Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations Students' Union - UofT NMCSU

Nominate a candidate for the NMCSU’s 2026-2027 executive committee through the QR code or the biography section of our profile. Nomination period ends on April 13th and elections are to be held on April 27th.

🌙 REMINDER: NMCSU Iftar Night This Wednesday

Join us for Iftar as we break the fast together. Everyone is welcome to attend, whether you are observing Ramadan or simply want to join for the evening. No sign-up is required, and food will be served.

📅 Wednesday, March 18

⏰ Starts at 7:00 PM

📍 NMC Undergraduate Lounge BF207, 4 Bancroft Avenue

Hosted by the Near & Middle Eastern Civilizations Students’ Union (NMCSU).

Join us for “Jezebel: From Queen to Magazine” with Dr. Laura Hare on March 23, 2026, from 3:15–5:15 PM in BF200B. This lecture explores how Jezebel’s image changed over time, from the Hebrew Bible to modern religious, scholarly, and artistic traditions.

Anatolian Weaving Workshop with Toronto-Based Artist Ebru Winegard

Toronto-based artist from İstanbul, Ebru Winegard, will be organizing a weaving workshop in the NML470Y1 Advanced Turkish course.

📅 Monday, March 16, 2026

⏰ 9:30 am

📍 BF215, Bancroft Building

While the workshop is primarily intended for students enrolled in the course, there is some limited space available for students in other Turkish courses, as well as other Turkish learners and speakers in the NMC and UofT community who are interested in Anatolian rug and carpet designs.

The workshop and instructions will be conducted in Turkish, but introductory-level learners are also welcome.

🔗 If you would like to attend, please register here: https://bit.ly/WeavingUofT

Or use the link in our Instagram bio!

Teşekkür ederim!

🌙 NMCSU Iftar Night

Join us for Iftar as we break the fast together. Everyone is welcome to attend, whether you are observing Ramadan or simply want to join for the evening. No sign-up is required, and food will be served.

📅 Wednesday, March 18th

⏰ Starts at 7:00 PM

📍 NMC Undergraduate Lounge BF207, 4 Bancroft Avenue

Hosted by the Near & Middle Eastern Civilizations Students’ Union (NMCSU).

🎬 #2 Turkish Series Afternoon Screening

Join the NMCSU Turkish Speaking Group for a second screening of Pera Palas’ta Gece Yarısı (Midnight at the Pera Palace). We’ll continue the series together with Season 1, Episodes 3–4.

Set in Istanbul’s historic Pera Palace Hotel, originally built in 1892 to host passengers of the Orient Express and later frequented by figures such as Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and Agatha Christie, the series takes place in one of the city’s most iconic landmarks. The hotel was also among the first buildings in Istanbul to feature electric lighting and housed the city’s first electric elevator.

The story follows a young journalist who is unexpectedly transported back to 1919, a pivotal moment in the final years of the Ottoman Empire and the emergence of modern Turkey. As she tries to return to her own time, she becomes entangled in a political conspiracy that could alter the course of Turkish history. Blending mystery, time travel, and historical drama, the series explores the turbulent early years of the Turkish Republic while uncovering secrets hidden within the hotel’s corridors, where stories from different eras collide.

📅 Monday, March 16th, 1–3 PM

📍 BF200B (Conference Room), Bancroft Building — 4 Bancroft Avenue

🎥 Audio in Turkish with English subtitles

Hosted by NMCSU. All are welcome. No sign-up required!

Speaker: Professor Adrien Z***r

Nakba: Catastrophic Ideation and the Meanings of Disaster (1895-1948)

Friday 6 March, 3-5PM, Bancroft Building 200B

For zoom registration click the link in our bio!

Abstract: This talk examines the formation of “nakba” as a concept of disaster and a social practice of catastrophic ideation in Arabic. Contrary to the prevailing assumption, the genealogy of nakba does not begin in 1948 Palestine but stretches into the Ottoman Empire past. I go back to nineteenth-century constructions when nakba referred to medieval episodes of downfall, and trace how Arab publics redeployed them during the Hamidian massacres (1894–97), the Armenian/Assyrian Genocide (1915), and colonial wars, including the Great Syrian Revolt (1925) and the Great Arab Revolt (1936–39). These events entrenched a structure of the imagination that enmeshed nakba with social formation and political action, in echo with a wider conceptual landscape of catastrophe. I then turn to 1948 Palestine, when the Nakba prompted Arab social scientists to redefine selfhood, sovereignty, and objectivity. This stratified pre-1948 genealogy reveals how catastrophic ideation generated sites of memory and practices of oblivion across Arabic, Turkish, Armenian, and English since the nineteenth-century.

Co-sponsored by the Hearing Palestine Initiative & the Seminar in Ottoman and Turkish Studies

Michael E. Marmura Lecture Series in Arabic Studies | Department of Near & Middle Eastern Civilizations

🎬 Turkish Series Afternoon Screening

Join the NMCSU Turkish Speaking Group for a screening of Season 1, Episodes 1–2 of Pera Palas’ta Gece Yarısı (Midnight at the Pera Palace).

Set in Istanbul’s historic Pera Palace Hotel, originally built in 1892 to host passengers of the Orient Express and later frequented by figures such as Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and Agatha Christie, the series takes place in one of the city’s most iconic landmarks. The hotel was also among the first buildings in Istanbul to feature electric lighting and housed the city’s first electric elevator.

The story follows a young journalist who is unexpectedly transported back to 1919, a pivotal moment in the final years of the Ottoman Empire and the emergence of modern Turkey. As she tries to return to her own time, she becomes entangled in a political conspiracy that could alter the course of Turkish history. Blending mystery, time travel, and historical drama, the series explores the turbulent early years of the Turkish Republic while uncovering secrets hidden within the hotel’s corridors, where stories from different eras collide.

📅 Monday, March 9th, 1–3 PM

📍 BF315 (Classroom), Bancroft Building — 4 Bancroft Avenue

🎥 Audio in Turkish with English subtitles

Hosted by NMCSU. All are welcome. No sign-up required!

Persian Speaking Group aims to bring speakers of all backgrounds and proficiency levels together to practice their Persian speaking skills through weekly gatherings on Wednesdays 5-7 PM at BF 304 (4 Bancroft Ave) throughout the month of March. Please direct the inquiries: [email protected]

The Arabic Speaking Group for Winter 2026 is starting next week, hosted by the NMCSU!

First session: Thursday, February 12th, from 2-4 PM!

Coffee and treats will be served at the first session.

Join a relaxed, welcoming space open to all undergraduate students, graduate students, and faculty to practice speaking, meet other language learners, and engage with the language and the cultures in a low-pressure environment. Sessions will focus on conversation practice and may also include board games, watching or listening to music, TV shows, or films, studying or completing homework together, and light cultural elements such as snacks and drinks. You are also welcome to bring your friends and family members!

The group will run as weekly drop-in sessions, with no sign-up required.

Thursdays 2–4 PM

Location: NMC Undergraduate Lounge (BF207, 4 Bancroft Ave).

The Turkish Speaking Group for Winter 2026 is starting next week, hosted by the NMCSU!

First session: Monday, February 9th, from 1-3 PM!

Coffee and treats will be served at the first session.

Join a relaxed, welcoming space open to all undergraduate students, graduate students, and faculty to practice speaking, meet other language learners, and engage with the language and the cultures in a low-pressure environment. Sessions will focus on conversation practice and may also include board games, watching or listening to music, TV shows, or films, studying or completing homework together, and light cultural elements such as snacks and drinks. You are also welcome to bring your friends and family members!

The group will run as weekly drop-in sessions, with no sign-up required.

Mondays 1–3 PM | Fridays 3–5 PM

Location: NMC Undergraduate Lounge (BF207, 4 Bancroft Ave).