Minutes, November 2015

Middle East Sociology Working Group
Minutes

Informal meeting and reception co-sponsored with the Arab Council for the Social Sciences at the Middle East Studies Association’s Annual Meeting, Denver, Colorado, November 23, 2015.

The Middle East Sociology Working Group veered from its usual luncheon format to meet in conjunction with the Arab Council for the Social Sciences for the launch of the ACSS’s inaugural Arab Social Science Monitor report. Dr. Seteney Shami, the founding director of the ACSS, briefly introduced the organization, and Professor Mohammed Bamyeh, the primary author of the report, presented the report’s major findings, including documentation of the number of social science programs in Arab countries, the number of social science research centers, the number of professional associations, and the number and content of journals, as well as information on the impact of social science in Arab media. This data, which had never been gathered systematically before, provides a baseline against which to measure future social-scientific developments in the region. A summary of the report in Arabic was distributed at the meeting; the full report is scheduled to be released on the ACSS’s website within the next few months in both Arabic and English, as well as an interactive webpage identifying the location and social-science programs of Arab universities.

After the presentation, sociologists at the meeting enjoyed a buffet and conversation with anthropologists, political scientists, and at least one economist. Approximately 45 people attended the event.

Conversation included discussion of the proposal to create a “Global Middle East” section of the American Sociological Association. After one month, the petition drive is approximately half-way toward the ASA’s requirement of 200 signatories. Sociologists who work on the Middle East and related subjects are encouraged to recruit their colleagues to sign the petition!

Minutes taken by Charles Kurzman, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.