, when students may choose between Athens or Madrid, they follow a geographical itinerary that places the region in its wider neighboring context, including a research course and online training. At the end of the second semester, a summer school course is held in Lisbon with thesis/project workshops, along with meetings by the supervisory teams. Semesters 3 and 4 take place with one of the partners other than that which hosted the student in the second semester (Athens, Madrid, Aix-en-Provence or Rome). There they choose from four thematic pathways throughout the research track or, alternatively, they may follow a professional track that includes internships in Madrid or Aix-en-Provence. The courses are complemented with conferences and study trips to important related institutions. Language courses in the main Southern European languages are available with each study abroad partner over the two years of the program.

    Further information at the UAM: UAM - School of Law 
    Official EUROSUD website: Home - EUROSUD - South European Studies

    Bachelor’s Degree in International Relations (Loyola University of Cordoba).
    The bachelor’s degree was designed with the goal of educating students so that they can understand the world from an interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary approach, thus contributing effective global solutions for future challenges. The curriculum is focused on training professional experts in Social Sciences, with a deeply humanistic viewpoint and the tools necessary to deal with current and future challenges in security, communication and international law.

    The purpose for the bachelor’s degree in International Relations is to educate students on how to interpret the most important contemporary events and develop solid plans which contribute to building a better world. Three specializations are offered: International Law and Diplomacy, International Economics and Business, and Foreign Policy and Security, all of which are oriented towards the international arena. The goal is for International Relations graduates to promote understanding and peace among peoples, as well as understanding and explaining the world.


  • The niqab ban in the Netherlands: What does this have to do with security?

    February 17, 20226:00 p.m.
    MADRID
    Casa Árabe Auditorium (at Calle Alcalá, 62). 6:00 p.m. Free entry until the auditorium’s capacity is reached.
    In English, with simultaneous translation into Spanish.
    As part of Aula Árabe Universitaria, the anthropologist and professor emeritus of Contemporary Muslim Societies with the University of Amsterdam’s Department of Anthropology, Annelies Moors, will be giving this conference. It is taking place in Madrid on February 17 and will be shown live on our YouTube channel in Spanish and in English.
    The Netherlands’ ban on face coverings is a clear example of the gender-based racial profiling of Muslims in Europe. To justify the ban, politicians pointed to the face veil as a form of gender oppression, security threat and barrier to integration, thus blurring the lines between ethical stances, and affective and aesthetic sensitivities. Quite to the contrary, the versions told by women who cover their faces, largely ignored, emphasized the positive religious value of the veil as a symbol of faith, pointing out that the ban constitutes a violation of their freedom of religion, expression and movement by the state.

    At this conference, the result of a collaborative effort by Casa Árabe and the Master’s degree in Advanced Studies on Islam in Contemporary European Society at the UCM, Annelies Moors will be exploring how “security” has come to the forefront of public debate, impacting the everyday experiences of veiled women, while also pointing to the more mainstream trend referred to as the “securitization” of Muslims. The event will be presented by Laura Mijares, a professor at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid’s Department of Linguistics and Oriental Studies, and will include an initial reaction by Johanna Lems, a Margarita Salas post-doctoral researcher at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid. The event will be moderated by Karim Hauser, Casa Árabe’s International Relations Coordinator.

    Annelies Moors is an anthropologist and professor emeritus of Contemporary Muslim Societies with the University of Amsterdam’s Department of Anthropology. She has completed extensive field work on the Middle East (Palestine and Yemen) and Europe (The Netherlands), as well as having had many articles published about Muslim family law and everyday life, Islamic fashion and anti-fashion, the use of facial veils, the use of gold and migrant domestic workers, as well as on Muslim marriages and ethics in research and ethnography. Her main theoretical interests at present revolve around gender-based racial profiling, ethnography under surveillance, the materiality and corporeality of Islam in Europe, and the politics of private relationships in Palestine.

    Master’s degree in Advanced Studies on Islam in Contemporary European Society (UCM) 
    The main purpose of this Master’s degree program is to analyze the different social, political, economic, legal, religious and other factors affecting contemporary Islam as a minority religion in the European Union. Though based on the close relationship between migration and the formation and consolidation of Muslim minorities, studying these minorities also means taking into account all of the potential peculiarities in a local European form of Islam. It is an inter-school and interdepartmental Master’s degree with an mainly multidisciplinary approach which attempts to offer a specialized, in-depth education on European Islam from the vantage points of Sociology, Anthropology, Psychology, the history of thought, and the field of Arab and Islamic Studies.
  • Prejudice, stereotypes and communication in intercultural mediation

    February 21, 2022
    On Monday, February 21, in Madrid and on our YouTube channel, this conference will be given by Ana Ruth Vidal Luengo, a professor of Arabic Language and Culture at the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (ULPGC), as part of our event series Aula Árabe Universitaria.
    When intercultural communication occurs, biases and stereotypes rooted within the social environment inevitably arise, thus conditioning how effective communication can be, while also hindering the creation of the “third space,” or intercultural contact. This conference will address the presence of prejudices, stereotypes and reciprocal imaginaries, above all in communication with people from Arab and Islamic cultures, which is usually made even more difficult as a result of inflexible, overly generalized images. Different strategies will also be explored to debunk biased views of “other cultures,” which take the form of Anti-Arab sentiment or Islamophobia, but also “Maurophilia” and idealization, which can short-circuit intercultural encounters. This presentation by Ana Ruth Vidal Luengo will be completed with thoughts on intercultural mediation skills and abilities.

    The event, held with the cooperation of the bachelor’s degree program in Modern Languages at the Universidad Nebrija, will include the participation of Leticia Quesada Vázquez, director of the bachelor’s degree program in Modern Languages at the Universidad Nebrija, and Karim Hauser, Casa Árabe’s International Relations Coordinator.

    Ana Ruth Vidal Luengo is a professor of Arabic language and culture at the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (ULPGC), where she pursues research on peace and conflict regulation in the Arab and Islamic world. She is a collaborating member of the Institute of Peace and Conflicts of the University of

    Granada and belongs to the Institute of Textual Analysis and Applications (IATEXT), and to the University Development Cooperation Group on “Education for Development” (GEDE-ULPGC). For more than ten years, she has taught different subjects in the Master’s degree program in Spanish and Its Culture, in relation with intercultural mediation and learning Spanish as a second language, especially to native Arabic speakers. She is currently coordinating an AECID project with UNHCR Spain for the prevention of xenophobia and racism, and social inclusiveness for refugees at the ULPGC.

    Bachelor’s degree in Modern Languages at the Universidad Nebrija. This bachelor’s degree program is an alternative to the curriculum found in the many Philology degree programs at Spanish universities. It is based on learning three foreign languages at different levels. Language A is English for non-native students and Spanish for non-native Spanish speakers, who must achieve a level similar to that of a native speaker. In Language B, a complementary language to be chosen from among German, French or Spanish as a foreign language, students must reach an advanced level. Language C is selected from among German, French or Chinese, and an instrumental level must be achieved.

    The multidisciplinary approach in a multilingual education enables students to become intercultural and linguistic mediators in the business world, education, cultural institutions and international organizations.

  • Skin in the Game: Being a local Middle Eastern woman journalist
    Photo: Zaina Erhaim

    Skin in the Game: Being a local Middle Eastern woman journalist

    March 14, 20226:00 p.m.
    MADRID / ONLINE
    Casa Árabe Auditorium (at Calle Alcalá, 62). 6:00 p.m. Free entry until the room’s capacity is reached.
    In English, with simultaneous translation into Spanish.
    On Monday, March 14, we will be hosting a new session of the Aula Árabe Universitaria program at Casa Árabe’s headquarters, to be given by Syrian journalist Zaina Erhaim. The activity, which forms part of Casa Árabe’s Women’s Week, can be watched live on YouTube (in Spanish and in English).
    Being a freelance journalist in the Middle East and North Africa is a dangerous job,especially when considering the degree of impunity that exists in the region. But being a woman adds several layers of difficulty and many challenges more, including sexism, gender stereotyping and sexual harassment.

    Female journalists who report on their communities’ issues to the international media cannot escape these challenges or the domestic discrimination they face at home; they must also deal with the post-colonial bias shown by their colleagues and the Western media. Through the experience of Syrian journalist Zeina Erhaim, the issues that hinder the careers and lifelong growth of women journalists in the MENA region will be addressed.

    The event has been organized with the cooperation of the Dual Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and Humanities at the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid and forms part of the program Aula Árabe Universitaria, as well as the activities forming part of Women’s Week at Casa Árabe. Presented by Leila Nachawati, a professor of Communication at the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. The event will be moderated by Karim Hauser, Casa Árabe’s International Relations Coordinator.

    Zaina Erhaim is an award-winning Syrian journalist who works as a communications and gender expert with some international organizations in the Middle East and North Africa region. She contributed to three books about journalism and women, including Our Women on the Ground. She worked with the IWPR (Institute for War & Peace Reporting ) as a communications manager for eight years. Prior to that, she was a journalist for the BBC. She writes for different media outlets, such as Newslines Magazines, Open Democracy and Al Modon, as well as others. Erhaim holds a Master’s degree in International Journalism from the City University of London.

    The Dual Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and Humanities educates professionals who perform the task of providing information on the basis of knowledge about different types of languages and ways of telling a story through journalism in any media, while able to understand world events from their own critical viewpoint.

    Combining the Degrees in Journalism and Humanities makes it easier for them to understand the constant transformation of our social environment while providing a comprehensive foundation for dealing with the challenges of the future using sound, accurate principles. This university degree allows students to decipher historical and contemporary events using the insight provided by an interdisciplinary humanistic approach in such fields as culture, communication, international studies, human resources and humanitarian policy.

    These pioneering studies in Spain include all of the contents normally taught separately in each of the two majors. At the end of the dual degree program, students are awarded two degrees, one in Journalism and the other in Humanities, and as a result they are granted all of the professional benefits which the two degrees entail.
  • Algeria’s Hirak movement of 2019 and its coverage in the French media

    March 24, 20226:00 p.m.
    MADRID / ONLINE
    Casa Árabe Auditorium (at Calle Alcalá, 62). 6:00 p.m. Free entry until the event’s capacity is reached. Masks are required at all times.
    In French, with simultaneous translation into Spanish.
    As part of our Aula Árabe Universitaria event series, French-Algerian writer and journalist Akram Belkaïd will be giving this conference on March 24.
    In February 2019, Algerians took to the streets to say “no” to President Abdelaziz Bouteflika’s fifth term in office. That moment marked the beginning of a widespread movement. In the Western media, and particularly France’s, it was portrayed as a surprising event. Algerians were regarded as a resigned people, and suddenly they were seen demonstrating peacefully in droves. For several weeks, there was a wide range of reactions in the French media coverage, expressing a mixture of astonishment, sensationalism, sympathy, obsession with the Islamist issue and then, little by little, a lack of interest. Belkaïd’s conference will review the main causes behind the Hirak movement and then describe this media coverage and the ways in which the Algerian diaspora in France, as well as Algerians in Algeria, “covered” this movement, along with their reaction to the bias in French media.

    This conference will be held with the cooperation of the University Master’s Degree in International Politics: Sector and Area Studies, given by the Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM). Felipe Sahagún, Professor of International Relations at the Complutense University of Madrid, and Karim Hauser, Casa Árabe's International Relations Coordinator, will take part in the event.

    Akram Belkaïd (Algiers, 1964) is a French-Algerian journalist and writer. Based in France since 1995, after living in Algeria, he is now deputy editor-in-chief of Le Monde Diplomatique. A specialist in news from the Arab world, he also writes for the OrientXXI.info website. He was also a columnist for the Quotidien d’Oran from April 2005 through December 2021. Prior to that, he as a journalist and then assistant director at the economic newspaper La Tribune Desfossés in Paris (1995-2008), as well as contributing to many publications like Time Magazine, Télérama, Info Matin, La Nation (Algeria) and Jeudi d’Algérie. In addition to news from the Arab world, he also tracks developments in oil markets and international economic issues. He has written several books on Algeria, the Maghreb region and the Arab world in general. These include L’Algérie en 100 questions, un pays empêché (Tallandier, 2020) and Pleine Lune sur Bagdad (ErickBonnier, 2017).

    Master’s Degree in International Politics: Sector and Area Studies.
    Based on a scientific and academic orientation, this Master’s degree provides students with the knowledge they need to deal with international issues. Moreover, it educates students about diplomatic relations between states; political election processes; consultation on security and defense issues; the foreign policy of states, as well as foreign action by the European Union; analysis of international communication; cooperation through international organizations; and research in international conflict resolution.
    Further information
  • Post-Petroleum Museum and soft power, between crisis and “second life”: From the Iraqi National Museum of Baghdad to the Louvre Abu Dhabi
    Foto: Joanne Farchakh-Bajjaly, National Museum of Iraq, Baghdad: the looted museum, 2003. Copyright JFB

    Post-Petroleum Museum and soft power, between crisis and “second life”: From the Iraqi National Museum of Baghdad to the Louvre Abu Dhabi

    March 28, 20226:00 p.m.
    MADRID / ONLINE
    Casa Árabe Auditorium (at Calle Alcalá, 62). 6:00 p.m. Free entry until the auditorium's capacity is reached. Mask use is required at all times.
    In English, with simultaneous interpretation into Spanish.
    On Monday 28 March, the sixteenth conference of the Aula Árabe Universitaria programme will take place in Madrid, given by the art curator Morad Montazami. The session will also be available on Casa Árabe's Youtube channel in Spanish and English.
    After the invasion of Iraq by the United States and its allies, the National Museum of Iraq was looted in 2003. In the ensuing chaos, over fifteen thousand items were stolen from Baghdad's collections of ancient artefacts, not even counting pieces pilfered from archaeological sites in the vicinity. 16 years after the theft, more than half the loot has since been tracked down, recovered and returned to the museum's collection, where the items can now be viewed by the Iraqi public. The first photographs of the damage show Iraq's pre-Islamic cosmopolitan heritage (Sumerian, Assyrian, Babylonian etc.) reduced to dust and ashes. In enlightening contrast, the “digitized” version of Mesopotamia and pre-Islamic arts at the Louvre Abu Dhabi represents a reenacting mirror of that archaeological heritage.  

    Crossing the looks of archaeologists, 3D engineers, as well as the customs agents who contributed in recovering the objects, how can we account for soft power museums and nomadic collections in this critical context ? 

    The curator, editor and art historian Morad Montazami will be giving this conference, organised by Casa Árabe in collaboration with the Degree in History of Art and the Master's Degree in History of Spanish Art, UCM. Presented by Susana Calvo, lecturer in History of Art at the university. Moderated by Nuria Medina, Casa Árabe's Cultural Programmes Coordinator. 

    Morad Montazami is an art historian, a publisher and a curator. As director of the platform Zamân Books & Curating, he is committed to transnational studies of Arab, Asian and African modernities. He published several essays on artists such as Zineb Sedira, Walid Raad, Latif al-Ani, Bahman Mohassess, Michael Rakowitz, Éric Baudelaire... He was a curator for Bagdad Mon Amour, Institut des cultures d’Islam, Paris, 2018; New Waves: Mohamed Melehi and the Casablanca Art School, The Mosaic Rooms, London; MACAAL, Marrakech; Alserkal Foundation, Dubai, 2019-2020; Monaco-Alexandria. The Great Detour. World-Capitals and Cosmopolitan Surrealism, Nouveau Musée National de Monaco, 2022.

    UCM Bachelor’s degree in Art History
    The goal of the Bachelor’s degree in Art History at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid is to perform well-reasoned, critical study to evaluate artistic production throughout history, taking into consideration the circumstances of creation (in terms of material, technical, formal and meaning-related aspects), conservation, management and dissemination of art works. It is characterized by careful use of methodologies, sources (documentary, graphic and bibliographic) and terminology within the discipline. In order to properly contextualize historical and artistic phenomena, the curriculum includes basic training in both general and specific historical subjects (history of literature, history of thought, history of aesthetic ideas and, where appropriate, history of music). Although it provides students with a broad education focused on the artistic production of Western tradition, it does not neglect other civilizations (the Near East, India, East Asia or pre-Hispanic America).
    Further information: UCM Bachelor’s degree in Art History

    UCM Master’s degree in Spanish Art History
    The objectives of the Master’s Degree in Spanish Art History at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid including providing specialized knowledge about the evolution and development of artistic processes, with the support of cutting-edge publications on the history of Spanish art, as well as the use of methodologies specific to this field; improving the ability to gather, interpret and assess relevant data about works and phenomena of an artistic/historical nature in order to make reasoned and reflective judgments about artistic production and its management; and transmitting information, ideas, problems and solutions related with Hispanic art production from the Middle Ages to the present day, addressing both specialist and non-specialist audiences, either through oral and written forms of expression or by using basic computer or visual procedures. Those students who have completed the Master’s degree in Advanced Spanish Art History Studies will therefore possess a specialized background with reasoned, critical knowledge for evaluating Spanish artistic production, properly understood in its relationship with the diverse evolution of individuals and societies from the Middle Ages to the present day.
    Further information: University Master’s Degree Program in Advanced Spanish Art History Studies (ucm.es)  
  • Quo vadis, Lebanon?

    April 05, 20226:00 p.m.
    MADRID / ONLINE
    Casa Árabe Auditorium (at Calle Alcalá, 62) and Casa Árabe’s YouTube channel. 6:00 p.m. Free entry until the room’s capacity is reached.
    In English, with simultaneous translation into Spanish.
    Next Tuesday, April 5, this conference will be held at Casa Árabe’s headquarters in Madrid and on our YouTube channel (in Spanish and English). It will be given by Karim Bitar, a researcher at the Institut de Relations Internationales et Stratégiques and is taking part within the framework of the Aula Árabe Universitaria program.
    Going from bad to worse, Lebanon has been plunged into one crisis after another since 2020: from the financial sector, due to major depreciation by the Lebanese pound and hyperinflation, to the weakened humanitarian aid sector. Added to the ravages of the COVID-19 pandemic was the devastating explosion in the port of Beirut, which killed 250 people and wiped out important port infrastructures. With the current war in Ukraine, the wheat imports on which the Lebanese depend to survive will most likely lead to a rise in hunger rates. Over half of the country has fallen below the poverty line, and 20% live in extreme poverty.

    The parliamentary elections to be held on May 15, 2022 are viewed as anopportunity to respond to the year 2019 protests, which demanded an end to ruleby the political elites who have run the country since the end of the civil war andsunk it into the current state of crisis. Despite the people’s protests, however, thereligious party-based regime has resisted yielding power and continues its fight toremain in place. Observers warn of high levels of corruption and manipulation in an atmosphere of chaos and illegitimacy, exacerbated by international pressures not to postpone the election. Within this context, the likelihood of a post-election debacle resulting in major difficulties is very high.

    This session of Aula Árabe Universitaria is being held with the cooperation of the Master’s degree program in Political Science and Public Affairs at Saint Louis University’s Madrid campus. The event will be presented by Barah Mikaïl, director of the Political Science and International Relations program at Saint Louis University, and moderated by Karim Hauser, Casa Árabe’s International Relations Coordinator.

    Karim Bitar is a researcher at the Institut de Relations Internationales et Stratégiques (IRIS) in Paris and editor of the French monthly magazine L’ENA hors les murs. He is an associate member of the Geneva Center for Security Policy (GCSP) and an associate researcher at the Institut Medea in Brussels. He is a professor of International Relations and History of Political Thought at several universities. He also frequently testifies before the Foreign Affairs Committees of the French and European Parliaments. He has authored various chapters and articles in Le Monde diplomatique, Libération, Le Monde, Informed Comment, Atlantico, La Vanguardia, An Nahar, L’Orient-Le Jour, etc., as well as editing and co-writing the collective book Regards sur la France, in which 30 personages from around the world analyze France’s strengths and weaknesses.

    The Saint Louis University - Madrid Campus Master’s degree in Political Science and Public Affairs specializes in international relations and crises with the aim of familiarizing students with the most essential theoretical, political and social factors in global governance over insecurity and the emergence, management and consequences of crises today. Its academic curriculum includes learning about International Relations theory, the European Union and contemporary global challenges, in addition to other subjects. It also offers various elective courses, including American politics, environmental politics and policy making, along with international political economics in times of crisis and other courses.
    Further information
  • Monuments and Flowers: Animated shorts by Arab Women
    Imagen: Lara Baladi

    Monuments and Flowers: Animated shorts by Arab Women

    April 27, 20227:00 p.m.
    CORDOBA
    Casa Árabe Auditorium (at Calle Samuel de los Santos Gener, 9). 7:00 p.m. Free entry until the auditorium’s capacity is reached.
    In English, with simultaneous translation into Spanish.
    Film screening and talk with Regine Basha, organized as part of the Aula Árabe Universitaria program. The event will be taking place in Cordoba on April 27. 
    Casa Árabe has organized this session in the event series Aula Árabe Universitaria 3, to be given by Regine Basha with the cooperation of the bachelor’s degree program in Film and Culture and the Master’s Degree in Filmmaking given at the University of Cordoba. Participating in the session will be Rafael Blanco Guzmán and Natividad Serena Rivera, a graduate in Film and Culture. The session will be moderated by Rosario Carrasco, Casa Árabe’s responsible for Seminars and Tribunes (Logistics) in Córdoba.

    Monuments and Flowers presents a selection of video art works by great women from the contemporary Arab world, including Yto Barrada, Lara Baladi, Marianne Fahmy, Malak Helmy, Maha Maamoun and Setareh Shahbazi. Six visionary looks by filmmakers from the region known as the “Near East,” where the colonialist legacy of destruction, displacement and reconstruction has long formed part of these pychological imagination and narratives of these artists. The film and video works selected here have internalized this constant state of flux, using narratives from both fiction and everyday life while making the hyperreal and surreal merge with one another. Everyday scenes are influenced by a subconscious consisting of wants, fears, alienation and utopian longings that could well be hallucinations about past and future times colliding. Through this highly evocative use of film as a medium and temporality, ranging from Super 8mm found-footage to tinted celluloid and VFX, many of the works veer towards a retro-futuristic look with great attention to detail and local customs, although they are often quite elusive in terms of their timelines.

    Monuments and Flowers is an initiative co-organized by Casa Árabe and ArteEast. It forms part of the conservation project Unpacking the ArteArchive, through which the ArteEast platform has been preserving and programming video art and film for 17 years.

    In addition to the screenings during the film series at Casa Árabe Córdoba (April 27, 7:00 p.m.) and Casa Árabe Madrid (April 28, 7:30 p.m.), at which Regine Basha will be giving a presentation and later colloquium on the program, these pieces can be seen at artearchive.org from April 29 to May 7, 2022.

    Regine Basha
    Regine Basha is a curator, educator and cultural producer who works between Madrid and New York. Her curatorial work and archive of stories, Tuning Baghdad, can be found at bashaprojects.com.She works in Brooklyn and Madrid.

    Bachelor’s degree in Film and Culture at the University of Cordoba
    The bachelor’s degree in Film and Culture at the University of Cordoba is mainly comprised of courses related to the vast realm of Arts and Humanities, under which it is run, though the degree also includes courses related to Social Sciences, Sciences and Engineering. Therefore, contents in History, Art History, Anthropology, Philosophy, Geography, Modern Language, Spanish Language and Literature are combined with other more specific contents from Law, Business Organization and Filmmaking, and all these, in turn, with courses in Electronics and Audiovisual Engineering.

    Master’s degree in Filmmaking at the University of Cordoba
    The Master’s degree program is a graduate course of study which is unique in its class within the Autonomous Region of Andalusia. It seeks to bring together different academic and professional fields which universities and film schools have been working on separately until now in the field of cinema; namely, film creation, the analytical and critical study of film, film heritage and management by film libraries, and the museum as a new space conquered by audiovisual works.

    The goal is to undertake theoretical and practical reflection upon film as a phenomenon and the transformation of its environment, in order to educate future professionals adapted to the demands of a changing world of film production in the filmmaking and audiovisual industry.
Sept. 7, 2021, 6:00 p.m. - AAU3.1 Opening conference
Re-imagining the Arabs: Literature and social contracts   
Fadia Faqir and Amro Ali
With the cooperation of the UAM Master’s degree program in the Master’s Degree in Contemporary Arab and Islamic Studies

October 5, 2021 - AAU3.2
The Geopolitical Impact of Climate Change in the Mediterranean: Conflict and migrations   
Jürgen Scheffran
With the cooperation of the UCM  Master’s degree program on the “European Union and the Mediterranean: Historical, Cultural, Political, Economic and Social Basis”

October 27, 2021, 6:00 p.m. - AAU3.3
Readings of the Qur’an in Latin Europe (twelfth-sixteenth centuries)
John Tolan
With the cooperation of the UAM bachelor’s degree program in History and the UAM Mater's degree program in "Medieval Iberian Word: Hispania, al-Andalus and Sepharad"

November 4, 2021, 6:00 p.m. -  AAU3.4
Ethnographies of Charity: Muslims and Volunteerism in Portugal     
Raquel Carvalheira
With the cooperation of the UAM bachelor’s degree program in Social and Cultural Anthropology

November 10, 2021, 6:00 p.m. - AAU3.5 Postponed
Lebanese cinema. A conversation with...
Nadine Labaki
With the cooperation of the UC3M Master's degree program in Cinema and Television 

November 17, 2021, 11:30 a.m. - AAU3.6
Oil Development Strategies in the Arab World
Aurelia Mañé
With the cooperation of the UCM Master’s degree program in International Economics and Development

November 18, 2021, 6:00 p.m. - AAU3.7
State, Oil and War in the Making of Iraq
Nida Alahmad    
With the cooperation of the UAM bachelor’s degree program in Philosophy, Politics and Economics

November 25, 2021, 6:00 p.m. - AAU3.8
Being a Journalist in the Middle East
Adrián Mac Liman
With the cooperation of the URJC Master’s degree program in International Journalism

December 17, 2021 - AAU3.9
Reem Bassiouney
With the cooperation of the UAH Master’s degree in Intercultural Communication, Translation and Interpreting in Public Services

January 2, 2022 - AAU3.10 
Elizabeth Dickinson
With the cooperation of the UAM Master’s degree in International Relations and African Studies

February 10, 2022 - AAU3.11 
Stéphane Lacroix
With the cooperation of the UAM’s EUROSUD-South European Studies Master’s degree program

February 17, 2022 - AAU3.12 
Annelies Moors
With the cooperation of the Master’s degree in Advanced Studies on Islam in Contemporary European Society

February 21, 2022 - AAU3.13 
Ana Ruth Vidal Luengo
With the cooperation of Universidad Nebrija bachelor’s degree program in Modern Languages and the University of Alcalá de Henares’ Master’s degree in Intercultural Communication, Translation and Interpreting in Public Services

February 28, 2022 - AAU3.14 --POSTPONED
Akram Belkaïd
With the cooperation of the UCM Master’s degree program in International Politics: Sector and Area Studies

March 14, 2022 - AAU3.15 
Zaina Eirhaim
With the cooperation of the UC3M dual bachelor’s degree program in Journalism and Humanities

March 22, 2022 - AAU3.16 
Morad Montazami
With the cooperation of the bachelor’s degree program in Art History and the Master’s degree in Spanish Art, UCM

April 5, 2022 - AAU3.17 
Karim Emile Bitar
With the cooperation of the Saint Louis University-Madrid Campus Master’s degree in Political Science and Public Affairs 

April 29, 2022 - AAU3.18  -- CANCELLED
Murchidat (religious guides for women): women’s Islam in Morocco
Hafsa Ahl Mobarak
With the cooperation of the Master’s degree in Religion Sciences and the PhD program in Religion Sciences, University Institute of Religion Sciences)