University of Wisconsin–Madison
  • Movie poster for Bouchra, featuring a dog with reflective eyes in the rain, from TIFF Platform
    Apr 10
    Film: “Bouchra”

    Music Hall, 925 Bascom Mall, Madison, WI 53706

    An immigrant story like no other, Bouchra blends 3D animation, documentary, and anthropomorphism to depict a queer Moroccan finding her way in Manhattan.

    Movie poster for Bouchra, featuring a dog with reflective eyes in the rain, from TIFF Platform
  • Apr 10
    Lecture: “Captives and Communities in the Early Modern Ottoman Mediterranean”

    Memorial Union, check TITU

    Professor Ali Atabey (University of Texas at San Antonio) Due to the changing dynamics of the early modern Mediterranean, the seventeenth century witnessed a marked rise in captive-taking, affecting thousands of Ottoman subjects who traveled the region as merchants, soldiers, and pilgrims. This talk examines the redemption and post-captivity experiences of Ottoman subjects through Ottoman …

  • Apr 10
    Film: “Do You Love Me”

    UW Cinematheque, Vilas Communication Hall, 821 University Ave, Madison, WI 53706

    Do You Love Me is an exciting, sometimes jolting, and surprisingly tender excavation of Beirut’s past and present, crafted entirely from 70 years of archival footage - news documentaries, home videos, TV variety shows, action movies, and musicals.

  • Apr 10
    Workshop: “Piracy, Law, and Maritime Power in the Mediterranean World.”

    Memorial Library, check TITU

    We will explore the use of Ottoman legal documents for Mediterranean history. It prioritizes court records from seventeenth-century Istanbul and supplements them with other valuable sources, such as complaint registers and registers of important affairs.

  • Hanan Al-Alawi, Assistant Professor in Gender and Women's Studies UW-Madison
    Apr 6
    Jāl Mythmaking: Embodied Indigeneity in the Marshlands and Coasts of the Persian/Arabian Gulf

    Ingraham 206

    Hanan Al-Alawi (UW-Madison) will explore how the marshland inhabitants of Iraq and coastal communities of southern Iran reimagine Indigeneity through mythmaking practices and embodied interactions with land and water.

    Hanan Al-Alawi, Assistant Professor in Gender and Women's Studies UW-Madison
  • Mar 24
    A Conversation with Ahmed Badr, 2026 Keynote Speaker for MENA Heritage Month

    Play Circle Theater, Memorial Union

    Ahmed Badr is an Iraqi-American author, professor, and social entrepreneur working at the intersection of creativity, displacement, and youth empowerment.

  • Mar 13
    Hybrid Lecture: Byzantium, Historical Nostalgia, and Digital Extremism

    Memorial Union, Beefeaters Room, Third Floor

    This talk examines the highly politicized and frequently extremist reinterpretations of Byzantium circulating in the digital world, focusing particularly on the platforms 4chan and TikTok.

  • Mar 6
    Teach-In: US Empire & Iran

    Pyle Center, 121 Auditorium

    Panelists: Monica Kim: US Empire Giuliana Chamedes: Fascism Daniel Williford: Middle East/Tech Alfred McCoy: War/Global Empire/CIA Others to Be Confirmed

  • Mar 6
    Inheriting An Invented Tradition: Islamic Art in the Arabian Peninsula

    Memorial Union, 800 Langdon Street

    With Professor Jennifer Pruitt, Howard & Ellen Louise Schwartz Professor of Islamic Art & Architecture, UW–Madison

  • Mar 4
    Film: “The Voice of Hind Rajab”

    Union South, 1308 W Dayton St, Madison, WI 53715

    Winner of the Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize at the 82nd Venice International Film Festival and current nominee for Best International Feature Film at the 98th Academy Awards.