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).

The production and dissemination of knowledge on the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) has always had a particularly complex relationship vis-à-vis research funding, faculty hiring priorities, course scheduling schemas, and course enrollment numbers. In this essay, I hope to share some observations—that I have experienced firsthand and discussed with a number of colleagues—on teaching an introductory survey course on the history of the modern MENA region. Such reflections are rooted in my own experience of teaching at a public university with no current major research or teaching commitments to the MENA region. While these observations are not unique to the context within which I teach, they might be otherwise inflected in different contexts.

In this short piece, I will begin by raising two points about the future geography of the Middle East survey course and then lay out two salient points that were raised in the course of the panel discussion at MESA.

I want to kick off this discussion with three quotes and a statistic. The first quote is as follows: “The chief purpose [of historical education] is not to fill [someone's] head with a mass of material which he may perhaps put forward again when a college examiner demands its production.” The second—a line from a front page story in The New York Times—reads, “College freshmen throughout the nation reveal a striking ignorance of even the most elementary aspects of United States history.” And the third:

The Arab World numbering an estimated 130 million inhabitants (1972) has produced—through its own college and university system (40 institutions in 1971 and 400,000 college students)—some 560,000 graduates; see Table I. Study abroad has been at a high level ever since the early fifties. During the past two decades it has increased from about 10,000 to 40,000.

When The Jubilee year of the founding of the State of Israel arrived, the market was flooded with books, periodicals, special issues, TV documentaries and albums marking the 50th anniversary. As expected, some of these products stimulated sharp controversies, as a part of recent debates over Israeli historiography, collective memory, and identity. Perhaps the most controversy was focused on the Channel One (public TV) series titled “Tkuma” (“Revival”). Contrary to expectations, the series presented the Israeli past a little bit more courageously and less canonically than the usual conservative Zionist version. It was by no means a “revisionist” history, but for the first time the general public was exposed to a more balanced and less mythical version of Israel’s history. The uprooting and expulsion of the Palestinians during the 1948 war and their transformation into a refugee camp society were briefly mentioned with some empathy. Clips from the well-known Syrian reconstruction of the massacre in Kafr Qassem were aired. In the segment on Palestinian armed struggle use was made of films from the PLO archives (captured by the Israeli secret services during the 1982 invasion of Lebanon). The discrimination and peripheralization of the immigrants from Arab countries and their violent reactions (the Wadi Salib riots and the Black Panthers’ demonstrations) were not blurred. In general, alongside the state’s great economic, cultural, and military achievements, some of the shadows were remembered as well, such as Ben-Gurion’s one-man leadership and Golda Meir’s refusal to make any territorial concessions in exchange for security arrangements (peace?). Even the inevitability of the 1967 and 1973 wars was questioned. The series was heavily attacked and accused of being anti-Zionist, especially by the right-wing establishment. The Minister of Communication, Limor Livnat, who is in charge of public broadcasting, tried to “supervise” the series and especially the segment on the PLO; however, she withdrew when she was accused of censorship.

A new building for the National Library of Israel (NLI), scheduled for completion in 2021, is the culmination of a two-decade process of institutional transformation. Formerly known as the Jewish National and University Library, the NLI has historically served simultaneously as Israel's official state repository, as the Hebrew University's central library, and as a “library of the Jewish people.” Like other national libraries around the world, including elsewhere in the Middle East, the National Library of Israel has had to grapple with accelerated changes in management of library collections due to the proliferation of digital media. More fundamental, however, have been changes in the cultural expectations about how libraries should function. Since 1998, the NLI has sought to expand its mission to promote not only scholarship but also cultural “discourse” among Israel's diverse constituencies. The architectural design of NLI's new edifice was intended, therefore, to do more than house the functional requirements of a modern library. It was commissioned to express through its design the significance of the transformed institution for the Israeli public. Towards that goal, a highly publicized competition for the NLI's design was held in 2012. The original two-stage competition ended in controversy after the architect endorsed by the jurors was dismissed. Yet a review of designs submitted by four Israeli architects in that first competition shows how public spaces, affiliated with public institutions, are expected to foster public discourse in Israel. Whether that discourse is cultural or political, contentious or contradictory, these alternative designs for the NLI illustrate common themes based upon specific environmental tropes, familiar across a broad spectrum of Israeli society.

It is difficult to appreciate and understand Sufism fully without an informed exposure to the expressive cultural forms that help define and enhance it. It is this dimension of Islamic mysticism that transports the seeker on the path of spiritual attainment into higher states of consciousness that promise spiritual intoxication (Wajd) and a unique and intimate union, even annihilation (fanā), in the supreme being. This emotional expression of faith is intensified and externalized in elaborate forms of meditation and esoteric techniques that are part of ritual ceremonies.

Through ritual, many Sufi orders and Sufi-related sects throughout the world of Islam have been able to articulate doctrines and beliefs through artistic traditions such as sung poetry, instrumental music and dance-like movements (samā’ or spiritual concerts) and have utilized meditation patterns that combine corporeal techniques and controlled breathing (dhikr, Turkish, zikr) to induce or conduct trance and ecstatic states.

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.