Photo taken from Skidmore website
Professor Karam Dana, an associate professor at the University of Washington Bothell, is currently involved in two research projects, one focusing on the racialization Muslims living in America. This Thurs., Sept. 27, Skidmore is hosting the associate professor of Middle East Politics and Islamic Studies at the University of Washington Bothell for the lecture “The Power of Palestine: Imperishable in a Transnational World.”
Before teaching at UW, Dr. Dana held a post-doctoral fellowship at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government with which he explored how transnational political identities are formed and shaped. His particular focus being mostly Palestine.
The lecture is a critical analysis of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and is part of the Jacob Perlow series — a grant that has been dedicated to bringing speakers and lecturers to campus and the community regarding “issues broadly related to Jews and Judaism.”
The lecture will be introduced by Feryaz Ocakli Assistant Professor and Associate Chair of the Department of Political Science at Skidmore College. Professor Ocakli currently teaches Middle Eastern Politics, which encompasses a survey of the broader Middle East.
It will be interesting to see how Dr. Dana will present his ideas on Palestine’s transnational approaches in resisting the Israeli occupation of its territories. Currently, Palestinians in parts of the West Bank and Gaza lack a fully-functioning government. Their claimed representative, the Palestinian authority, has been corrupted for years.
The lecture is expected to put a great emphasis on the idea of transnationalism and transnational approaches as a means to resist Israeli occupation. Dana is also expected to discuss how this specific approach contributed to making Palestine and its politics central to domestic policies of other countries, including the United States.
Anticipate that Dr. Dana will provide fresh insights into a conflict that is, too often, portrayed in simplistic terms as a dichotomy between two different sets of people fighting over land and nationality. By focusing on transitional politics, the event promises intriguing glimpses into the complexity of the Israel-Palestine conflict.
It will also be interesting to see whether he will address the concerns of the Arab American Institute and its issue with current domestic implications of the Israeli-Palestine conflict.
The question to be asked before, during, and after the lecture is: How will transnationalism help preserve Palestine way of life and assist its efforts to retain its sovereignty?