Expert on Iraqi women to speak on Monday at Ohio State

The role of women in modern-day Iraq will be the topic of a talk at noon on Monday (4/9) at Ohio State's Mershon Center for International Security Studies, 1501 Neil Ave.

Nadje Al-Ali, senior lecturer in social anthropology at the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies at the University of Exeter in Britain, will speak on “Iraqi Women Between Dictatorships, Wars, Sanctions and Occupation.”

Al-Ali specializes in women's issues in the Middle East, especially women's movements and activism in Egypt and Iraq. She is a founding member of Act Together: Women's Action on Iraq, which works to raise consciousness about the effect of war and occupation on women. She is currently researching the role of women and gender in political transition in post-2003 Iraq.

Al-Ali is author ofSecularism, Gender and the State in the Middle East (Cambridge University Press, 2000), and editor of New Approaches to Migration (Routledge, 2002) Her most recent book, just published, is Iraqi Women: Untold Stories from 1948 to the Present (Zed Publishers). She will be signing the first copies available in the United States after her talk.

The event is sponsored by the Mershon Center for International Security Studies, which fosters interdisciplinary research on national security in a global context, along with Women in Development, the Middle East Studies Center, and Near Eastern Languages and Cultures.

WHAT:Nadje Al-Ali, Senior Lecturer in Social Anthropology at the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies at the University of Exeter in Britain, will present “Iraqi Women Between Dictatorships, Wars, Sanctions and Occupation.”

WHEN:Noon on Monday (4/9)
At 1:30 p.m., Al-Ali be signing copies of her new book, “Iraqi Women: Untold Stories from 1948 to the Present.”

WHERE: The Mershon Center for International Security Studies, 1501 Neil Ave.

WHY:Al-Ali is an expert on a topic rarely discussed in relation to the war in Iraq – its affect on Iraqi women. Her research on the role of women and gender in political transition in the Middle East adds a valuable dimension to the conversation.