The Family Business Histories Project has published 100 articles in its “Spotlights Series,” documenting the histories of family businesses across the MENASA region. Available in English and Arabic, the series highlights founders’ entrepreneurial journeys and the lasting contributions of business families to their societies.
Associate Professor of Practice of Visual Arts, Goffredo Puccetti, published on Grafica Magazine Issue n.7, which is an independent quarterly publication focused on graphic design, visual culture, and editorial design. It highlights both contemporary and historical graphic design, featuring academic, archival, and educational content. This is the second time that he is prominently featured in it.
Professor of Music Carlos Guedes released Time Poetries, a musical work published by the prestigious label NEOS Music. This album is available as a double LP in vinyl, CD, and on the common streaming platforms. At Apple Music and Tidal the work can be listened to in Dolby ATMOS.
Associate Professor of Philosophy Gabriel Oak Rabin, had his paper "Fundamentality First: Relational or Monadic" accepted for publication in Australasian Philosophical Review. The paper explores whether the metaphysical task of theorizing about fundamentality should start from a conception of what is fundamental or whether it should start from a conception of what is relationally more fundamental than what.
Associate Professor of Film and New Media Dale Hudson and Patricia R. Zimmermann from Ithaca College, published their second coauthored book, Documentary Habitats: Transmedia Ecologies (Indiana University Press 2026), which argues that the polycrisis demands long-term strategies, not short-term technocratic pivots, and local and indigenous knowledge, derived from extended living with a place, not techno-solutions that generate profit elsewhere.
Visiting Associate Professor of History and Art
and Art History, Salila Kulshreshtha, published a new article, ‘Francis Buchanan and Collecting Knowledge in Nineteenth-century India,’ in the Journal of South Asian Studies. The paper focuses on Francis Buchanan-Hamilton, one of the earliest surveyors appointed by the English East India Company to survey the territories and collect information about the Company’s newly conquered domains in 19th-century India.
Co-Program Head of Art and Art History; Senior Research Scholar. Andreas Valentin's book Inventing with Hélio Oiticica: The Story of a Friendship has been published by Bom Dia Boa Tarde Boa Noite Books, Berlin. It addresses his lifelong relationship with Brazilian avant-garde artist Hélio Oiticica (1937-1980).
NYUAD Class of 2015 alumnus Luis Morales Navarro successfully defended his PhD thesis at the University of Pennsylvania on 20 April 2026. His research explores how young people develop technical and ethical understandings of generative AI and language models. Building on his earlier NYUAD Capstone work in Film and New Media, his doctoral research examines the role of generative AI in youth learning. He will begin a postdoctoral position in Denmark this fall.
al Mawrid Senior Investigator Nada Shabout was invited by the UAE National Pavilion to deliver an opening lecture for 30 interns participating in the Venice Internship Program, introducing them to the contemporary Arab art scene and preparing them to engage confidently with the exhibition. She was also invited by the C-MAP Africa Group and Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) to present a virtual seminar on her research on Pan-Arab Biennials in Africa. In addition, Professor Shabout delivered a lecture at American University of Beirut titled “All Manner of Experiments: Line and Surface in Modern Iraqi Art,” attended by more than 50 participants.
Associate Professor of Film and New Media Dale Hudson co-curated Art in Migration for the 2026 edition of Finger Lakes Environmental Film Festival alongside Claudia Costa Pederson of Wichita State University. The online exhibition featured works by Gabriela Aceves Sepúlveda, Imran Channa, and Sarah Shamash, exploring themes of migration, globalization, and community resilience. The exhibition and accompanying artist roundtable were free and open to the public.
With the support of a 19 Washington Square North Fellowship, Co-Principal Investigators at NYUAD Gregory Pardlo and Montana Ray (NYU New York) organized and led the “Family Photography Symposium,” a day-long series of presentations, discussions, and workshops. This event was held at the 19 Washington Square North facility at NYUNY on 23 April, 2026. The event was attended by more than 200 faculty, students, and members of the public.
Visiting professor of Humanities Marwa Koheji contributed a video presentation to “It’s Cold Out There!”, a research salon curated by the Museum of Modern Art in New York. She also signed a book contract with the University of California Press, with the manuscript scheduled for submission in January 2026, and had an article accepted for publication in Cultural Anthropology.
In addition to her research contributions, Koheji served as second reader for an Arab Crossroads Studies capstone project and participated in the selection committee for the Arab Crossroads Studies Graduate Workshop.
On May 17, al Mawrid Senior Investigator Nada Shabout and Sultan Sooud Al-Qassemi of Barjeel Art Foundation had a talk that was moderated by NYUAD Galleries Executive Director and Chief Curator, Senior Research Scholar, Maya Allison, on the occasion of the launch of Shabout's book and exhibition, All Manner of Experiments: Legacies of the Baghdad Modern Art Group at Art Dubai 2026.
Previous News
April 2026
Nobel Prize Laureate Abdulrazak Gurnah participated in the Second International Conference on Applied Research in Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Sharjah, themed “The Future of Society in the Age of Artificial Intelligence.” He joined an international lineup of distinguished keynote speakers, contributing to high-level discussions on the societal implications of AI.
Professor of Literature and Art History, Shamoon Zamir, is publishing his new book, Photography and Citizenship, next month in March. The book reexamines Edward Steichen’s landmark 1955 exhibition The Family of Man, challenging the view that it was merely sentimental or Cold War propaganda. Drawing on extensive archival research, the book argues that Steichen innovatively used exhibition design and photography to promote ideas of global citizenship and shared civic responsibility in the postwar world.
An upcoming roundtable at NYU Athens will mark the launch of Curating the Commons: Socially Engaged Public Art by Katia Arfara, Assistant Professor of Theater and Performance Studies at NYU Abu Dhabi. The book examines the rise of socially engaged art since the global financial crisis, drawing on Arfara’s curatorial work in Athens during a period of intense sociopolitical change. Grounded in Henri Le Discovery Research Fund for Human Health: Early-Stage Research Awards Febvre’s theories of social space and contemporary debates on the commons, the study proposes a “slow” curatorial approach that reimagines public space, collective memory, and belonging.
Explore the work of Professor of Linguistics Carol Genetti through her new academic website, a hub for her research, publications, and contributions to the study of Himalayan and endangered languages. As a leading linguist and professor at NYU Abu Dhabi, her work highlights the richness of linguistic diversity and the importance of language documentation worldwide.
Assistant Professor of Gender, Governance and Society, Henriette Mueller, together with Pamela Pansardi (University of Pavia), published a new article in European Politics and Society. The study revisits Peter Mair’s 2007 argument on the European Parliament’s (EP) weak political opposition by assessing whether the EP functions as an arena for inter- and intra-institutional opposition in EU politics. Focusing on parliamentary speeches, the authors show that MEPs rhetorically signal collective, majority–minority, and pro-/anti-European opposition, contributing to ongoing debates on political opposition in European politics.
NYUAD Associate Professor of Practice of Visual Arts, Goffredo Puccetti has written the essay “Through research to epistemic coherence; the novelty of Al Wissam Script” published in the catalogue of the show of the calligrapher Wissam Shawkat; Taskheel, Dubai, 11 January 2026.
al Mawrid Center for Arab Art's Senior Investigator and Visiting Professor of Art History Nada Shabout, published the book All Manner of Exhibition: Legacies of the Baghdad Modern Art Group exhibition catalogue.
Senior Lecturer of Arabic Language Laila Familiar has launched an Arabic Vocabulary Profile (A1 CEFR). An open, validated list of 414 essential Arabic lexical items across 11 categories, designed to show exactly which vocabulary beginner learners should master at the A1 level. The profile includes English translations and a searchable interface, and was developed through international expert validation to support Arabic teaching and learning.
Program Head of Music; Associate Professor of Music, Andrew J Eisenberg co-edited a special issue of the Journal of Popular Music Studies that was released in the summer of 2025, in addition to also authoring one of the peer-reviewed contributions and co-authoring the introduction. Professor Eisenberg also published a book chapter here during 2025.
The A&H Post-Doctoral Associate AlAnood AlShaikh has been elected as ICOM-UAE Vice Chair and also as the PCSC Arts and Humanities representative, reflecting her continued leadership and impact in the field. Earlier this month, on April 11, AlAnood was also invited as a key speaker on the arts and culture panel at the China-Gulf Forum. These milestones highlight her growing influence and dedication to advancing arts and culture both regionally and internationally.
Assistant Professor of Interactive Media, Nimrah Syed, curated and installed a selection of student projects developed in her course "Future Punk" for presentation at Dubai Design Week 2025.
On February 24, the Abrahamic Family House, in collaboration with NYU Abu Dhabi, hosted an intimate suhoor conversation featuring Nobel Laureate Abdulrazak Gurnah in dialogue with Isobel Abulhoul of the Emirates Literature Foundation, moderated by Dean of Arts and Humanities Awam Amkpa. The discussion explored how storytelling creates spaces of connection, drawing on personal journeys shaped by migration, memory, and the written word.
Associate Dean for Research and Professor of Arabic and Islamic Studies, Bilal Orfali, held a talk at the Louvre on February 24. It explored timeless journey of longing, transformation, and self-discovery through poetry and reflection inspired by Farid ud-Din Al Attar's Conference of the Birds. On April 18, Dr. Orfali moderated an online reading circle on the same topic for Ishara Art Foundation in collaboration with Sonali Prasad. The session explored the text’s themes and lasting relevance within Sufi traditions, while engaging with Ali Kazim’s Hudhud (Conference of the Birds), previously on view in the exhibition Urdu World.
Visiting Senior Lecturer of Chinese Language, Jing Chai, gave a presentation on Participatory Research in Chinese Character Learning: Insights from a Global Crowdsourcing Platform at Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi for the International Conference Rethinking Language Education Through Plurilingual Voices, attended by 200+ international language educators.
al Mawrid's Director and PI, Professor Salwa Mikdadi, was invited to be a member of the specialized Committee for the Arts and Literature to select a winner at the Great Arab Minds award grant event. The event took place in Dubai on January 15, 2026. Great Arab Minds is the largest initiative of its kind in the Arab world, launched under the directive of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum.
Assistant Professor of Theater and Performance Studies at NYUAD and Tisch NYU, Katia Arfara encouraged her students to visit al Mawrid Arab Center for the Study of Art and use its resources for their research projects, as she believes that al Mawrid is an invaluable resource for NYUAD. Eighteen students from her “un/making history” class had a tour of the center, an introduction to its project, and some details about both the practices and functioning of archives as well as the specifics of al Mawrid's mission, research, and vision of both creating and sharing scholarship.
Distinguished Artist in Residence, Adjunct Professor of Practice Merritt Moore will bring a choreographer to Abu Dhabi with the support of The Research Forums in April, collaborating with CAIR at NYUAD to explore human–robot interaction and produce a series of video works. She has also been invited to perform with the UR20 robot as part of AI Abu Dhabi from May 10-13, 2026. In parallel, she has founded M2 Robots Ltd in the UK, is developing a photography app titled MoorePhotos, is writing a book, How to Dance with Robots, and will perform again in March with the Ballet de l’Opéra de Nice.
Professor of Music Carlos Guedes had the premiere of Vidro Pantera — Estilhaços de Heiner Müller, a play with texts by Heiner Müller directed by Igor Gandra for Teatro de Ferro. The play, with music by Guedes, was premiered January 16, 2026, at Teatro das Figuras in Faro, Portugal.
Director of the A&H Research Platform Alexandra Sandu joined Senior Lecturer of Arts & Humanities and Affiliated
Faculty Member of the History Program William Zimmerle and Visiting NYU student in Anthropology and Museum Studies from New York, Natalia Oben, on February 10 for a special private session with Dr. Don Johanson at the Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi. The event, held for UAE professors and their students, focused on the discovery of 'Lucy.'
February 2026
In collaboration with NYU Abu Dhabi’s Center for AI and Robotics (CAIR), Distinguished Artist in Residence and Adjunct Professor of Practice, Merritt Moore co-authored the paper “Leader–Follower Human-Cobot Improvised Dance Using Motion Capture Systems,” which explores new approaches to human-robot interaction through improvised dance. She is also collaborating with a researcher at the Robotics and AI Institute (formerly the Boston Dynamics Institute) on the development of a mobile interface that enables more intuitive programming of the UR20 robot, allowing movements to be synchronized easily and in real time with music.
NYUAD Assistant Arts Professor Chinasa Ezugha has published a new article titled "Performing Blackness and its ethics in the United Kingdom’s Live Art context" in Performing Ethos: An International Journal of Ethics in Theatre & Performance (Volume 15, Number 2, pp. 115–28). In this insightful piece, Professor Ezugha explores the complex ethical dimensions and representative nuances of Blackness within the specific landscape of British Live Art. The article contributes significantly to ongoing dialogues regarding performance ethics and social practice.
Program Head of Theatre and Arts Professor of Theatre Abhishek Majumdar's new book Kaumudi aur anya natak, which translates to "Kaumudi and other plays," has been published by Rajkamal Prakashan in Hindi and launched at the World Book Fair in Delhi.
Research Scholar Eduardo Lage-Otero, together with former NYUAD student, Silvana García Gutiérrez, presented a paper titled “Optimizing cognitive load in language peer tutoring with GenAI” at the fourth Congress on Language Teaching Innovation organized by the Open University in Portugal. The event took place on November 6th, 2025.
al Mawrid Arab Center for the Study of Art hosted an engaging lecture by Dr. Sultan Sooud Al-Qassemi, researcher, instructor, and Founder of the Barjeel Art Foundation on February 2. Al-Qassemi highlighted and challenged aspects of acquiring Arab art in the 21st century, from the pitfalls of encountering non-original and stolen pieces to the excitement of the discovery and exploration of unknown Arab artists.
The Humanities Research Fellowship for the Study of the Arab World held a three-day writing seminar for NYUAD faculty in the Arts and Humanities and Social Sciences, whose research focuses on the MENASA region. Participants worked in the Art Jameel Library’s shared workspace, took part in structured morning and afternoon writing blocks and joined group dinners, and engaged in informal discussions on writing strategies and practices.
The Writing, Languages and Pedagogy Research Forum held a webinar on GenAI-Assisted Digital Multimodal Composing in Language Teacher Education on February 3rd. In this talk, Dr. Benjamin Moorhouse shared a study that explores how pre-service language teachers integrate GenAI tools into a Digital Multimodal Composing project (DMC), composing a website, at a Hong Kong university. It specifically explores their decision-making and cognitive engagement in the DMC process when they had autonomy in the use of GenAI tools. Drawing on a social practice perspective of literacy, the research explores the ways in which GenAI supports or complicates multimodal composing, and the professional learning outcomes for language pre-service teachers. The study highlights the importance of experiential learning, explicit guidance, and ethical awareness for integrating Al and DMC in language teacher education, offering practical implications for curriculum design in the GenAI era.
NYUAD recently hosted a conversation between Evan Chesler, Chairman of the NYU Board of Trustees and retired partner at Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP, and NYU President Linda Mills. The discussion, titled “The System in Crisis,” examined whether the system of government designed by the Founding Fathers and outlined in the U.S. Constitution has functioned as intended. Drawing on a range of examples, the speakers reflected on moments when the system succeeds, where it falls short, and what these outcomes reveal about its underlying design. The talk took place on Thursday, February 5.
Merritt Moore, NYUAD's Distinguished Artist in Residence and Adjunct Professor of Practice, was recently featured at the NDTV Summit in India, where she was invited by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to perform with a UR robot on national television. In the presence of international leaders, including the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka and former prime ministers of the UK and Australia, Prime Minister Modi remarked that he had personally selected Moore for the performance, describing it as a “pinnacle fusion of art and science.” The event also included a spontaneous Bollywood-ballet-robot dance that quickly went viral. In addition to this high-profile appearance, Moore performed 30 Nutcrackers by renowned choreographer Benjamin Millepied in Nice, Paris, and Rabat, Morocco.
Ouided Bouchamaoui, Professor of Practice in Diplomacy and Conflict Resolution, published an article named "Theorizing peaceful service ecosystems from the Arab region", written with Wafa Hammedi and Raymond Fisk. This viewpoint article addresses the persistent geographical and epistemological marginalization of the Arab region within service research. It challenges Western-centric theoretical dominance and proposes a reorientation that positions the Arab region as a fertile ground for conceptual innovation.
A new academic article titled “What Is a Lemma in Arabic and Why Does It Matter in the Construction of Frequency Dictionaries?” was published by Senior Lecturer of Arabic Language, Laila Familiar, in Al-ʿArabiyya: Journal of the American Association of Teachers of Arabic (Fall 2025).
Senior Lecturer of Arabic Language Nasser Isleem published an article titled “Proverbs in the Arabic Classroom: Enhancing Language Skills and Cultural Insight” in the Southern Journal of Linguistics (Volume 48, Number 1). The piece was co-authored with Michael Rulon and Charles Joukhadar and published by Florida Atlantic University (ISSN 0730-6245).
Students from Professor of Movements, Spaces and Cultural Practices Susan Ossman's course of Ethnography and the Arts developed an exhibition for the Cube Gallery in the Arts Center. Titled Art Through Ethnography, the exhibition showcased work created over the course of the semester, reflecting the students’ engagement with ethnographic methods through artistic practice.
On January 14, Khaleeji jazz ensemble Boom.Diwan, featuring NYUAD Assistant Professor of Arab Music Ghazi Al Mulaifi, performed alongside guests Nduduzo Makhathini, Liany Mateo, and Elé Howell. The concert was a cross-continental meeting of Kuwaiti tradition and improvisational jazz.
The inaugural Forum on Language Pedagogy at NYU Abu Dhabi, organized by the Arabic Program, Spanish Program and Writing, Languages and Pedagogy Research Forum, brought together faculty and researchers from around the UAE and beyond on December 11 to develop research collaborations and encourage the sharing of best practices in language instruction. Focused on the topic of Generative AI (GenAI) integration, the forum featured an intensive workshop, poster sessions, and several panel presentations. Participants engaged in lively discussions on topics ranging from AI in Arabic storytelling and language assessment to practical tools for enhancing learner autonomy.
Professor of Practice in Diplomacy and Conflict Resolution Ouided Bouchamaoui participated in the Inaugural panel: Women’s Leadership: A Transformative Driver for Equal Rights and Universal Access to Health in Africa. The Prix Galien, awarded for over 50 years, is the equivalent of the Nobel Prize for pharmaceutical innovation. The general theme for the eighth Galien Africa Forum was: "Health Sovereignty: An Imperative for Africa." Prior to that, she also delivered a Keynote speech at the Annual Convention of Lalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS), University in Bhubaneshwar, India.
In December 2025, NYU Abu Dhabi joined international partners for the Alwaleed Cultural Network Management Board Meeting in Berlin. Hosted at the Museum for Islamic Art, the gathering focused on cross-institutional collaboration and strategic planning for 2026. Watch the video.
From December 8–10, 2025, NYUAD hosted “Indigenous Cinema: South Asian Perspectives,” a global gathering organized by the Culture, Rights and Representation Research Forum and the Film and New Media Program. The event featured Nagaland-based filmmaker Kivini Shohe, who screened her documentary Under the Longfuru Sky and discussed preserving cultural memory through observational cinema. Through screenings and panels, participants explored themes of identity and resistance. Associate Professor Rashmi Sawhney emphasized the event's success in fostering vital cross-regional dialogue among Indigenous communities across India and Southeast Asia.
On 19 November 2025, Visiting Professor of Practice of Arab Crossroads Tim Mackintosh-Smith delivered the public lecture, “Ibn Khaldun: The Untold Biography”, as part of the Louvre Abu Dhabi Mamluks exhibition. The lecture focused on Ibn Khaldun's private side as revealed in his and others' poetry and letters, previously untranslated. The main lecture hall at the Louvre was almost full to capacity.
NYUAD's Professor of Social Research and Public Policy Anju Paul and Assistant Professor of Arab Crossroads Studies, Anthropology and Social Research and Public Policy Laure Assaf, together with Brenda Yeoh from the National University of Singapore, convened an international workshop on 19-21 November, entitled "Theorizing Transience: Temporary Migrations in the Middle East and Asia-Pacific." This highly successful workshop, funded through the NYUAD Institute, complicated our understanding of transience, beyond its equation either with precarity or with a free existence.
Professor of Literature and Creative Writing, Gregory Pardlo gave a poetry reading from his latest collection of poems, Spectral Evidence, at the Poetry Society of America, one of the premier poetry organizations in the country, founded in 1910. The reading took place on November 20, 2025.
Nobel Laureate in Economics, Professor Abhijit Banerjee, was in conversation with Associate Professor of Practice, Literature and Creative Writing, Tishani Doshi at the NYU Abu Dhabi Institute on November 24, 2025.
NYUAD Arts Professor of Theater Joanna Settle and Saudi Arabian artist-choreographer Sarah Brahim presented How Can I Reach You?, a durational performance in response to the location and our times. The premiere was commissioned by Alserkal Arts Foundation and hosted by London’s Delfina Foundation. How Can I Reach You?, with costumes by UAE-based Lina Younis, saw 11 dancers entwined in shared garments exploring distance, connection, and intimacy as forms of resilience across the face of Delphina’s townhouse.
From November 10 to 12, 2025, Assistant Professor of Interactive Media Nimrah Syed moderated a panel for Rehearsing Futures at The Future is Not a Grave symposium held at NYU Abu Dhabi. She facilitated a discussion in which panelists drew from practices rooted in feminist pedagogies, site-specific and participatory performance, exploring how theatre can cultivate collective imagination of possible futures.
Associate Professor of Arab Crossroads Studies and Anthropology Nathalie Peutz, currently the Rita E. Hauser Fellow at the Harvard Radcliffe Institute, published “Refugee: Yemenis Navigating Humanitarianism and Human Rights in the Afro-Asian Circuit” (co-authored with Angie Heo) in Ross Porter, ed. Concept and Critique: Essays for a Political Anthropology of Yemen, Syracuse University Press, 168–210. She was also invited to deliver talks on her current book project at Middlebury College, Harvard's Anthropology Department, and the Zentrum Moderner Orient in Berlin.
Photography and Citizenship: The Art and Politics of The Family of Man, authored by Shamoon Zamir, Professor of Literature and Art History at NYUAD, is the first sustained examination of what remains the most successful photographic exhibition in history. The Family of Man opened at the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 1955 and then, for the next seven years, it toured the world and was seen by almost 10 million people. Photography and Citizenship offers the first detailed analysis of the exhibition as a curatorial work of art and a radically new assessment of its politics. This book will be published in early 2026.
al Mawrid Arab Center for the Study of Art participated in the Abu Dhabi Art Fair (19–23 November) by exhibiting samples from the Arab Art Archive. The exhibit attracted a substantial number of visitors who expressed strong appreciation for the uniqueness of the Center's research. During the Fair, al Mawrid Senior Investigator and Visiting Professor of Art History, Nada Shabout, had a public conversation with Christie's MENA Chairman and Art and Archeology historian, Dr. Ridha Moumni. The conversation drew an exceptional audience who engaged with their discussion on "Reclaiming Our Narratives: Writing the History of Arab Modernism Through Archives."
At the Digital Heritage Forum in November, 2025, MaSC showcased its work in preserving Emirati sound heritage through presenting "Playing with Heritage: Finding New Narratives of Expression," Professor of Music Carlos Guedes highlighted the importance of safeguarding sensory traditions and illustrated how sound can connect historical memory with contemporary experience. This was evident in the way the MaSC team participated in the Maritime Heritage Festival, where they placed an immersive sound installation titled "A Journey Across Emirati Values". Carlos Guedes presented on new narrative possibilities in heritage preservation. MaSC is also pleased to share that Dr. Guedes, along with collaborators Kaustuv Ganguli and Gus Xia, has been appointed co-chair of ISMIR 2026, announced at ISMIR 2025 in South Korea.
The Interactive Media program participated in Dubai Design Week, held from November 4 to 9, 2025, with an exhibition showcasing student work from two courses: "Digital Matter: Parametric Design Lab" and "Future Punk. The Digital Matter" class, led by Associate Program Head of Interactive Media; Visiting Assistant Professor of Interactive Media Aya Riad, presented a series of computationally scripted, 3D-printed wearable projects under the title Body Architecture. In this studio, students sketched with code, translated data and constraints into form, and explored material behaviors through digital fabrication. Future Punk, taught by Visiting Assistant Professor of Interactive Media Nimrah Syed, invited students to use speculative fiction and strategic foresight from non-Western perspectives to prototype alternative futures grounded in the UAE’s evolving context.
“Istanbul,” the newly released original single by Visiting Lecturer of Music and singer-pianist-composer Mary Gatchell, captures the vibrant spirit and soulful beauty of her recent travels to the storied city. Recorded this past summer in New York City with her band and featuring acclaimed artist Ismail Lumanovski on the Turkish clarinet, the track transports listeners to the heart of Istanbul. The single is now available on all streaming platforms and at www.marygatchell.com.
November, 2025
Professor of Practice in Diplomacy and Conflict Resolution at NYUAD, Ouided Bouchamaoui, published an article named "Theorizing peaceful service ecosystems from the Arab region", written with Wafa Hammedi and Raymond Fisk. This viewpoint article addresses the persistent geographical and epistemological marginalization of the Arab region within service research. It challenges Western-centric theoretical dominance and proposes a reorientation that positions the Arab region as a fertile ground for conceptual innovation.
Associate Dean for Research; Professor of Arabic and Islamic Studies, Bilal Orfali, Publishes an Edition of Tuḥfat al-Mulūk in a landmark contribution to Arab and Islamic Heritage, filling a long-standing gap in the publication of works that illuminate the deep interconnections between culture, knowledge, and politics. What distinguishes this work is its authorship by a political ruler rather than a religious scholar or jurist. This unique perspective merges the worldview of the ruling elite with reflections from everyday society, presenting a compelling portrait of mental, cultural, and social life in the fourth-century AH / tenth-century AD.
Associate Professor of History Masha Kirasirova recently co-organized the conference The Future Is Not a Grave together with Visiting Associate Professor of Practice, Literature and Creative Writing Tishani Doshi. The program convenes artists and scholars to examine futurisms and futurescapes across the MENA region, the Gulf, and the Indian Ocean worlds. It explores artistic utopianism, stories of human adaptability, and designs for more equitable ways of living as collective antidotes to climate despair and political catastrophe. They were also interviewed about the workshop for the Afikra podcast.
Professor of Arab Crossroads, NYU Abu Dhabi; Global Network Professor of Arab Crossroads Studies Justin Stearns shares that during the 2025–26 academic year, he will serve as a Visiting Scholar in Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at Harvard University. In addition, he has been awarded a Fellowship in the School of Historical Studies at the Institute for Advanced Study (IAS), Princeton, for spring 2026.
Associate Professor of Film and New Media Dale Hudson coauthored a chapter with Patricia R. Zimmermann, entitled “Environments of Race and Place: The Urgencies and Enmeshments of Participatory Community Media,” in The Oxford Handbook of American Documentary. The chapter challenges biases within documentary studies by examining participatory community media, which arises from specific places, racialized communities, and advocacy for social and political change by understanding environmental and racial justice as inseparable. Hudson and Zimmermann have also coauthored a chapter in another book entitled "Documentary’s Augmented Realities,” in Expanded Documentary: Ecologies of Images/Images of Ecology. The chapter considers micro-local works bound to particular places where communities must learn to share space and recognize past and present injustices.
al Mawrid Arab Center for the Study of Art presented a vibrant showcase at the main entrance of Manarat Saadiyat, highlighting key projects and rare materials from the collections of leading Arab artists. The Center also hosted a compelling talk with Nada Shabout and Ridha Moumni titled “Reclaiming our Narrative: Writing the History of Arab Modernism Through Archives.” Held on Friday, November 21, the conversation explored how archives shape and preserve the story of Arab modernism.
This year, Associate Arts Professor Literature and Creative Writing, Deepak Unnikrishnan, Shaima Shamsi (MFA Class of 2026), and Carlos Páez (Class of 2027) were invited to speak alongside other artists at the Abu Dhabi Art Community Talks in a panel titled "Common Ground." On November 21, they explored how artists and thinkers trace connections through acts of care, shared rhythms, and layered histories. The conversation considers how community functions in an evolving commons, a space where memory, imagination, and everyday life intertwine.
On November 3rd, Professor of Practice in Diplomacy and Conflict Resolution, Ouided Bouchamaoui (Nobel Peace Laureate 2015), opened a panel on "Women’s Leadership in Diplomacy with Reflections on Women’s Roles in Peace Negotiations and Conflict Resolution" hosted by NYUAD's Institute. This was followed by a discussion moderated by Assistant Professor of Gender, Governance and Society, Henriette Mueller. Bouchamaoui also attended the INSEAD-SUAD Second Annual Negotiation in the Middle East Conference on November 26, themed “Negotiating to bridge cultures and perspectives.” She was a panelist in "Women’s Leadership in Negotiation and Transformation."
Assistant Professor of Theater and Performance Studies Katia Arfara was a speaker at the talk "Who Owns the City?" where she discussed her new book, Curating the Commons: Socially Engaged Public Art. The book offers an in-depth study on performance-centered artworks she curated in unexpected urban spaces in Greece during the austerity years, complicating notions of memory, agency, mobility, and belonging. This roundtable explored how the book contributes to the larger effort to craft human and other-than-human narratives and repair shattered urbanities in response to the multifaceted crises of our time.
In October, A&H Visiting Scholar Álvaro Luna-Dubois published the article “Construire le lien dans la fracture: Une lecture postmigratoire du Second Disciple (2019) de Kenan Görgün” in Textyles: revue des lettres belges de langue française. The piece appears in a landmark issue — the first in the journal’s 35-year history to focus on migration in Belgian literature — and explores how Görgün’s novel builds connections across cultural and social divides. Luna-Dubois shows how The Second Disciple questions dominant views of identity and belonging, opening new ways to think about community in contemporary Belgium.
Visiting Associate Professor of Practice, Literature and Creative Writing, Tishani Doshi has two new poems published in the November Issue of Poetry Magazine. These Poems are forthcoming from her new book of poems, EGRETS, WHILE WAR, which will be published in the US, UK, and India in 2026. Read "Some Words to the Close and Holy Darkness" and "The Brainfever Bird, Confused by Seasons."
ACS Associate Professor of Arab Crossroads Studies Nathalie Peutz is currently on research leave as the Rita E. Hauser Fellow at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Harvard University. At Radcliffe, she is completing her book manuscript, Gate of Tears: Migration and Impasse in Yemen and the Horn of Africa, which explores the implementation of the United Nations’ Global Compact for Refugees in a refugee camp in Djibouti. This fall, she has published three articles related to the project: Peutz, Nathalie. “Refugees like us: Arab African encounters at a migratory crossroads.” In “Forum: Arab Encounters,” HAU: Journal of Ethnographic Theory 15 (2): 499–502. Brown, Hera, Malay Firoz, Nathalie Peutz, and Jennifer Riggan. “Incubating Futures: Temporal Violence, Durable Solutions and the Anti-Refugee Machine.” Migration and Society 8 (1). Peutz, Nathalie and Angie Heo. “Refugee: Yemenis Navigating Humanitarianism and Human Rights in the Afro-Asian Circuit” in Ross Porter, ed. Concept and Critique: Essays for a Political Anthropology of Yemen, Syracuse University Press, 168–210.
On 3 November, the NYUAD Institute hosted a panel on women’s leadership in diplomacy. Professor Ouided Bouchamaoui, Nobel Peace Laureate 2015 and Professor of Practice of Diplomacy and Conflict Resolution (NYUAD), opened with reflections on women’s roles in peace negotiations and conflict resolution, followed by a discussion moderated by Henriette Mueller, Assistant Professor of Gender, Governance and Society (NYUAD). The panel included Professor Karen Smith, Professor of International Relations at the LSE, who spoke on women in diplomacy and feminist foreign policy; Nouf Al Hamly, Science and Technology Advisor at the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who outlined recent strategic developments in UAE foreign policy; and Dr. Sara Chehab, Acting Graduates Programmes Director and Senior Research Fellow at the Anwar Gargash Diplomatic Academy, who curates the Women in Diplomacy Index and shared insights from her research on the Women, Peace, and Security Agenda.
Senior Lecturer of Arabic Language, Laila Familiar, recently traveled to Mexico as a guest of El Colegio de México for a series of events celebrating Arabic language and literature. During her visit, Familiar made significant contributions to the Arabic studies community in Latin America. She led a specialized teacher training workshop for Arabic language educators across the region and delivered a lecture on the evolving state of the Arabic language today. Her visit also included a public engagement at the historic Antiguo Colegio de San Ildefonso and an open Arabic language class at Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), where she shared her expertise with students and the broader academic community.
On October 22nd, A&H Visiting Scholar Álvaro Luna-Dubois delivered an invited talk, “Représenter une France postmigratoire dans la bande dessinée contemporaine” [Representing a Postmigratory France in Contemporary Comics], at the Université d’Angers. His presentation examined how contemporary French comics engage with questions of social change, diversity, and collective memory. He also gave the public lecture “Le parcours des personnages maghrébins français vers le succès” [The Journey of Franco-Maghrebi Characters Toward Success], exploring how recent writers and artists challenge (post)colonial stereotypes and rethink the social and economic dimensions of success and belonging in twenty-first-century France.
Al-Mashhad Research Forum held its first salon on November 4. Around 15 faculty and staff members gathered for a conversation on the future of the humanities in regional and global context. The discussion tackled the questions raised by policy changes around diversity in higher education, as well as the public role of the arts and humanities in the face of current world events.
October 2025
NYUAD's Associate Professor of Legal Studies, Jinan Bastaki, co-authored an article with Mutaz Qafisheh and Victor Kattan on "Gaza Marine: The Facts and the Law" for the Leiden Journal of International Law (Sept 2025). Her chapter in the edited volume "Secularism, Race, and the Politics of Islamophobia" was published in May. Dr. Bastaki was also interviewed for the National on the legal status of the Sumud flotilla on September 19.
Senior Lecturer of Writing, Literature, and Creative Writing Sabyn Javeri recently published a creative nonfiction essay on serial migration and evolving feminist identities in A Stone Thrown in a Pond: Essays & Poems on the Enigma of Leaving (Women's Ink, 2025), a global anthology featuring writers such as Adania Shibli, Stephen Alter, and Arundhathi Subramaniam. Her work also appears in In the New Century: An Anthology of Pakistani Literature in English (Oxford University Press, 2025), edited by Muneeza Shamsie. Together, these publications position Javeri among a distinguished group of contemporary writers shaping the landscape of Pakistani literature in English.
Assistant Professor of Music, Ghazi Al-Mulaifi's collaborative Khaleeji Jazz Ensemble where he joins traditional Kuwaiti pearl diving musicians in fusing bahri (sea) rhythms with global jazz influences, Boom.Diwan was featured in AramcoWorld, an important publication in the Gulf. The article highlights how his scholarship as an applied-ethnomusicologist is expressed through his creative practice with Boom.Diwan, in which he reimagines Kuwaiti music while building bridges through a shared global sound.
During the Journées nationales de l'archeticture, titled "Architecture du quotidien: 150 Years of Artists' Ateliers," Associate Professor of Art and Art History Sandra Peters will be presenting the sculpture A Cube as a Line, 2025, at Ateliers 11 in Paris. In collaboration with dancer and performer Hiie Saumaa and musician Christopher Brooks, they will explore how to activate the sculpture through somatic movements and music.
Supported by the Music and Sound Cultures (MaSC), researcher Peter Traver, mentored by NYUAD's Assistant Professor of Music Andrew Eisenberg, aims to model harmonic and melodic relationships using machine learning. Building on ongoing work with Robert Rowe from NYU Steinhardt and Dr. Stephon Alexander from Brown University, this collaborative research project bridges music, culture, and technology by exploring the intersections between jazz improvisation and regional melodic traditions such as maqam. It also leverages MaSC's extensive regional music archives and expertise to deepen our understanding of how computational tools can illuminate and generate music rooted in the cultural traditions of the region.
Associate Professor of Art and Art History Sandra Peters presented two sculptural works, By The Accomplishment Of A Thin Blue Line: A Cube Becoming A Gesture and Between Folds And Curves: A Cube, at the Foyer-LA yoking exhibition, which ran from June 21 to August 2, 2025. Both pieces explore the geometric and conceptual possibilities of unfolding a cube through form and gesture. Continuing this line of inquiry, Peters collaborated with NYUAD Artist-in-Residence Sam Nester on SonicCube, a sound installation presented on September 2 at the Mini Black Box, NYUAD Arts Center. Together, these works extend her investigation into spatial transformation and sensory perception through sound, structure, and movement. See the exhibition website.
Assistant Professor of Visual Arts Shaikha Al Mazrou is participating in the sixth edition of the Aichi Triennale 2025, curated by Hoor Al Qasimi, running from September 13 to November 30, 2025, across Nagoya and Seto City, Japan. Under the theme A Time Between Ashes and Roses — inspired by a poem by Adonis — the Triennale explores the space between ecological collapse and regenerative hope. Al Mazrou’s large-scale marble installation, A Throw of the Dice Will Never Abolish Chance, spans nine by nine meters within a site-specific outdoor fountain. The work draws from Stéphane Mallarmé’s poem of the same name, engaging with ideas of chance, fragmentation, and perception, while using water as a reflective and poetic medium. Her participation situates her practice within global conversations on environment, materiality, and transformation, and highlights the growing international presence of contemporary Gulf art alongside fellow UAE-based artists Afra Al Dhaheri and Mohammed Kazem.
Assistant Professor of Interactive Media Nimrah Syed presented Future Ties: An Anticipatory Ethnography of Relational Futures Through Immersive Social Simulations at the 2025: Futures of Technologies – Mutual Shaping of Socio-Technical Transformations conference in Turku, Finland. Her talk introduced a three-phase research model combining speculative immersion, artifact creation, and peer-to-peer studies to explore how people "pre-feel" futures and uncover insights into cultural frictions and imagination resistance. The presentation not only showcased a replicable method for integrating anticipatory ethnography into foresight practice but also sparked rich cross-cultural dialogue among more than 330 participants from 39 countries, including policymakers, designers, and researchers.
Assistant Professor of Practice Michael Ang, from the Interactive Media program, presented his innovative Magnesynth musical instrument at the Digital Naturalism Conference (Dinacon) in Bali, Indonesia. The Magnesynth, a modular instrument combining physical strings, electronic sound synthesis, and physical computing, was inspired by traditional Balinese instruments played collaboratively by multiple musicians. During the conference, Ang adapted the instrument for this style, culminating in a joint performance with local artists. His project highlights how interactive media and digital fabrication can foster new forms of musical expression and collaboration, and it will be featured in the upcoming Dinacon proceedings.
Senior Lecturer of Writing and Literature and Creative Writing, Sabyn Javeri, was invited to deliver a distinguished public lecture by the North Modern & Contemporary Network at Northumbria University. The event, held at Newcastle Library which focused on Javeri’s writings at the intersections of creative writing, feminist theory, migration studies, and cultural criticism. Qurtuba University of Science and Information Technology in Peshawar acknowledged the scholarly impact of her work as well, when another doctoral dissertation dedicated to her writing was successfully defended in 2025. Reported in The News, this recognition underscores the growing academic engagement with her work and affirms its influence in South Asian feminist discourse, migration studies, and contemporary world literature.
The NYUAD Interactive Media program participated in the Ars Electronica Festival for Art, Technology, and Society from September 3-7, 2025, in Linz, Austria. For more than four decades, Ars Electronica has provided a platform for artists, researchers, and institutions to present pioneering projects that challenge cultural, technological, and social boundaries. Each year, the festival attracts thousands of international visitors and participants, ranging from academic researchers and engineers to designers and artists. In this context, the Interactive Media exhibit SENSE_ERR: A Spatial Study in Perceptual Collapse introduced a series of students' experimental works that blurred the lines between neuroscience, artificial intelligence, automata, and embodied interaction. The presentation allowed students and faculty to engage in dialogue with global practitioners and researchers in media arts, positioning the Interactive Media program at NYUAD as an active contributor to international conversations about the future of art and technology.
September 2025
In his latest novel, Theft, published four years after receiving the Nobel Prize in Literature and NYUAD Arts Professor of Literature, Abdulrazak Gurnah returns to Zanzibar in the aftermath of the independence movement, offering a complex portrait of individuals whose lives are shaped by the lingering effects of colonialism and the uncertainties of a nation on the brink of change. He reminds us of the enduring hardships that colonized nations face, even long after independence. This novel is a continuation of Gurnah's tradition of depicting postcolonial struggles and resistance, as he remains committed to what he has always done: giving a voice to the subaltern, to the voiceless.
Arts Professor of Theater Wole Soyinka was among the leading voices at the Mbari Artists’ and Writers’ Club in Ibadan, a vibrant hub founded by Ulli Beier in the 1960's that brought together artists, writers, and dramatists including Chinua Achebe. The club played a pivotal role in shaping Nigeria’s modernist cultural movement. Today, we will be able to witness the fruition of their work at the Tate Modern in London this fall, which will be the first UK exhibition to trace the development of modern art in Nigeria. The Exhibition Nigerian Modernism will celebrate an international network of artists who combined African and European traditions and present the work of over 50 artists across 50 years, creating a vibrant artistic legacy.
On September 23, A&H Visiting Scholar Ala Younis opened her exhibition Past of a Temporal Universe at the NYUAD Art Gallery. The show spans two decades of Younis’ hybrid practice as an artist, researcher, and curator, featuring new commissions alongside iterations of major past projects. Through archival installations, textiles, murals, mosaics, and drawings, Younis creates subtle yet powerful connections between political, social, urban, and popular imaginaries. Visitors are warmly invited to stop by the gallery and experience the exhibition, which will remain on view until January 18, 2026.
The Humanities Research Fellow, AlAnood AlShaikh, presented her talk "The Intangibility of World Heritage as a Source of Resilience in the Arab World," hosted by the Humanities Research Fellowship for the Study of the Arab World program. In this talk, she explained her study and how it highlights the vital role of intangible heritage, such as cultural practices and community traditions, in sustaining World Heritage. Focusing on the Arabian Peninsula, it shows how these practices offer adaptive approaches to conservation amid political, environmental, and urban challenges and calls for their stronger integration into global heritage frameworks.
Program Head of Literature and Creative Writing, Professor Gregory Pardlo, will be conducting a special poetry reading on October 16th at The Rotunda Dome Room, University of Virginia. He is the author of Spectral Evidence, which was a Finalist for the Kingsley Tufts Prize and the National Book Award, and Digest, winner of the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. His other books include Totem, winner of the American Poetry Review/ Honickman Prize, and Air Traffic, a memoir in essays.
President of Brazil Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva received Nigerian Nobel laureate and NYUAD Arts Professor of Theater, Wole Soyinka, in Brazil during President Tinubu’s state visit. Soyinka also presented his book titled Mito, Literatura e o Mundo Africano (Myth, Literature and the African World) to the Brazilian President.
Associate Professor of Anthropology and Arab Crossroads Studies, Nathalie Peutz, published a peer-reviewed article in a leading Anthropology journal: "Refugees like us: Arab African encounters at a migratory crossroads.” In “Forum: Arab Encounters,” HAU: Journal of Ethnographic Theory 15 (2): 499–502.
Associate Arts Professor Deepak Unnikrishnan was commissioned by the Center for Art, Research and Alliances (CARA), to write for the Research section of their website, to complement Stephanie Comilang's first solo exhibition in the United States, An Apparation, A Song, on view from May 31 to August 10. Professor Unnikrishnan's work, Facts, was published in June. CARA is an arts nonprofit and publisher that aims to expand public discourses and historical records to reflect art’s abundant pasts, presents, and futures. The CARA commission invites critical and creative engagements that speak directly to the works on view, while highlighting the work of writers whose practices, research, and interests might compellingly expand beyond or complement issues at stake in the artist's work.
Noura Al Obeidli, Visiting Assistant Professor of Gender Studies and Media Studies, co-authored an academic article in collaboration with Northwestern University in Qatar and King Abdulaziz University in KSA. Entitled “Cultural Skimming, Authenticity, and Streaming Preferences: Turkish Serials (Dizi) among Young Audiences in Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE”, the article has been accepted (Date: 21 July 2025) for publication in Critical Studies in Television.
At the UAE pavilion, Merritt Moore, Adjunct Professor of Practice, gave a talk, "Dancing with Robots”, in which she shared her journey choreographing performances with industrial collaborative robots. Blending art, science, and technology, she explores how robots can act as creative collaborators — expanding rather than replacing human expression. Through behind-the-scenes stories, videos, and live insights, Merritt invites audiences to reimagine our relationship with AI and robotics: not as competitors, but as co-creators that amplify human creativity and potential.
Domna Banakou, Visiting Assistant Professor of Interactive Media, and Dr. Gorisse, from Arts et Métiers ParisTech, visited the UAE Pavilion at Expo 2025 Osaka and gave an immersive, interactive session that highlighted the role of virtual reality technologies in transforming behavior and reshaping individuals' implicit attitudes. The program included a keynote speech alongside live interactive demonstrations, giving visitors the opportunity to experience the latest virtual reality technologies for themselves and explore their promising prospects in research, education, and industry.
On July 15, Reference Point in London launched Wasafiri 122: The UAE Issue, chaired by the issue’s guest co-editors Laure Assaf, Assistant Professor of Arab Crossroads Studies, and Deepak Unnikrishnan, Associate Arts Professor. This unique, multiplicitous project explores the United Arab Emirates’ literary and creative scene — away from monolithic representations of the region. The issue offers a curated selection of art, writing, and research, where its diverse contributors interrogate the UAE as a place of meaning, survival, pleasure, history, flânerie, and much more, while celebrating its many forms of plurality.
Erin Pettigrew, Associate Professor of History and Arab Crossroads, co-authored with Mark Drury “Strategies of Subversion of the Kadehine in the Early Islamic Republic of Mauritania (1960s–1970s),” in African Studies Review, 2025. She also participated in a one-week writing retreat outside of Paris, France, for a collective research project called “Kaleidoscope 1989” that involved five other organizing scholars (Mauritania, Senegal, France), and 15 additional participatory scholars. The project will (re)examine a bloody conflict and series of racially-charged events that took place between Mauritania and Senegal, starting in 1989.
On June 19, 2025, Henriette Müller, Assistant Professor of Gender, Governance and Society, joined a roundtable at the Anwar Gargash Diplomatic Academy with representatives from the UN OCHA, the World Bank, the OPEC Fund, and AGDA. She spoke about women's empowerment and gender equality amid increasing global tensions and waning support for international institutions.
Associate Professor of Anthropology and Arab Crossroads Studies and PI of the Humanities Research Fellowship for the Study of the Arab World, Nathalie Peutz, organized and convened two research writing workshops for NYUAD faculty producing research on the Arab world region. These workshops were held in June and August 2025 and supported 22 A&H and Social Science faculty toward completion of their writing projects.
Senior Lecturer of Arabic Language at NYUAD, Laila Familiar, was invited by Qatar Foundation International to attend their annual research symposium in Oxford, UK, on July 16-18, 2025.
April 2025
Our recent Arts and Humanities Research Open Day was a resounding success, bringing together colleagues from several local institutions with overlapping interests in the Arts and Humanities. Representatives from Louvre Abu Dhabi, Arabic Language Center, Abrahamic Family House, 421 Arts Campus, Zayed National Museum, Abu Dhabi Music and Arts Foundation, Guggenheim Museum, and XPANSE/ Matter, joined our community to present their research initiatives and explore potential collaborations.
Following Assistant Arts Professor of Live Art/Art as Social Practice, Chinasa Ezugha's research residency at Alserkal in 2024, Ezugha co-convened a working group at the Alserkal Arts Foundation with collaborators Vest and Page.
Sophia Kalantzakos (Global Distinguished Professor of Environmental Studies and Public Policy) was interviewed by The Climate Briefing (Chatham House) about the interlinkages between critical raw materials and geopolitics, the challenges associated with extraction, and what a ‘good’ strategy for securing future access might look like. In conversation with Olivia Lazard of Carnegie EU. Listen to the podcast.
Senior Lecturer of Music Warren Churchill’s review of Madness and Distress in Music Education: Toward a Mad Affirming Approach by Juliet Hess (2024) will be published in the Philosophy of Music Education Review (PMER) in Spring 2025.
Dale Hudson (Associate Professor of Film and New Media) co-authored “Augmented Reality in Documentary” for The Intellect Handbook of Documentary (Routledge, 2025). The chapter analyzes work that conceived augmentation beyond conventional conceptions of the term in relation to AR (augmented reality) in commercial entertainment media. It provides a tentative and provisional mapping of augmentation strategies as a significant new contribution to theorizations of documentary as a much wider and fluid field than analogue long-form theatrical films or short videos.
March 2025
Professor Sophia Kalantzakos’ book China and the Geopolitics of Rare Earths (Oxford University Press, 2018;2021) has been published in Russian—Редкоземельные элементы и геополитика Китая (Boston: Academic Studies Press 2024). NYU Abu Dhabi supported the translation from English to Russian. Additionally, Sophia was recently interviewed by the BBC on the ongoing resource competition between the US and China over rare earths and other critical minerals. Watch the interview.
Assistant Arts Professor of Live Art, Art as Social Practice, Chinasa Ezugha, has been named a principal co-editor of Performing Ethos: International Journal of Ethics in Theatre & Performance (PEET). She joins Andrea Pagnes from ArtEZ University of the Arts in the Netherlands and UNIDEE Academy in Italy, as well as Felipe Monteiro from The International Center for Artistic and Academic Research on Antonin Artaud in Brazil.
Associate Professor of Film and New Media Dale Hudson's chapter “Reframing Humans as Part of Nature with Mobile Screens and Video Installations” was published in the Saudi Film Commission's Film Criticism Conference and in إعادة تصوير البشر باعتبارهم جزءً ا من الطبيعة" as translation مؤتمر in" من خالل شاشات الهواتف المحمولة وتركيبات الفيديو .النقد السينمائي
Assistant Professor of History Masha Kirasirova co-edited a roundtable on "Soviet–and Russian–Arab Linkages: A Dimension of Global Middle East Studies," published in The International Journal of Middle Eastern Studies. It includes an introduction (co-written with Dr. Margaret Litvin) and Kirasirova’s essay about Soviet films of the Aswan Dam, which is related to her NYU Abu Dhabi Research Kitchens project titled “Visual Cultures of the Aswan Dam” with Research Scholar Ala Younis.
Senior Lecturer of Arabic Language Laila Familiar was invited as guest speaker to the International Day of Education event, organized by Qatar Foundation in Doha, presided by H.E. Sheikha Moza. The event focused on Arabic language in education and teaching foreign languages.
al Mawrid Arab Center for the Study of Art acquired a new collection from the Emirati artist Hussain Sharif that primarily covers the period between the 1980s and the present. Hussain Sharif was an integral part of the pioneering art community that established modern art production in the UAE. al Mawrid has completed processing the first batch of materials and hopes to receive a second batch soon.
Associate Dean for Graduate Studies; Visiting Professor of Movements and Places, Movement and Cultural Practices, Susan Ossman opened a solo exhibition, “States of Exception,” on January 21, 2025, at the Silverman Gallery of the California State University Los Angeles. Curated by Mika Cho, the exhibition addressed events and conditions when the usual rules of state, social life, or one's own habits are suspended. The catalogue for “States of Exception” featuring a dialogue with University of California, Davis Professor Cristiana Giordano was published on January 25, 2025. A film about the exhibition by LA Art Documents documented the exhibition and the artist's walk-through.
Assistant Arts Professor of Live Art, Art as Social Practice, Chinasa Ezugha designed and led a cross-cultural workshop at the University of Exeter, exploring the intersection of public pedagogy and glossolalia. Moving beyond traditional interpretations, the workshop uncovered glossolalia's potential as a tool for artistic expression and embodied communication. This project examines how public pedagogy, emphasizing experiential learning and community engagement, illuminates the diverse meanings of glossolalia, contributing to a broader understanding of communication.
February 2025
Professor Harshana Rambukwella's book, The Politics and Poetics of Authenticity (UCL Press 2018), was translated into Sinhala by Prof. Amarakeerthi Liyanage, Professor of Modern Sinhala Literature and Culture, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka and published by VIdarshana Publishers in Colombo Sri Lanka. A book launch event was held on 03 January 2025. The translation and publication of this book was facilitated by the NYUAD Faculty Research Grants Scheme.
Assistant Professor Chinasa Ezugha was invited to present her latest research on food, including the performance titled Osikapa (Rice), at the Venice Performance Art Week. She also showcased her work at the Swedish Arts Council Conference held at Umeå Arts in December 2024. The image is courtesy of the Venice International Performance Art Week 2024, with photography by Fenia Kotsopoulou. The event took place at the European Cultural Centre (ECC) - Palazzo Mora, Venice, Italy.
For the first NYUAD Curators Talk event of the 2024-2025 academic year, the series hosted Professor Salwa Mikdadi, the AlMawrid Center's Director and PI. As a world renowned specialist on the history of modern and contemporary art of the Arab world, Professor Mikdadi focused on her curatorial practice, which spans over 40 years, and on selected curatorial projects, drawing parallels between her exhibition-making and the political changes and shifts in the region. She also traced the archival work that led to the establishment of al Mawrid Arab Center for the Study of Art, and expanded on the Center's ongoing projects.
Principal Investigator Professor William Zimmerle recently received the Sheikh Zayed National Museum Research Award for his archaeological and heritage project: Field Surveying and Digitizing the Ancient Rock Art Petroglyphs of the United Arab Emirates.
NYUAD Instructor of Stage Management and Project Management, Brídín Clements Cotton, wrote Theatre Work: Reimagining the Labor of Theatrical Production, released by Focus Press/Routledge on April 29, 2024. Inspired by the worker-driven advocacy efforts of the recent years and their own work in theatrical production, authors Brídín Clements Cotton (NYUAD Arts Instructor of Stage & Project Management) and Natalie Robin investigate the past, present and future of theatrical production practices, from the little-known history of the labor unions involved, through the present-day common abuses of workers, towards a future with more equitable and sustainable career paths.
Professor Nathalie Peutz introduces the 8 participants in the inaugural HRF Winter Writing Retreat at a panel discussion on January 23. The Humanities Research Fellowship for the Study of the Arab World hosted its inaugural Winter Writing Retreat from January 6–24 at NYU Abu Dhabi. Over the three-week residency, eight international senior scholars focused on advancing a book chapter or article, engaged in one-on-one meetings with NYUAD faculty based on shared research interests, and presented their projects in a panel open to the NYUAD community.
Professor Merritt Moore performed and spoke about Love in the Age of Robots at XPANSE 2024. XPANSE, the world's first forum and visioning of the future with exponential technologies, is a groundbreaking global initiative, hosted by ADQ, the Abu Dhabi-based holding and investment company, bringing together 2,500 of the world’s brightest minds, Nobel Laureates, industry leaders, CEOs, ministers, scientists, and technologists. Held at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Center (ADNEC), on November 20-22, 2024, XPANSE crystallizes the path to the future with AI, AGI, quantum, next-gen materials, exotic computing, fusion energy, organoid intelligence, sentient cities, new space, brain-machine interfaces, beyond genomics, and more.
Professor Ghazi Faisal Al-Mulaifi & Boom.Diwan were featured in the Kuwait Times. "Kuwait’s Ghazi Faisal Al-Mulaifi and Boom.Diwan transported music lovers to the Arabian Gulf coasts at this year’s Global FEST at Lincoln Center in New York City. In a collaboration with pianist Arturo O’Farrill, this unique act blended Kuwait’s traditional pearl-diving music with Afro-Latin jazz, creating an unforgettable fusion of two rich musical traditions." Watch the video.
Professor Bilal Orfali served as a review committee member for the judging panel of the International Prize for Arabic Fiction (IPAF). On the 7th of January 2025, the International Prize for Arabic Fiction (IPAF), the most prestigious literary prize in the Arab world, has revealed the longlist of 16 novels in contention for the 2025 prize. The selection includes three authors who have been previously longlisted by IPAF: Rashid al-Daif (2012, 2024), Sausan Jamil Hasan (2023) and Taissier Khalaf (2017), alongside one previously long- and shortlisted author, Azher Jirjees (2020, 2023 respectively). More information can be found here.
Exciting Updates to the Arab Gulf Journal of Scientific Research (AGJSR). We are thrilled to announce that the "Arab Gulf Journal of Scientific Research (AGJSR)" has been renamed to "Arab Gulf Journal of Scientific Research: Water, Energy, Food, and Environment", reflecting its renewed focus and scope. Published in collaboration with Emerald Publishing, the peer-reviewed, open-access journal now prioritizes research on security and sustainability in Water, Energy, Food, and Environment (WEFE), particularly in arid regions. While submissions with global significance are welcome, priority is given to research addressing Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) contexts. The journal is indexed in **SCOPUS and CNKI**, offering wide visibility and no article processing or publication fees. Submit your manuscript via AGJSR's submission portal and review the updated Author Guidelines. For queries, contact us at agjsr@agu.edu.bh.
December 2024
Associate Professor of Film and New Media Dale Hudson's chapter “Producing Palestine as Layers of Historical Evidence with Interactive Documentaries” was published in Producing Palestine: New Visions, New Technologies, New Knowledge (I.B. Tauris, 2024), edited by Associate Professor of Media, Culture, and Communication and of Middle East and Islamic Studies at NYUNY Helga Tawil-Souri and Professor, Political Communication and Arab Media and Director of the Centre for Global Media and Communications at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) Dina Matar.
Filmmaker and lecturer Maruan Manaja is working to preserve his family’s story and the history of Bedouin culture using modern technology and the visual storytelling skills he teaches his students at NYU Abu Dhabi. A Very Personal Mission to Preserve a Vanishing Culture - How NYUAD’s film lecturer uses modern technology and visual storytelling to save an unwritten culture of tales, songs, and poetry.
Visiting Assistant Professor of Interactive Media Domna Banakou, served as the General Chair, Local Chair, and Program Chair for the 13th EAI ArtsIT conference, hosted at NYU Abu Dhabi with the support of the NYUAD Institute and the European Alliance for Innovation.
al Mawrid Arab Center for the Study of Art has published 760 images of Hanaa Malallah’s collection on the NYU Special Collections Portal for research and education purposes.
Associate Professor in Arab Crossroads Studies and Anthropology Nathalie Peutz gave a presentation on “Possibilities and Limits of Researching Yemeni Global Mobility” at the Annual Meeting of the Middle East Studies Association (MESA) on November 13th 2024.
Professor of Practice in Diplomacy and Conflict Resolution Ouided Bouchamaoui, the 2015 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, was awarded an honorary doctorate on November 11, 2024, in the presence of the highest authorities of César Vallejo University (UCV). She joins a select group of distinguished individuals who have received this honor. The ceremony, part of UCV's 33rd anniversary celebrations, took place in the Héctor Acuña auditorium on the Trujillo campus - Peru.
Professor William Zimmerle moderated "The Journey of Words" at the Dubai International Library Conference Session with HE Zaki Anwar Nusseibeh and Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi on November 16, 2024.
Professor Vikram DivechaWall House: ‘Wall House’ is envisioned as an ambitious transnational archive encasing hundreds of walls and facade sections salvaged from buildings slated for demolition. Challenging traditional notions of authorship and museology, each wall is selected by local communities and researchers. In preserving these walls we preserve our stories, thus creating an alternative and inclusive cultural history that stands as a counter monument to grand narratives. Each wall serves as a starting point for expansive sociocultural mappings of time, place and people. Three walls have been salvaged and relocated so far - from Abu Dhabi, Riyadh, and most recently from a lower primary school in Kerala, India. 'Wall House' has emerged from Vikram Divecha's artistic practice that involves working with urban systems and engaging communities.
Arts Professor of Theater and Associate Dean of Arts and Creative Practices Joanna Settle directed the theater program fall production, Canticles for a Pyre Foretold by playwright and Arts Professor Wole Soyinka in collaboration with four faculty members, six staff members, two guest artists, 25 performers, an apprentice company of 13, and a 10 piece live band, all NYUAD community members. Settle also hosted a residency with artist Daniel Alexander Jones from November 14 to December 6.
Associate Professor Carlos Guedes and members of the MaSC team Amna Alnowais, Safeya Alblooshi, Waleed Madani and Juan Sierra, presented "Formation of Soof" at Dubai Design Week November 5-10. This installation conceived together with Qasr Al Hosn/House of Artisans, was premiered last year at London Design Biennial as part of Abu Dhabi Pavilion and won the Biennial's Theme award.
Assistant Arts Professor of Literature and Creative Writing, Deepak Unnikrishnan, was invited by the artist duo Bik Van der Pol to contribute to The Poem That Jumps the Fence, a public art performance commissioned for Public Matter, Abu Dhabi's inaugural public biennial. Unnikrishnan’s contribution, titled "A Walk About Everything on a Night About Nothing", took place on November 24. The night walk was collaboratively conceptualized with MFA students Adele Bea (MFA '25) Cipste, Danutė Vaitekūnaitė (MFA '25), and Nour Elbery (MFA '26).
October 2024
Professor Gregory Pardlo's latest poetry collection, Spectral Evidence, is included on the 2024 National Book Award Longlist for Poetry. The longlist consists of ten books of poetry chosen by a panel of judges out of more than 300 submissions. The National Book Award is the second most prestigious literary prize in the United States.
