The Middle East Centre, founded in 1957 at St Antony’s College is the centre for the interdisciplinary study of the modern Middle East in the University of Oxford. Centre Fellows teach and conduct research in the humanities and social sciences with direct reference to the Arab world, Iran, Israel and Turkey, with particular emphasis on the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. However, during our regular Friday seminar series, attracting a wide audience, our distinguished speakers bring topics to…
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Professor Charles RH Tripp (SOAS) delivered the 47th annual George Antonius Memorial Lecture on Friday 5th June 2026, chaired by Professor Eugene Rogan (St Antony’s).
Dr Farah Ben Jemaa (University of Manouba) delivered this seminar at the MEC, chaired by Professor Michael Willis (St Antony’s College), as part of the Gender and Sexuality Seminars series. This talk examines examples of North African literature, from early twentieth-century texts to more recent works. These writings question forms of female emancipation associated with Western norms and…
This MENA Politics Seminar was delivered at the Middle East Centre on Thursday 7 May 2026 by Dr Ali Kadivar (Boston College) and chaired by Professor Neil Ketchley (St Antony’s College). What drives the uneven geographic spread of revolutionary episodes? While structural approaches emphasize pre-existing fault lines, contingency approaches highlight emergent processes. We synthesize these…
This seminar was delivered at the Middle East Centre on Thursday 12 March 2026 by Professor Nizar Messari (Al Akhawayn University) and was chaired by Professor Michael Willis (St Antony’s College). Nizar Messari is Professor at Al Akhawayn University in Ifrane. His areas of expertise are International Relations Theory, Critical Security Studies, North African Politics and Latin American Politics.…
This MENA Politics Seminar was delivered at the Middle East Centre on Tuesday 10 March 2026 by Professor Neil Ketchley (St Antony’s College) and was chaired by Dr Maryam Alemzadeh (St Antony’s College). Does public sector employment make graduates less likely to join anti-regime protests? Recent scholarship argues yes, with consequences for bottom-up democratization in late-developing economies…
This seminar was delivered at the Middle East Centre on Thursday 5 February 2026 by Dr Dominik Krell (Wolfson College), and was chaired by Professor Pascal Menoret (Magdalen College). This talk explores how Saudi legal thought is shaping the ways in which Islamic law is applied by Islamic courts beyond the Arabian Peninsula. Since the 1960s, Saudi Arabia has made significant efforts to promote a…
This seminar was delivered at the Middle East Centre on Thursday 20 November by Sultan Sooud Al-Qassemi, founder of the Barjeel Art Foundation, and was chaired by Professor Eugene Rogan, St Antony’s College. This seminar was delivered at the Middle East Centre on Thursday 20 November by Sultan Sooud Al-Qassemi and was chaired by Professor Eugene Rogan, St Antony’s College. Sultan Sooud Al-Qassemi…
This MENA Politics Series Seminar was delivered on Tuesday 18 November in the MEC’s Boardroom by Dr May Darwich (University of Birmingham) and was chaired by Professor Neil Ketchley (St Antony’s College). This paper explains Egypt’s foreign policy stagnation, with a novel argument building on role and identity theories. Egypt’s foreign policy exhibits a case where its regional leadership role has…
This seminar was delivered on Thursday 13 November in the MEC’s Investcorp Lecture Theatre by Mustapha El Khalfi (Former Minister of Communications, Morocco) and was chaired by Professor Michael Willis (St Antony’s College).
This seminar was delivered on 28 May 2025 by St Antony’s George Antonius Birzeit Visiting Fellow, Dr Amal Nazzal, and Palestinian political and feminist organizer at Rawa, Soheir Asaad. This seminar was delivered at the Middle East Centre on 28 May 2025 by St Antony’s George Antonius Birzeit, Visiting Fellow, Dr Amal Nazzal, and Palestinian political and feminist organizer at Rawa, Soheir Asaad.…
