'The Middle East Studies Association Meets in Montreal

By Joseph Hammond

The haggling was as aggressive as any found in the chaotic stalls of a souk. Filled with distinguished publishers from one wall to the next, the book fair portion of the Middle East Association of North America’s annual conference provides an opportunity for all attendees to see the latest Middle East-themed publications.

Known as MESA, the 2007 conference was held in Montreal, adding further international flair to the largest meeting of English-language Middle Eastern academics. Middle Eastern works flooded the floor and hidden bargains abounded. Rumors of last-minute sales and examination copies sent government officials, scholars, and Middle Eastern aficionados (your humble author included) scurrying for a copy.

The frigidly beautiful city of Montreal, Canada played host to MESA’s 41st annual conference from November 17-20th, 2007. Montreal’s Palais De Congres is one of the most iconic yet functional conference centers in North America—more than adequate for the nearly 3,000 MESA academics and other members in attendance.

MESA brings together a diverse and interesting crowd. The number of participants has doubled several times over since 1966 when MESA was founded by a mere sixty scholars including the renowned orientalist Bernard Lewis. Visitors from different corners of the world ranging from Boston to Yemen filled the Palais De Congres with their conversations in Arabic, Persian, Turkish, English, and—of course—French: after all, Montreal is the heart of Francophone culture in North America.

Montreal’s historic riverfront, Chinatown, and the shopping on Rue Sant Catherine were all within walking distance. For the MESA veterans, Montreal provided a nice change of pace, since most of the conferences take place in the United States.

The main draw, however, is neither Montreal nor even the book fair but, rather, the hundreds of panel presentations. These committees covered a diverse spectrum of cultural, historical, and socio-political topics associated with the Middle East. On the other hand, some panel topics were more surgically specific: “Rethinking the Sixteenth Century Ottoman-Hapsburg Imperial” in comparison to the broad and vague: “Water and Land”. Perhaps next year MESA conference will offer a panel on “Earth, Wind and Fire”? Titles merely serve to loosely give a connecting theme to the panel’s papers, anyhow.

These papers presented scholarly views on everything from the cultural impact of international tourism on Morocco to the philosophy of Ibn Khaldun. The diverse topics, like the programming offered by Levantine Cultural Center, also pushed the limits of the Middle East studies with papers on 19th century Turkish-Japanese relations and the Caribbean festivals of Shia origin. By presenting such a wide range of papers and topics, MESA seeks to encourage new perspectives on Middle East research. One such paper was presented by Levantine Center’s own Mark LeVine, a Middle East history professor at UC Irvine, who discussed “Heavy Metal Islam: Ozzy vs Ossama and the Struggle for Democracy in the Middle East,” which is the subject of his forthcoming book, Heavy Metal Islam.

The conference is not limited merely to panels and papers, however. MESA performances, art exhibitions, and films were all available to attendees. Among the most anticipated films included Rumi Returning (according to UNESCO, 2007 was the “Year of Rumi”) and Six Days in June by Israeli filmmaker Iian Ziv who was in attendance to present his film. Due to time constraints, Ziv’s screening ended abruptly with the first salvos of the war. “I’m sure if you’re sitting here, you have some idea what happens next,” Mr. Ziv added dryly, drawing chuckles from the crowd. In many ways military history is like investigating a train wreck. The real story is how the diplomatic maneuverings lead to tragedy, something that Six Days in June does a through and balanced job in investigating.

MESA’s cultural offerings are not limited to films; Canada-based Michael A. Frishkopf offered “New Sounds of Remembrance,” a ney (reed flute) and vocal performance with a deeply Sufi influence; Frishkopf’s performance had a haunting quality that appeared to resonate with the crowd long after the last note was played and the last book sold in the book fair.

This conference marks a rare MESA conference abroad. The next national MESA conference is scheduled to take place in Washington, D.C in both 2008 and 2010. The 2009 Conference will be in San Diego, CA.

Joseph Hammond is a graduate of University of California-Irvine who has lived and worked in Italy, Germany and Japan. He is currently working on a M.A in the history of the Middle East.

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