MENA Women
From Street Protest to Online Activism
22-23 March 2018
First Day
Thursday, March 22, 2018
9:00 am-6:00 pm
William Doo Auditorium
New College, University of Toronto, St George Campus
45 Willcocks, Toronto, ON M5S 2H3
Link to Map
Second Day
Friday, March 23, 2018
9:00 am-6:00 pm
The Council Chambers
(Room 3130 William G. Davis Building)
University of Toronto, Mississauga
3359 Mississauga Rd, Mississauga, ON L5L 1C6
Link to Map
Free - Open to the Public
Free - Open to the Public
ABOUT
In the last decade, and specially after Iran’s Green Movement and the Arab Uprisings, women in the Middle East and North African (MENA) have established extensive online networks of transnational advocacy as well as virtual “civil societies” in order to exchange ideas, share information, garner international grass roots support for their cause and to re-imagine and rebuild social movements in their respective countries.
By gathering leading international researchers, feminists, activists, gender rights advocates, artists, public intellectuals and media, this interdisciplinary conference will examine how MENA women are making use of the social web and explore new possibilities of mass networking, and meanwhile attend to increasing threats of surveillance and censorship. More
SCHEDULE
SPEAKERS
 Victoria Tahmasebi-BirganiConference Chair Assistant Professor of Women and Gender Studies, University of Toronto |  Niki AkhavanAssistant Professor of Media and Communication Studies, the Catholic University of America, Washington D.C. |
|---|---|
 Hande Eslen-ZiyaUniversity of Brighton, School of Applied Social Sciences, Research Fellow |  Elham GheytanchiAssociate Faculty, Sociology, Santa Monica College |
 Amel GramiProfessor of Gender Studies and Islamic Studies, University of Manouba,Tunisia |  Kübra GümüşayJournalist, Public Speaker, Award Winning Activist and Blogger, Hamburg, Germany |
 Homa HoodfarProfessor of Anthropology, Emerita,Concordia University, Montreal, Canada |  Simin KargarHuman Rights Lawyer, Technology and Human Rights Researcher, Berkman Klein Center, Harvard |
 Mariam KarimPhD candidate at the Faculty of Information, University of Toronto |  Sahar KhamisAssociate Professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Maryland |
 Safaneh M. NeyshabouriPhD candidate in Comparative Literature at the University of Alberta, Department of Modern Languages & Cultural Studies |  Victoria NewsomProfessor of Communication Studies at Olympic College in Bremerton, Washington |
 Babak RahimiAssociate Professor of Communication, Culture and Religion, University of California San Diego |  Sima ShakhsariAssistant Professor Department of Gender, Women and Sexuality Studies, Minnesota |
 Loubna H. SkalliTeaching at the University of California Washington Center, Washington D.C. |  Mona TajaliAssistant Professor of International Relations and Women’s Studies at Agnes Scott College in Georgia |
SPONSORS
Insight Development Grant, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC)
Women and Gender Studies Institute, University of Toronto
Department of Historical Studies, University of Toronto Mississauga
Women and Gender Studies Program, University of Toronto Mississauga
New College Initiatives fund (NCIF), University of Toronto
UTM Dean's Graduate Expansion Fund
Organizers
Victoria Tahmasebi-Birgani
Conference Chair
Assistant Professor of Women and Gender Studies, University of Toronto
Mariam Karim
Communications Coordinator
PhD student at the Faculty of Information, University of Toronto
Megan Saad
Operations Coordinator
Master of Public Health Candidate in Health Promotion at the University of Toronto
Khursheed Sadat
Social Media Coordinator
Master's Graduate from the Women and Gender Studies Institute at the University of Toronto
Skaidra Puodziunas
Public Relations Coordinator
Public relations professional invested in elevating ideas creatively
Dahlia Habtom
Volunteer
Third-year Student at the University of Toronto
Krista Ferrari
Volunteer
Student at the University of Toronto
