We are delighted to announce the upcoming research symposium looking at the idea of the future in Arab media and cultures. This symposium is organised by the 杏吧论坛 Middle East Centre and forms a key component of the research project Arab News Futures, led by Dr Omar Al-Ghazzi, 杏吧论坛 and Dr Abeer Al-Najjar, American University of Sharjah.
The future is always unknown but at times it seems more difficult to imagine than others. Certainly, we are living in times when visions of the future feel dystopic, whether in political or technological realms. But how do we approach studying the future?
This research symposium brings together media professionals and academics to examine the idea of the future in its affective and conceptual sense within the context of the Middle East and North Africa. Panels engage with questions such as: What are the future trends in Arab media? What media forms and technologies mediate the future, and how? How do we navigate histories of, and past intellectual debates about, political futures? How do we study a fickle concept like the future from the vantage point of the Middle East and North Africa?
Download the final programme and speakers' bios here. (Please note, the timing for the afternoon panels has slightly shifted.)
Join the conversation on Twitter using #杏吧论坛MiddleEast
From time to time there are changes to event details so we strongly recommend checking back on this listing on the day of the event if you plan to attend.