Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin - Zentrum für Transdisziplinäre Geschlechterstudien

Convened by

Center for Transdisciplinary Gender Studies at Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, in collaboration with the Department of Culture Studies and Oriental Languages (IKOS) at the University of Oslo

Short Description

The Center for Transdisciplinary Gender Studies at Humboldt University of Berlin, in collaboration with the Department of Culture Studies and Oriental Languages (IKOS) at the University of Oslo, warmly invites you to a two-day hybrid workshop on 14–15 January 2026.

This event seeks to critically examine and deconstruct the narratives surrounding women from the South West Asian and North African (SWANA) region. Through keynote lectures, panels, and graduate presentations, we will explore strategies for reclaiming agency in literature, media, music, and academia.

This workshop is a core component of the Circle U–COIL Project “Women on the Go: Contemporary Discourses and (Re)Presentations across SWANA.” It builds upon the foundational collaboration between our institutions—previously focused on “Body Aesthetics and Challenging Boundaries in the Contemporary MENA Region”—to expand our collective inquiry into the complex cultural, political, and social forces shaping gender, body politics, and identity in contemporary SWANA societies.

Program at a glance

Morning Session: Opening remarks followed by keynote lectures. Prof. Maha El Said (University of Cairo) will present “She Resists: Body Politics between Radical and Subaltern,” and Dr. Nahid Siamdoust (HU Berlin) will speak on the politics of music in Iran.

Afternoon Session: A seminar on feminist and queer approaches, featuring Prof. Hanadi Al-Samman (University of Virginia) presenting “Anxiety of Erasure: Trauma, Authorship, and the Diaspora in Arab Women’s Writings.”

Evening Session: A special conversation on literature, gender, and translation with distinguished journalist-writer-translators Nael Eltoukhy and  Saïd Khatibi.

Day 2: Thursday, 15 January | Reclaiming Presence

Morning Session: A graduate research panel chaired by senior scholars, featuring presentations by Nuha Sherif (HU Berlin), Live Tronsad (University of Oslo), Alice Königstette (University of Vienna), and Ali Novello (HU Berlin).

Afternoon Session: Graduate presentations continue with Leonie Ames (HU Berlin) and Zagros Ghalvazi (University of Oslo), with a discussant commentary led by Dr. Ahou Koutchesfahani (King’s College London). The workshop will conclude with the plenary discussion, "Where Do We Go from Here? Sustaining the Dialogue," focused on future collaboration and network-building

Concept and Organisation

Dr. Amany Abdelrazek-Alsiefy, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin

Prof. Kristin Soraya Batmanghelichi, University of Oslo

Prof. Teresa Pepe, University of Oslo

Further Information

14–15 January 2026. Sessions begin at 10:00 AM CET. Format: Hybrid.

Audience: This workshop is designed for postgraduate students, scholars, and researchers specializing in Gender Studies, SWANA/MENA Studies, Postcolonial Literature, Cultural Studies, and related fields.

Registration: For online attendance, materials, and access links, please contact Sara Kanarski at anna-maria.sara.kanarski@student.hu-berlin.de.

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Semester: Wintersemester 2025/26

ZtG-Veranstaltungskategorie: Tagungen/Symposien/Kolloquien/Workshops des ZtG