AMEJA is proud to sponsor a panel discussion featuring one of our members; Ashraf Khalil.
The Egyptian Revolution, One Year Later takes place, Wednesday, January 25, 8 pm at: Alwan for the Arts
16 Beaver Street, 4th Floor (between Broadway and Broad St) New York, NY 10004 (646) 732-3261

In the discussion, entitled The Rise and Imminent Fall of Egypt’s Military: How Did the Military Come to Power, and What Will It Take to Remove It?, Ashraf will discuss insights from his newly published book Liberation Square: Inside the Egyptian Revolution and the Rebirth of a Nation (St Martin’s Press, 2012). This event is the first Ashraf will be giving in the US after the publication of his book.

Though many of you know Ashraf, his biography is impressive, covering the Middle East for the Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, Foreign Policy, the Times of London and The Economist. He worked as a correspondent for the Los Angeles Times in Baghdad and Jerusalem and has been based in Cairo for most of the last fifteen years. He is an Egyptian-American and a graduate of Indiana University.

Other distinguished panelists include:
Zachary Lockman, a professor of Middle Eastern & Islamic Studies and History at New York University. His main research and teaching field is the socioeconomic, cultural and political history of the modern Middle East, particularly the Mashriq. His books include Workers on the Nile: Nationalism, Communism, Islam, and the Egyptian Working Class, 1882-1954, with Joel Beinin; Workers and Working Classes in the Middle East: Struggles, Histories, Historiographies; and most recently, Contending Visions of the Middle East: The History and Politics of Orientalism.


Nancy Elshami, independent journalist and researcher, whose work has been featured on ZNet, Jadaliyya, and World Policy Blog. Nancy graduated from Barnard College with a Bachelor’s degree in Economic History and Middle Eastern Studies. She is currently a research analyst at Cornell University’s Institute for Compensation Studies, focusing on Egyptian political economy and modern social history.



Samah Selim, an assistant professor in the Department of African, Middle Eastern, and South Asian Languages and Literatures at Rutgers University. Her research focuses mainly on modern Arabic Literature (19th/20th century) in Egypt and the Levant. Her book,The Novel and the Rural Imaginary in Egypt,1880-1985, explores the relationship between the rise of the novel genre, the politics of nationalist representation and the peasant question over the course of the 20th century in Egypt. Dr. Selim, who is also a practicing literary translator, is currently at work on a book about translation, modernity and popular fiction in early 20th century Egypt.



Menna Khalil, independent researcher and writer working between the Middle East and the United States. She holds an MA in International Human Rights Law from the American University in Cairo and a BA in International Studies, French, and Economic Theory from DePaul University in Chicago. Menna’s academic interests in anthropological approaches to language, sensorial mediation, and narrative production have guided her work on translation and forms of storytelling. She has been carrying out ethnographic work on the relationship between citizens and the Egyptian army following the ouster of former President Mubarak.

AMEJA is also pleased to co-sponsor, also at Alwan, another discussion on the anniversary of the Egyptian Revolution on Monday, January 23.

The theme of this discussion will be a Political Economy of Egypt: Class, Power and the Roots of the Revolution, and will feature Professor Timothy Mitchell of Columbia University, Omar El-Shafi, activist and independent scholar, and Heba Gowayed, a researcher on poverty alleviation and gender. Please note this event starts at 7pm.