2019 Workshops

 

June Workshop: Abu Dhabi, UAE

“Women and Politics: MENA Experiences”
June 9-14, 2019

The 6th program in APSA’s MENA Workshops series began with a one-week workshop in partnership with New York University-Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. The workshop was led by co-leaders Naima Benlarabi (Ibn Tofail University, Morocco), Rachel Brulé (New York University-Abu Dhabi, UAE), Hanane Darhour (Polydisciplinary Faculty of Ouarzazate, Morocco), Liv Tønnessen (Chr. Michelsen Institute, Norway), and Aili Mari Tripp (University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA). Nineteen PhD students and early-career scholars attended as fellows. This year’s program aims to explore theoretical and empirical scholarship on politics and gender within the MENA region. Attendees reviewed the recent literature and discussed current research across three areas of analysis. This first theme examines women’s representation in legislatures, local government, the executive, and the judiciary as related to factors such as such gender quotas, decentralization, and institutional change. A second theme looks at legal reform, Islamic jurisprudence, and gender equality as related to women’s rights reforms and women’s economic empowerment. The third theme looks at women’s movements and political change as related to policy outcomes, public opinion, international influences, and domestic coalition building. More broadly, the June workshop included sessions on getting published, pursuing research grants, and other professional development topics. Fellows also discussed their own research on the various political and socio-economic changes related to Women and Politics in the MENA region. See the Reading List.pdf and Schedule.pdf for more information.

Workshop fellows, co-leaders, and guest speakers during the October 2019 program

2019 Fellows

• Ms. Sara Abbas – Freie Universitat-Berlin, Germany
• Ms. Hala Abdelgawad – University of Sussex, UK
• Ms. Meriem Aissa – Rutgers University, USA
• Ms. Nourah Alharbi – Emory University, USA
• Mr. Badr Al-Saif – Kuwait University, Kuwait
• Ms. Marsin Alshamary – Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA
• Mr. Ilyass Bouzghaia – Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah University; Morocco
• Ms. Yasmin Chilmeran – Monash University, Australia
• Ms. Amina Drhimeur – Hassan II University, Morocco
• Ms. Hind Fellak – Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah University; Morocco
• Ms. Amel Hammami – University of Sousse, Tunisia
• Ms. Dina Hosni – Goethe Frankfurt University, Germany
• Ms. Sara Jeffar – Ibn Tofail University; Morocco
• Ms. Djaouida Lassel – Aix en Provence, France
• Ms. Hasnaa Mokhtar – Clark University, USA
• Ms. Sawsene Nejjar – University of Oxford, UK
• Ms. Malaka Shwaikh – University of Exeter, UK
• Ms. Maro Youssef – University of Texas-Austin, UK
• Ms. Hind Zaki – Brandeis University, USA

October Workshop: Rabat, Morocco

As a follow-up to the June workshop in Abu Dhabi, fellows were invited to a workshop in Rabat from October 14-18, 2019. Daily sessions were structured around research panel presentations in which fellows received feedback from peer discussants and co-leaders. The schedule also included several sessions on professional development topics and panel with guest speakers from parliament and several women’s NGOs (see the Schedule.pdf for more information). Concluding their participation in the 5-month MENA Workshops Fellowship, alumni were given three years’ complimentary membership to APSA and are eligible to apply for small grants to support their further research.