Center for Contemporary Arab Studies

10/05/2026

MAAS student Moe Kassem recently published an article with Arab Center Washington DC which examines how governance failures deepen Iraq’s water crisis and proposes reforms to strengthen water management and regional negotiations.

In 2025, Iraq experienced what its Ministry of Water Resources described as the worst drought since 1933. National water reserves fell to just eight percent of their total storage capacity, and the government banned summer and winter cropping across four million hectares as water shortages made irri...

10/02/2026

CCAS is pleased to announce that Nour Rayess, a 2026 graduate of the University of California, Los Angeles, has been awarded the 2026 Druze Student Paper Prize for her paper, “The Volume of Silence: Regional Museums in the Chouf of Lebanon.”

Established in 2025 with support from the American Druze Foundation, the Druze Student Paper Prize recognizes outstanding undergraduate and graduate research on Druze history and society at U.S. institutions and encourages students to engage more deeply with the field. Read here for more details:

Nour Rayess of UCLA receives the 2026 Druze Student Paper Prize for her research on museums and historical memory in Lebanon.

10/01/2026

On November 4 from 2-3:30 PM CCAS and the African Studies at Georgetown University Program will host a panel on the situation in Sudan with expert speakers who will address both the context and history as well as unfolding events. This is a hybrid event that can be attended in-person at McGhee Library (ICC 301) on Georgetown’s Hilltop campus or remotely via Zoom. Register here: https://events.georgetown.edu/ccas/event/42907-the-crisis-in-sudan-updates-and-analysis

09/30/2026

09/25/2026

Yesterday, Dr. Noureddine Jebnoun visited Davidson College to answer questions about his documentary « En route to Europe, we burn or die » before giving a lecture on "(Im)mobility, Dispossession, and Death in the Sahara-Sahel-Mediterranean Trans-Region." https://www.instagram.com/frenchdepartment5/p/DdsQV9RIOtJ/?img_index=2

09/24/2026

On September 17, 2026, CCAS and ACMCU co-hosted a teach-in, "The State of the Middle East: Regional Perspectives and Responses." Moderated by CCAS Director Fida Adely, the panel examined the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran and the wars on Lebanon and Palestine, asking what mainstream media and U.S. foreign policy debates leave out. Check out the recording of our event here: https://youtu.be/7OrQbv_Ck78?si=zA-i7vB2pHI852OU

09/21/2026

Join CCAS and ADF this Friday for a lecture with 2026-2027 ADF Fellow Diogo Bercito on "Avenging the Mountain: Druze Migraton and Homeland Politics in Brazil" and 2016-2017 ADF Fellow Reem Bailony discussing "Syria's Transnational Rebellion: The Syrian Revolt of 1925-1927". Join us in-person in Copley Formal Lounge or remotely: https://events.georgetown.edu/ccas/event/40551-ccas-and-the-american-druze-foundation-10-years-of

09/14/2026

Can't make it to the Hilltop in person? Check out this virtual tour of campus for grad students!

09/09/2026

We're excited to announce our Fall 2026 events schedule! For more information and to register for events please check out our events website: https://events.georgetown.edu/ccas/

09/09/2026

Pleased to share a new article co-authored by MAAS student Yazen Zarour:

The administration seems to want it both ways but neither Riyadh or Israel will likely get on board with conditions to make this happen