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Middle East Studies Association

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A learned society ( / ˈ l ɜːr n ɪ d / ; also scholarly , intellectual , or academic society ) is an organization that exists to promote an academic discipline , profession , or a group of related disciplines such as the arts and sciences . Membership may be open to all, may require possession of some qualification, or may be an honour conferred by election.

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30-636: Middle East Studies Association (often referred to as MESA ) is a learned society , and according to its website, "a non-profit association that fosters the study of the Middle East , promotes high standards of scholarship and teaching, and encourages public understanding of the region and its peoples through programs, publications and services that enhance education, further intellectual exchange, recognize professional distinction, and defend academic freedom ". Critics have accused MESA of politicization and being dominated by academics critical of Israel and

60-674: A margin of 787 to 167 to join the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement to hold Israel to account for alleged human rights abuses against the Palestinians. MESA's decision was criticised by the Academic Engagement Network, the AMCHA Initiative, and ASMEA. The current president is Eve Troutt Powell , University of Pennsylvania . The International Journal of Middle East Studies (IJMES)

90-496: A particular subject or discipline, provided they pay their membership fees. Older and more academic/professional societies may offer associateships and/or fellowships to fellows who are appropriately qualified by honoris causa , or by submission of a portfolio of work or an original thesis. A benefit of membership may be discounts on the subscription rates for the publications of the society. Many of these societies award post-nominal letters to their memberships. The membership at

120-549: A professor at Georgetown University and elsewhere, Hudson taught courses on comparative politics, international politics, comparative politics of the Middle East, Middle East international politics, Lebanese politics, Palestine and the Arab-Israeli conflict, an introduction to social science, networked cultures and networked politics, Yemeni politics, U.S. policy in the Middle East, and politics in divided societies. Hudson

150-534: A very active Committee on Academic Freedom (CAF) that has two wings: CAFMENA (Middle East and North Africa, established in 1990) and CAFNA (North America, established in 2005). Through CAF, MESA monitors infringements on academic freedom on the Middle East and North Africa worldwide. Albert Hourani Book Award Since 1991 MESA has awarded the Albert Hourani Book Award to recognize "the very best in Middle East studies scholarship". The prize

180-436: Is a quarterly journal published by Cambridge University Press under the auspices of MESA. The editor is Joel Gordon of University of Arkansas . The Review of Middle East Studies ( RoMES ) is MESA's journal of review. MESA policy has established the focus of RoMES as the state of the craft in all fields of Middle East studies. The Editor is Heather Ferguson and the journal is based at Claremont McKenna College . MESA has

210-568: Is named after Albert Hourani , "to recognize his long and distinguished career as teacher and mentor". Malcolm Kerr Award The MESA Dissertation Awards were established in 1982 to recognize exceptional achievement in research and writing for/of dissertations in Middle East studies. In 1984 the award was named for Malcolm H. Kerr to honor his significant contributions to Middle East studies. Awards are given in two categories: Social Sciences and Humanities. Jere L. Bacharach Service Award Since 1997 Jere L. Bacharach Service Award has recognized

240-804: The American Association for the Advancement of Science , specific to a given discipline, such as the Modern Language Association , or specific to a given area of study, such as the Royal Entomological Society . Most are either specific to a particular country (e.g. the Entomological Society of Israel ), though they generally include some members from other countries as well, often with local branches, or are international, such as

270-611: The Center for Contemporary Arab Studies intermittently for over twenty years, most recently from 2007 to 2010. Michael C. Hudson received his Bachelor of Arts from Swarthmore College in 1959 and his Master of Arts and Ph.D. in political science from Yale University in 1960 and 1964, respectively. In 1961, he received a Certificate in Arabic from Princeton University . While studying for his PhD at Yale, Hudson specialized in comparative politics and international relations with his advisor,

300-779: The City University of New York , from 1964-1968, and then an Associate Professor (tenured), from 1968-1970. In 1970, he became Associate Professor in the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) at the Johns Hopkins University . He remained at SAIS until 1975, when he co-founded the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies (CCAS) at Georgetown University with a distinguished group of academics, including Hisham Sharabi , John Ruedy, Ibrahim Oweiss , Ambassador Clovis Maksoud, and Dean Peter F. Krogh . Hudson served as

330-969: The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions or the Regional Studies Association , in which case they often have national branches. But many are local, such as the Massachusetts Medical Society , the publishers of the internationally known The New England Journal of Medicine . Some learned societies (such as the Royal Society Te Apārangi ) have been rechartered by legislation to form quasi-autonomous non-governmental organizations . Membership may be open to all, may require possession of some qualification, or may be an honor conferred by election. Some societies offer membership to those who have an interest in

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360-627: The International Herald Tribune , and others. Much of Hudson's academic work was supported by competitive grants and fellowships. These included the Robert R. McCormick Fellowship from Yale University (1959–62), American Philosophical Society grants (1965 and 1968), the Harvard Center for International Affairs Fellowship (1965–66), a Guggenheim Fellowship (1975–76), and a Fulbright Senior Fellowship to Yemen in 1994. He

390-630: The Middle East Studies Association of North America , and served as president of the association from 1986 to 1987. He served on the editorial boards of the International Journal of Middle East Studies , the Journal of Arab Affairs , and Cambridge University Press's Middle East Library series. He also served as a manuscript evaluator for over a dozen academic journals. He was a member of the advisory board of

420-600: The National Council of Area Studies Associations , and a member of the National Humanities Alliance . In 2007, Bernard Lewis and Fouad Ajami started Association for the Study of the Middle East and Africa (ASMEA) as a rival to MESA, as they saw MESA as "dominated by academics who have been critical of Israel and of America's role in the Middle East." In mid-March 2022, MESA voted by

450-628: The United States . In 2007, the Association for the Study of the Middle East and Africa was founded as an ideological counterweight to MESA. MESA was founded in 1966 with 51 original members. Its current membership exceeds 2,700 and it "serves as an umbrella organization for more than fifty institutional members and thirty-six affiliated organizations". It is a constituent society of the American Council of Learned Societies and

480-1176: The World Association in Economics is free of cost. Following the globalization and the development of information technology, certain scholarly societies—such as the Modern Language Association—have created virtual communities for their members. In addition to established academic associations, academic virtual communities have been so organized that, in some cases, they have become more important platforms for interaction and scientific collaborations among researchers and faculty than have traditional scholarly societies. Members of these online academic communities, grouped by areas of interests, use for their communication shared and dedicated listservs (for example JISCMail ), social networking services (like Facebook or LinkedIn ) and academic oriented social networks (like Humanities Commons, ResearchGate , Mendeley or Academia.edu ). Michael Hudson (political scientist) Michael Craig Hudson (June 2, 1938 – May 25, 2021)

510-481: The sociology of science argue that learned societies are of key importance and their formation assists in the emergence and development of new disciplines or professions. In the form of professional associations, they can assist in the creation of pathways to leadership. The World Association in Economics provides help to the members of the WAE on the following issues: Societies can be very general in nature, such as

540-878: The National Council on US-Arab Relations and the board of trustees of the American Institute for Pakistan Studies. Furthermore, he served as an external evaluator for Middle East studies programs at the University of Utah, the University of Virginia, and Kuwait University. He also served on committees within the Social Science Research Council and the American Council of Learned Societies. In addition to his distinguished record of establishing and directing premier centers for Middle East studies (CCAS and MEI), Hudson

570-589: The contributions of individuals through their outstanding service to MESA or the profession. Service is defined broadly to include work in diverse areas, including but not limited to outreach, librarianship, and film. I. William Zartman Johns Hopkins University Michael C. Hudson National University of Singapore The following persons have been presidents of the association: Learned society Most learned societies are non-profit organizations , and many are professional associations . Their activities typically include holding regular conferences for

600-666: The director of CCAS from 1976-1989, and directed it again in 2000, 2003-2006, and 2007-2010. In 2010, Hudson became the director of the Middle East Institute (MEI) and professor of political science at the National University of Singapore (NUS). Hudson was the first director of MEI, which was founded in 2007 as an autonomous research institute within NUS. He continued to direct MEI. Hudson was also professor emeritus at Georgetown University. In January 2015, he

630-531: The greater Middle East, Hudson explored the interplay between 'rationalist' classical international relations theory approaches and 'sociological' approaches that focus on the domestic decision-making arena. Influenced in his academic training by Kenneth Waltz on the one hand and Karl W. Deutsch on the other, Hudson argued against theoretical stovepiping; understanding integrative and conflict tendencies requires acknowledgement of Waltz's 'third image' approach as well as Deutsch's 'social mobilization approach.' As

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660-427: The negative consequences of military interventions, and the failure to maintain soft power and capitalize on a legacy of goodwill. He asserts that "Imperial America" has been driven by dysfunctional domestic pressures and poor decision-making, and suggested that the so-called " American decline " in the Middle East might not be a bad thing for all concerned. Dealing with questions of regional integration and conflict in

690-769: The presentation and discussion of new research results, and publishing or sponsoring academic journals in their discipline. Some also act as professional bodies, regulating the activities of their members in the public interest or the collective interest of the membership. Some of the oldest learned societies are the Académie des Jeux floraux (founded 1323), Sodalitas Litterarum Vistulana (founded 1488), Accademia della Crusca (founded 1583), Accademia dei Lincei (founded 1603), Académie Française (founded 1635), German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina (founded 1652), Royal Society (founded 1660) and French Academy of Sciences (founded 1666). Scholars in

720-577: The question of participation is key to legitimacy, an issue borne out by the Arab uprisings beginning in 2011. Further, new information technologies and social media have invigorated civil societies in these countries. Hudson also contributed to the scholarship on politics in divided societies, U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East, and regional integration and conflict in the Middle East. On politics in divided societies, he took Lebanon as an ongoing case study (see his book The Precarious Republic ), critiquing

750-841: The renowned political scientist Karl W. Deutsch . His dissertation was entitled "Political Change in Lebanon: 1943-1963," which would be the basis for his first book The Precarious Republic: Political Modernization in Lebanon . While conducting fieldwork in Lebanon for his doctoral dissertation, Hudson taught history at the American Community School in Beirut from 1962-1963. Also while completing his doctoral degree, he served as an instructor at Swarthmore College, from 1963-1964. Upon completing his studies at Yale University, Hudson became Assistant Professor at Brooklyn College at

780-481: The theory of consociationalism and advocating the deconstruction rather than the institutionalization of sectarianism in Lebanon and elsewhere in the region, despite the recent apparent resurgence of sectarian polarization. On U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East, Hudson contends that a Pax Americana for the Middle East is illusory, owing to the U.S.'s unbalanced approach to the Palestine-Israel conflict,

810-554: Was an American political scientist, the director of the Middle East Institute and professor of political science at the National University of Singapore . He was also professor emeritus at Georgetown University , where he was professor of international relations since 1979 and Saif Ghobash Professor of Arab Studies since 1980 in the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service . While at Georgetown, Hudson served as director of

840-407: Was an authoritative scholar of contemporary Middle East politics. His most notable contributions are on the problem of political legitimacy in the Arab world, as set out in his seminal work Arab Politics: The Search for Legitimacy . He identified and explored the legitimacy 'deficits' of various Arab governments, focusing on cultural, institutional, and leadership sources of legitimacy. He argued that

870-709: Was appointed the Kuwait Foundation Visiting Scholar at Harvard Kennedy School's Middle East Initiative . He was leading a study group at the Kennedy School on "Rethinking the Arab State: The Collapse of Legitimacy in Arab Politics." During the course of his career, Hudson served on numerous boards and committees related to the fields of political science and Middle East studies. He was a founding member of

900-422: Was frequently consulted by news organizations for interviews and guest appearances to discuss political developments in the Middle East. Furthermore, he regularly contributed to the media through opinion editorials and short essays. Some of these outlets include Al-Jazeera English , Jadaliyya , Foreign Policy , Singapore's Middle East Insights , The Washington Post , Lebanon's The Daily Star and Al-Mustaqbal ,

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