A three-day workshop on twentieth century historiography of the Middle East took place in Istanbul this past May. This was the second in a series of workshops intended to present a comprehensive survey of major trends in Middle East Studies and major research trends that evolved in it in recent years.
The first gathering took place also in Istanbul in 1999 (New Approaches to the Study of Ottoman and Arab Societies) wherein leading authorities in Middle East historiography participated. The project, a co-production of Bo?azi?i (Bosphorus) University in Turkey, the Institute for Advanced Studies in Jerusalem and the Chaim Herzog Center, was organized by Professors Israel Gershoni and Amy Singer of Tel- Aviv University, and Professor Hakan Erdem of Bo?azi?i (Visiting Fellow at the Center, 2001/2).
What made the conference a success were the intense discussions and brainstorming sessions. In three full and fulfilling days participants discussed a wide range of topics that included, among others, the history of politics in twentieth century Egypt; different narratives of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict; sexuality in nineteenth century Iran; gender studies; social history, with an emphasis on popular classes; and the study of visual culture. Clearly, the diversity of topics reveals that Middle East historiography has made impressive headway in recent years. Scholars no longer focus on philological studies, nor reproduce Western stereotypes about the region. Rather, as many participants pointed out, there is great openness to approaches from other disciplines in the humanities and social sciences. Indeed, Middle East history has become a truly cross-disciplinary enterprise.