Transnational Currents in the Gulf: People, Money and Ideas

Location

Experts from a variety of disciplines and around the world will meet at Boston University on March 25 – 26, 2010, for a Pardee Center conference on “Transnational Currents in the Gulf: People, Money and Ideas.” Please note that on Thursday, March 26, the sessions will be held at the Rafik Hariri Building (BU School of Management, 4th Floor) from 1.00pm to 5.30PM. (Map and Directions here) and on Friday, March 26, the third and final session will meet at the Pardee House (67 Bay State Road, Boston) from 10.00am to 12.00pm . The conference will be chaired by Professor Augustus Richard Norton, Professor of Anthropology and International Relations at Boston University. Professor Norton has written extensively on Muslim and Middle East Politics and has varied and rich experience working in the Middle East. The conference will include three public sessions on Money, People, and Ideas in the Gulf region. Because of limited seating, the dinner event, including a keynote address by Ambassador Charles Dunbar, Professor of International Relations at Boston University, on Thursday, March 25 is by invitation only. The program of the conference is as follows: Thursday, March 25 2010 1.00pm    Welcome remarks by Professor Augustus Richard Norton 1.15pm     Session I: Money Chair: Bahman Baktiari (University of Utah) The Dubai Model Evaluated – Ibrahim Warde (Tufts University) The Growing Middle Class – Kristin Diwan (American University) Markets – Nader Habibi (Brandeis University) 3.15pm    Break 3.45pm   Session II: People Chair: Nazli Kibria (Boston University) Expats – Judith Yaphe (National Defense University) Youth – Mehdi Semati (Northern Illinois University) Citizenship and Rights – Farhad Kazemi (New York University) 6.00pm   Reception 7.00pm   Dinner  (By Invitation Only) Keynote Address: Yemen and the Gulf – Ambassador Charles Dunbar Friday, March 26, 2010 10.00 am Session III: Ideas Chair: Farhan Nizami (Oxford Center for Islamic Studies) Waning Appeal of the Iran Model – Ali Banuazizi (Boston College) TBA – John Tirman (MIT) Participation in public sessions of the conference is open, but seating is limited.  If you are interested in attending, please RSVP at pardeebu [dot] edu. Please indicate the sessions (I, II or III) that you will attend. All inquiries related to the conference may be directed to pardeebu [dot] edu (The Pardee Center) or directly to Prof. Augustus Richard Norton.