Saturday 7 February 2015

Salford GradProg talk this Weds: "The Egyptian Dream: On Egyptian National Identity and the Uprisings"

11th February, Room 2.19, MediaCityUK

External Speaker: Prof Noha Mellor (3.30-4.30)

The Egyptian Dream: On Egyptian national identity and the uprisings

After being celebrated by Barack Obama as “the power of human dignity”, the 2011-Egyptian revolution later turned into violent outbreaks and ongoing socio-ideological fragmentation. In this lecture, I discuss one of the central problems in Egypt in post-independence era, namely the inability of its leaders to construct a coherent and solid ideology that could appeal and unite the majority of Egyptians. Indeed, there exist rhetorical and social strategies of inclusion and exclusion, thereby dividing society into those who are regarded as true representatives of Egypt versus others who may constitute an economic, political or social burden. I’ll discuss the role of religion, education, language and culture in constructing this sense of Egyptian-ness and how the issue of identity has been used in political discourse.


Professor Noha Mellor’s main research interests are Arab journalism, mediated religion and media and gender. Besides her academic experience, she has previous professional experience in journalism as News Producer both for the Danish Broadcasting and the BBC World Service, and contributed to international media outlets such as the New York Times and Financial Times. She contributes her expertise in Arab journalism to current trans-national initiatives to promote peace such as the UN Alliance of Civilizations, and was also the EUROMED and Media representative at the EU Ministerial Meeting on Culture, 30 May 2008, Athens. Books include Modern Arab Journalism (Edinburgh), Arab Media Industries (Polity) and, forthcoming, Cyber Islam and Social Media and the Pan-Arab Newsroom.


Internal Speaker: Dr Benjamin Halligan (4.45-5.45)

Viva Survival Guide

This session will deal in detail with the Viva: what to expect, how to prepare, how to defend your work, and the possible outcomes from the Viva.

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