CBRL's August newsletter

CBRL news August 2018

Over the last few weeks our institutes have welcomed new Visiting Fellows who have brought with them a diverse range of research interests, adding to the already vibrant scholarly community.

The beautiful painting shown here was part of an art exhibition that took place last week at CBRL's British Institute in Amman. Narratives of Displacement featured artworks created by refugee women in Jordan, Germany and the UK. The exhibition was part of a CBRL pilot project with Islamic studies scholar Yafa Shanneik and artist Rachel Gadsden. An excellent review of the event appeared in the Jordan Times, available here.

As you will see in this newsletter, our wonderful Honorary Treasurer, Fiona Salzen will be stepping down in December. If you know of someone who may be interested in this role, please do spread the word.

We hope you enjoy reading about our latest news and research projects and we hope to see you at a future CBRL event.

From all at CBRL

CBRL at WOCMES 2018

Last month, Michelle Obeid, Editor of Contemporary Levant and Maggie McNulty, CBRL’s Development Officer, attended WOCMES in Seville to promote CBRL's activities and contemporary studies journal.

Nearly 3,000 participants from more than 70 countries attended the conference that took place at the main campus of Seville’s university – a beautiful 18 ^th century building, originally used as a tobacco factory. Read more

News from the field

Exploring the transition between pre-urban and early urban societies in Jordan's Zarqa valley

Recent resident of CBRL's British Institute in Amman, Alessandra Caselli describes her research at the institute that focused on the socio-cultural dynamics at the beginning of the Bronze Age in Jordan's Zarqa valley. Read more

Language and community at CBRL’s British Institute in Amman: my two months studying Arabic at the Qasid Arabic Institute

Chris Wilson, PhD candidate in the history of the modern Middle East at the University of Cambridge is a current CBRL Arabic language scholar in Amman. Here he tells of his summer of language learning at the Qasid Arabic Institute, of being part of CBRL's scholarly community in Amman and of adventures in Jordan . Read more

People at CBRL

CBRL seeks a new Honorary Treasurer

Our current Honorary Treasurer, Fiona Salzen, steps down in December 2018 so CBRL is seeking a new Treasurer. Fiona commented: "It has been a fascinating experience. The role is a great opportunity to contribute to strategy in areas as diverse as governance, publications and risk management as well as “minding the money”. "

To find out more about Fiona's time as Honorary Treasurer and what the role will require, please see here .

New Fellows at CBRL's Kenyon Institute

This summer, Sophia Brown (left) and Teodora Todorova (right) joined CBRL's scholarly community at the Kenyon Institute in East Jerusalem.

Sophia's research is on Palestinian life writing with a focus on the narration of exile and the ways in which it informs models of selfhood within a context of conflict and loss.

Teodora's research is concerned with civil society advocacy efforts to secure the rights of Palestinian political prisoners, examining their legal and political strategies and modes of activism.

Stay tuned for future research posts from Sophia and Teodora and read more about their research interests here .