MECAM Transregional Workshop: Cities in the Arab Imagination: Fiction, Reality, and Futurescapes

MECAM is pleased to invite you to Cities in the Arab Imagination: Fiction, Reality, and Futurescapes, a Transregional Workshop convened by Teresa Pepe (Professor of Arabic Literature at the Department of Culture, Religion, Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, University of Oslo and former MECAM Fellow) and organized by Diana Abbani (MECAM/Forum Transregionale Studien).

📅 Date & Time: 24th June 2025, 09:00-17:30 & 25th June 2025, 09:30-16:30

📍 Location: École Supérieure des Sciences Économiques et Commerciales de Tunis (ESSECT),

Address: 4, rue Abou Zakaria El Hafsi- 1089 Montfleury – Tunis – 1089 Tunis

🎤 Speakers & Moderators: Haikel Al-Hazgui (Writer), Vanessa Barish (Philipps University Marburg), Anis Ben Amor (University of Tunis), Hager Ben Driss (University of Tunis), Faten Bouchrara (MECAM / University of La Manouba), Rasha Chatta (Freie Universität Berlin/MECAM Fellow 2021), Nermin Elsherif (Utrecht University), Amel Guizani (MECAM Director/University of Tunis), Rached Khalifa (University of Tunis El Manar), Cyrine Kortas (MECAM Fellow/University of Gabes), Douja Mamelouk (Southern Mediterranean University Tunis), Samira Mechri (University of Tunis El Manar), Hanan Natour (Freie Universität Berlin/ EUME fellow), Rim Triki (University of Tunis El Manar).

🎤 Keynote Lecture (24th June at 16:30-17:30): Samia Kassab-Charfi (University of Tunis) – Migrations and Symbolic Reconstructions: Testour and the Making of a Morisco Imaginary

🎤 Conversation (25th June at 14:00-15:30): Translating the City: Language, Belonging, and Representations of Urban Space in Arabic Literature (in Arabic)

Messaouda Ben Boubaker (Writer) and Walid Soliman (Writer) in conversation with Moncef Ben Abdeljelil (Beit Al-Hikma).

This workshop explores how contemporary Arabic literature and cultural production imagine future cities in relation to today’s urban realities, such as war, environmental crises, and state-driven futuristic projects. It examines the interplay between imagined urban futures and real-life planning, destruction, and lived experiences, asking how these visions shape and are shaped by political, social, and environmental forces. Bringing together perspectives from the humanities and social sciences, the event fosters interdisciplinary dialogue on how Arab cities are conceived, built, experienced, and reimagined across time and space.

For the detailed program, please click here

For the detailed abstracts & biographies of participants_Tunis_2025, please click here

We look forward to your participation!