Spotlight on Middle East and Central Asia
More than 30 scholars from Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom will examine recent developments as well as potential future challenges and opportunities in the Middle East and Central Asia during a two-day conference starting tomorrow.
Former Prime Minister, the Hon. Kevin Rudd MP, will officially open the Change and Continuity in the Middle East and Central Asia Graduate Conference, which is being hosted by the Centre for Arab & Islamic Studies.
Centre Director Professor Amin Saikal said the conference provides a timely opportunity to examine events in this increasingly volatile part of the world.
Policymakers in Western countries must appreciate the depth and breadth of change underway in the region, where serious movements are afoot for genuine self-determination,” Professor Saikal said.
“Scholars, and in particular the next generation of students, have an important role to play objectively analysing developments and contributing their expertise to promote a better understanding of the complex political currents operating in and around the region.”
Conference convenor Adel Abdel Ghafar said the conference gives emerging scholars a platform to present new ideas.
“The period of fluidity we are witnessing in the Middle East and Central Asia presents an opportunity for graduate scholars and early career researchers to provide fresh insights into current and recent events, and to reshape the established orthodoxies of their disciplines.”
WHAT: Continuity in the Middle East and Central Asia Graduate Conference
WHEN: 8.30am for 9.00am conference opening by the Hon. Kevin Rudd MP, Friday 30 November 2012. Conference concludes 5pm, Saturday 1 December 2012
WHERE: Centre for Arab & Islamic Studies, Building 127, Ellery Crescent, ANU