المنتدى

For the third consecutive year, the ACSS Working Group, the Beirut Critical Security Studies Collective (BCSSC), organized a Summer Institute on Critical Security Studies in the Arab region for junior researchers working on issues of (in)security in the Arab region. This year’s edition was held on June 18-23, 2019 in Broummana, Lebanon.

Designed to equip researchers with the necessary theoretical tools and practical skills for conducting critical research on security issues in the region, the Summer Institute hosted 20 researchers from Algeria, Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine, Tunisia, Spain and Saudi Arabia. Participants had the opportunity to discuss relevant issues and challenges, and work on their research projects with members and affiliates of the Collective, who served as the faculty: Bashir Saade (University of Stirling), Nicole Sunday Grove (University of Hawaii at Moana), Sami Hermez (Northwestern University in Qatar), Omar Dahi (Hampshire College), and Jamil Mouawad (American University of Beirut).

This year’s faculty members were joined by distinguished professors, Paul Amar (University of California, Santa Barbara) and Maya Mikdashi (Rutgers University).

To explore the implications of the security issues in Algeria, Nacer Djabi, an Algerian sociologist and consultant for the ACSS Focal Point in Algeria, discussed the recent developments in the North African country with the participants.

The Summer Institute consisted of thematic teaching sessions on such issues as (in)security of everyday life, sex and (in)security, gender and technologies of (in)security, concepts, genealogies and translations; mentoring sessions; writing sessions; guest lectures; professionalization sessions on writing and publishing in critical security studies; and a field visit to Baalbeck, which served as a case study for the issues explored during the Institute.

“I found the mentoring sessions extremely helpful for learning how to present my work to new audiences unfamiliar with my fields,” said one participant in their evaluation of the six-day event. “The thematic sessions were helpful for giving us a chance to speak to the group and engage in large scale discussion and collaboration.”

***** See highlights from the event *****