The Middle East Centre, founded in 1957 at St Antony’s College is the centre for the interdisciplinary study of the modern Middle East in the University of Oxford. Centre Fellows teach and conduct research in the humanities and social sciences with direct reference to the Arab world, Iran, Israel and Turkey, with particular emphasis on the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. However, during our regular Friday seminar series, attracting a wide audience, our distinguished speakers bring topics to light that touch on contemporary issues.
Latest episodes
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59 min
Francesca Albanese (UN Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories) in conversation with Avi Sh…
Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, joins Professor Emeritus Avi Shlaim in conversation, to open the Middle East Centre’s 2026-27 pub…
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1 h 14
Spectral politics in the Middle East and North Africa: the afterlives of violence and the force of memory
Professor Charles RH Tripp (SOAS) delivered the 47th annual George Antonius Memorial Lecture on Friday 5th June 2026, chaired by Professor Eugene Rogan (St Antony’s).
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58 min
"Barbarian” Women: North African Literary Perspectives on Emancipation
Dr Farah Ben Jemaa (University of Manouba) delivered this seminar at the MEC, chaired by Professor Michael Willis (St Antony’s College), as part of the Gender and Sexuality Seminar…
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36 min
Contingency of Structures: Triggers and the Social Geography of Revolutionary Episodes in Iran 2017–2022
This MENA Politics Seminar was delivered at the Middle East Centre on Thursday 7 May 2026 by Dr Ali Kadivar (Boston College) and chaired by Professor Neil Ketchley (St Antony’s Col…
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52 min
Decolonizing Security Studies - a North African perspective
This seminar was delivered at the Middle East Centre on Thursday 12 March 2026 by Professor Nizar Messari (Al Akhawayn University) and was chaired by Professor Michael Willis (St A…
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51 min
An Autocratic Middle Class? State Dependency and Protest in the Middle East and North Africa
This MENA Politics Seminar was delivered at the Middle East Centre on Tuesday 10 March 2026 by Professor Neil Ketchley (St Antony’s College) and was chaired by Dr Maryam Alemzadeh…
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56 min
Saudi Arabia and the Global Trajectory of Islamic Law
This seminar was delivered at the Middle East Centre on Thursday 5 February 2026 by Dr Dominik Krell (Wolfson College), and was chaired by Professor Pascal Menoret (Magdalen Colleg…
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1 h 04
Seeds in the Rubble: Cultural Vitality in the Arab World
This seminar was delivered at the Middle East Centre on Thursday 20 November by Sultan Sooud Al-Qassemi, founder of the Barjeel Art Foundation, and was chaired by Professor Eugene…
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35 min
Egypt’s Role, Identity, and Foreign Policy in a River of De-Nile
This MENA Politics Series Seminar was delivered on Tuesday 18 November in the MEC’s Boardroom by Dr May Darwich (University of Birmingham) and was chaired by Professor Neil Ketchle…
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1 h 37
Morocco’s Party of Justice and Development in Government: The Experience and the Future
This seminar was delivered on Thursday 13 November in the MEC’s Investcorp Lecture Theatre by Mustapha El Khalfi (Former Minister of Communications, Morocco) and was chaired by Pro…
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1 h 05
NGOization of the Palestinian civil society post-Oslo: our community-based ways out
This seminar was delivered on 28 May 2025 by St Antony’s George Antonius Birzeit Visiting Fellow, Dr Amal Nazzal, and Palestinian political and feminist organizer at Rawa, Soheir A…
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1 h 00
Gaza Genocide as a Symptom: Fragile World Order and Regional Impacts
The MEC’s opening Thursday seminar of the 2025-26 academic year was delivered by the former Prime Minister of Türkiye, Ahmet Davutoğlu, and chaired by Professor Eugene Rogan The ME…
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1 h 02
Big Tech and the Automation of Genocide in Gaza
This seminar was delivered at the Middle East Centre on 30 May 2025 by Dr Samer Abdelnour, University of Edinburgh Business School, and Chaired by St Antony’s George Antonius Birze…
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1 h 05
The Devaki Jain Lecture - Empowered voices: Jordanian women shaping their future
The Middle East Centre was honoured to host the 2025 Devaki Jain Lecture. This year’s lecture was delivered by Rana Husseini, Jordanian activist, journalist and author. The Middle…
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The Devaki Jain Lecture - Empowered voices: Jordanian women shaping their future (Transcript)
The Middle East Centre was honoured to host the 2025 Devaki Jain Lecture. This year’s lecture was delivered by Rana Husseini, Jordanian activist, journalist and author. The Middle…
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Liberation Theology in Palestine (Transcript)
A paper delivered by Rev. Dr Mitri Alraheb at the Palestine Research Centre symposium held at the MEC on Friday 9 May 2025. This paper was part of a panel chaired by Professor Euge…
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17 min
Liberation Theology in Palestine
A paper delivered by Rev. Dr Mitri Alraheb at the Palestine Research Centre symposium held at the MEC on Friday 9 May 2025. This paper was part of a panel chaired by Professor Euge…
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15 min
Towards an Inclusive Narrative, History, and Methodology
A paper delivered by Dr Hamdan Taha at the Palestine Research Centre symposium held at the MEC on Friday 9 May 2025. This paper was part of a panel chaired by Professor Eugene Roga…
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Towards an Inclusive Narrative, History, and Methodology (Transcript)
A paper delivered by Dr Hamdan Taha at the Palestine Research Centre symposium held at the MEC on Friday 9 May 2025. This paper was part of a panel chaired by Professor Eugene Roga…
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56 min
After the End of the World: Another Season of War in South Lebanon
In this talk anthropologist Munira Khayyat revisits the South Lebanon borderland, where she has conducted long term fieldwork in the wake of its almost total destruction after the…