Since 1967, MESA has held an annual meeting in the fall where members gather to share research. MESA has been the hub for scholarly exchange from its first meeting at The University of Chicago in 1967 where a small group gathered for eight sessions to MESA’s 50th anniversary meeting in Boston in 2016 where 312 sessions delighted more than 2,000 attendees. The meeting features panels and special sessions on a variety of topics related to Middle East studies. It is complemented by meetings of MESA’s affiliated groups, an exciting 4-day film festival, a comprehensive book bazaar featuring the latest books and software in the field, and other informal events. The meeting provides an opportunity for friends and colleagues from a variety of disciplines to gather to share their common bond: the study of this important region of the world.

A searchable 2018 annual meeting program is available here. (This is always the most up-to-date listing.) The preliminary program is available in PDF here.

The following panels may be of special interest to Islamic law scholars:

Thursday, Nov. 15th:

Constitutions in the Contemporary Middle East: (How) do they still matter?

Cultural Trends in the Abbasid Period

Friday, Nov. 16th:

Protests and Discriminations

Alcohol and Drinking in the Ottoman Empire

Topics in Islamic Ritual Law

Global Histories of Slavery in the Premodern Middle East and Beyond

Saturday, Nov. 17th:

Unorthodoxies Shi’ism, Sufism, Feminism

Gender, Law and Violence in Lebanon – feminist contestations post-Arab uprisings

Early Women’s Voices

Sunday, Nov. 18th:

Reconsidering Tunisia: Revolutionary and Post Revolutionary Politics, Society, and Religion

Succession and Legitimate Caliphate

Parties, National Dialogues and Elections In Contemporary Middle East Politics

Civil Society and Governance in the Middle East

Ruler of the East and the West: Notions of Universal Rule in Early Modern Ottoman History, 1400-1800

Widows, Adulteresses and Brides: Gender, Power, and Society in the Ottoman First World War