On the dramaturgical map of western Asia, the huge section long held by Czarist and Soviet Russia deserves attentive scrutiny. Theatrical life has been especially rich in the multi-ethnic Transcaucasus and, to a lesser degree, in the Tatar homelands and Central Asia, at least since medieval times. In certain respects the area leads the entire Middle East in this field. Theater in the region is abundant as well as versatile in form. It has given to both players and audiences literary religious performances, a secular neoclassical drama, folk comedy, modern European-style stage works, and ideologically-committed theater, as well as numerous plays translated or adapted from West and East. But how far the modern dramas may be identified either as local Asian or international Western remains a serious question for every specialist.

For several years, there has been at the University of California at Los Angeles a chapter of the Onomasticon Arabicum, an international project whose goal is the collection of data from Arabic biographical dictionaries and the storing and retrieval of these data by computer. What follows is a brief outline of the project and its history.

Soviet Scholarship on Islamic studies exists in almost hermetic isolation from its Western counterpart for both linguistic and methodological reasons. Soviet scholarship is concerned with a different set of questions that emerge from Soviet Marxism, rarely tackling the conceptual questions formulated in the West. Nevertheless, Soviet scholarship is very strong on descriptive detail which could, if properly utilized, enrich Western debate. Unfortunately, few Western Islamicists (except those involved in Central Asian history) know Russian, and therefore a wealth of factual information unearthed by Soviet scholars remains virtually unknown in the West and plays no part in the scholarly discourse here.

Word began to trickle out of Baghdad in mid-April 2003 that the Iraqi National Library and Archives and the library of the Ministry of Holy Endowments and Religious Affairs (al-Awqaf) had been burned and looted during the paroxysm of aggravated mayhem that followed the collapse of the Baathist regime. Soon, it became clear that in addition to the damage to those libraries, universities, research centers and private institutions had also been harmed or destroyed, and that additional elements of Iraq's rich cultural heritage in the form of historic buildings, musical archives and contemporary art were at risk. These were moments of deep and profound sadness that ultimately gave way to conversations about ways to work to assess, rebuild and restore what had been lost.

Many Afro-Arab women novelists, if not all, have been addressing feminist issues for ages while homeland issues have been masculinized. Against this trend, Leila Abouzeid's academic interests span not only women's issues, but also those of men and of her country as well. Her book shows how a woman is dominated by patriarchy and colonization and how she herself appears to be an executioner. It also shows her struggle and resistance against patriarchy and imperial power, without sacrificing her commitment to her national and religious identity. In contrast to secular feminism, Abouzeid views religion as a source of relief and solace. The study also argues that the men happily adopt the colonial culture whereas their women resist it. Tackling the experience of double colonization in Year of the Elephant captures the experiences of millions of women in both the eastern and western hemispheres who rebel over the laws that govern their lives.

The following interview took place via Zoom with Moroccan film director, producer, and writer Nabil Ayouch on Tuesday, March 22, 2022 at 11:00 AM EST. Lightly edited for ease of comprehension.

Three papers were presented: A. Hess, “Revolution in a Haggard Land: State, Society and Technology in Saudi Arabia,” T. Mitchell, “The Object of Development: Egypt in the Discourse of the World Bank and USAID,” and H. Islamoglu-Inan, “Transformation of the Ottoman Political Discourse.” The workshop concluded with a general discussion led by T. Asad.

Escapism was the origin of the anthropology of the Middle East. By anthropology I mean, for the purposes of this article, the direct study of contemporaneously living peoples, not the study of extinct cultures (prehistoric archaeology, a branch of anthropology) or of the bodies of the people who lived those cultures (a major concern of physical anthropology).