Filtyp
Today we celebrated Nowruz, the Persian new year at CMES. Text: Rafah BarhoumNowruz, meaning "new day" in Persian, is an ancient, 3,000-year-old festival marking the Iranian New Year and the spring equinox (March 20/21). Celebrating rebirth and the great victory of light over darkness, it is honored by over 300 million people across the Middle East, Central Asia, and the Caucasus.Haft Sin هفت سين
https://www.cmes.lu.se/article/nowruz-celebration-cmes - 2026-05-25
New Study by CMES Researcher Sinem Kavak: How Climate Change Shapes the Lives of Migrant Farmworkers. Read the article here (External link).HighlightsExamines climate change vulnerability of migrant farmworkers through a critical political economy lens. Synthesises a decade of qualitative data from multiple regions and historicises agri-labour migration in Turkey. Moves beyond hazard-based studies
This article is over 5 years old, and the information may therefore be outdated. In January-February 2020, three researchers affiliated with CMES travelled to Khartoum, Sudan for the official kick-off seminar and workshop of a 3-year project that is funded by the Swedish Research Council (VR), FORMAS and SIDA and entitled: "Resilience in Urban Sudan (RUS): An Interdisciplinary Spatial and Temporal
https://www.cmes.lu.se/article/cmes-affiliated-researchers-launch-climate-research-project-sudan - 2026-05-25
In a new article for The Conversation, CMES researcher Hossein Hashemi reveals how climate change is reshaping Saharan dust storms and their growing impact on Europe. Read the full article: (External link. The Conversation)Saharan dust storms are a natural phenomenon, often experienced in southern Europe, but climate change is altering their intensity, frequency, and paths, with growing consequenc
https://www.cmes.lu.se/article/climate-change-altering-saharan-dust-and-europe-downwind - 2026-05-25
Cowritten by CMES researcher Mo Hamza, this article sheds light on the often-overlooked human work that makes so‑called intelligent machines function. Read the full article here: External link to The Loop.Artificial intelligence is frequently presented as autonomous, efficient and almost frictionless. In The invisible labour behind “intelligent” machines, the authors challenge this narrative by sh
https://www.cmes.lu.se/article/invisible-labour-behind-intelligent-machines - 2026-05-25
New article co-written by CMES researcher Torsten Janson. In the academic article Stirring Up the Ashes: Exhibiting the Great Fire of Smyrna in the Context of Turkish Politics of Memory, the authors examine how one of the most traumatic events in the late Ottoman period continues to shape historical narratives and public memory today. Focusing on museum exhibitions and commemorative practices, the
https://www.cmes.lu.se/article/stirring-ashes-exhibiting-great-fire-smyrna-context-turkish-politics-memory - 2026-05-25
Read the director’s message, explore the latest research news, discover upcoming events, and browse our recent publications. Read CMES newsletter here.Spring is slowly transforming the lawns across Lund into brilliant shades of blue as early flowers come into bloom, also around the Forsman Villa, home to researchers at the Centre for Advanced Middle Eastern Studies. Another clear sign of the seas
https://www.cmes.lu.se/article/read-latest-cmes-newsletter-59 - 2026-05-25
Researchers conducting fieldwork in repressive and illiberal countries face profound ethical, personal and professional challenges — particularly when they are native to the societies they study. These issues were at the centre of a well attended CMES seminar by professor Merouan Mekouar, York University, Canada, that brought together scholars to reflect on risk, responsibility and inequality in a
https://www.cmes.lu.se/article/challenges-and-strategies-fieldwork-repressive-and-illiberal-contexts - 2026-05-25
How can the Middle East move towards sustainability and peace amid escalating conflicts and environmental crises? This question was at the heart of a well-attended panel discussion hosted by the Centre for Advanced Middle Eastern Studies (CMES) during Sustainability Week 2026. The event brought together researchers and students from across Lund University to share insights from political science,
https://www.cmes.lu.se/article/sustainable-middle-east-turbulent-world - 2026-05-25
New article from CMES by Torsten Janson and Mattias Kärrholm. Read the article here (external link).This article is devoted to analysing the design and symbolics of the Safra Square (Kikar Safra) and City Hall complex, Western Jerusalem. Built around the historic Town Hall of the British Governate, and inaugurated in 1993, the City Hall complex is strategically located along the bustling Jaffa Str
How do Syrians navigate uncertainty and reshape their futures after years of conflict and upheaval? This question was at the heart of the CMES seminar “Worlds in the Making: Viability, Orientation and Recalibration in Syrian Lives,” with Andreas Bandak, University of Copenhagen. The event brought together students, researchers and practitioners to reflect on the shifting realities, challenges, and
https://www.cmes.lu.se/article/worlds-making-viability-orientation-and-recalibration-syrian-lives - 2026-05-25
CMES director Ronny Berndtsson at the Division of Water Resources Engineering has cowritten a publication on Salinity–Chloride Interaction Effects on Novel Citrus Combinations Under Various Field Conditions. Read the article here (external link).Citrus production is increasingly constrained worldwide by rising soil salinity, particularly in arid and semi-arid regions. In Tunisia, the expansion of
https://www.cmes.lu.se/article/salinity-chloride-interaction-effects - 2026-05-25
Recent developments in Iran highlight the complex interplay between domestic unrest, regional conflict and global geopolitics. At a CMES panel at Lund University, researchers and practitioners explored possible futures for Iran — emphasising uncertainty, internal dynamics and the limits of external intervention. The event opened with remarks by Lund University Vice-Chancellor Erik Renström.A compl
https://www.cmes.lu.se/article/what-does-future-hold-iran-insights-cmes-panel-discussion - 2026-05-25
A full house at CMES gathered researchers, students and members of the public for a seminar on settler violence in Palestine, where legal perspectives on state responsibility sparked an engaged discussion and a lively Q&A. The CMES seminar brought together a large and engaged audience to hear Alice Panepinto (Queen’s University Belfast) present her research on settler violence in the occupied West
https://www.cmes.lu.se/article/examining-state-responsibility-settler-violence-palestine - 2026-05-25
Special issue stemming from workshop held at CMES. Cowritten by CMES Board Member Sarah Anne Rennick and CMES researcher Rola El-Husseini Read full article here.AbstractThe 2019 uprisings in Algeria, Sudan, Lebanon, and Iraq, often framed as a ‘Second Wave’ of the Arab uprisings, present a critical puzzle: why did mass mobilization re-emerge nearly a decade after the 2011 revolutions, despite thei
https://www.cmes.lu.se/article/edge-theorizing-role-post-conflict-dynamics-mobilization - 2026-05-25
Arabic cultural event organized by Rafah Barhoum Language training expert at Centre for Advanced Middle Eastern Studies at Lund University: Teaching Arabic at CMES with Rafah is not merely about teaching the Arabic language; rather, it is an immersive engagement with Arab culture, as well as the customs and traditions of Arab societies—an experience that students actively live through dialogue, p
https://www.cmes.lu.se/article/arabic-cultural-event-cmes - 2026-05-25
Read the director’s message, explore the latest research news, discover upcoming events, and browse our recent publications. Read CMES Newsletter here.Message from the DirectorDuring an especially busy spring period, CMES organised several important public panels and seminars. On 13 April, in connection with Lund Sustainability Week, CMES hosted the panel A Sustainable Middle East in a Turbulent W
https://www.cmes.lu.se/article/read-latest-cmes-newsletter-60 - 2026-05-25
The CMES seminar room was filled with researchers, students and interested attendees as Pelle Valentin Olsen presented his ongoing research on leisure and everyday life in modern Iraq. The seminar, based on a forthcoming book project, offered a shift away from traditional political narratives, instead focusing on how ordinary people experienced and shaped modern Iraqi society. Everyday life beyond
https://www.cmes.lu.se/article/leisure-morality-and-modern-iraq-new-perspectives-cmes - 2026-05-25
The Center for Advanced Middle Eastern Studies (CMES) organized an interdisciplinary workshop “Critical Approaches to Middle East and Islamic Studies: Power, Politics, and Decoloniality” with international scholars to analyze and evaluate major paradigms and methods used to study the Middle East and Islam. The workshop was convened by Sami Al-Daghistani (Associate Professor, Lund University) and i
https://www.cmes.lu.se/article/critical-perspectives-middle-east-and-islamic-studies-cmes-workshop-summary - 2026-05-25
CMES researcher Filippo Verre has published the book chapter in the Scopus-index book "Smart Healthcare: Leveraging AI and Cloud Technologies for Enhanced Medical Solutions". Read the chapter hereAbstractWater resilience plays a critical role in ensuring uninterrupted function in modern hospitals. Disturbance to the supply of this precious material creates robust issues in care and patient safety.
