🚨 The first two episodes of the Iran in Context podcast series are available! The series brings together leading scholars to explore the deeper historical and political context behind recent developments in Iran. Ep. 1: shorturl.at/Xym11 Ep. 2: shorturl.at/1XNOR

Please sign and share this important petition opposing the proposed redundancies at the University of Exeter, including at the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies (IAIS). change.org/p/stop-redun... For context, read our previous letter to the University of Exeter VC👇

#Research | Free to access in #BJMES until the end of August: “Contested ground: law and legitimacy in Iran’s constitutional revolution” by Mohammad Bitarafan. Read more: bit.ly/4vsOXkC

Please consider donating to this campaign👇 thank you 🙏 I just want to hug my children again.. chuffed.org/project/1771...

#AcademicFreedom | The Committees on Academic Freedom of SEMOMM, BRISMES, SeSaMO and MESA have published a joint statement concerning historian, essayist, academic, journalist, and human rights defender, Dr Maâti Monjib. Read our statement: bit.ly/statement-07... 1/4

🎉 We are delighted to share the news that Sena El Banna was awarded the 2025 BRISMES Conference Student Paper Prize, with Pauline Klose-Abdelghani receiving Honourable Mention. This prize supports BRISMES #student members in the development of peer-reviewed #research. 1/3

BRISMES Council has written to the VC of @exeter.ac.uk to express our deep concern about the proposed reductions to academic posts in the Humanities and the Social Sciences, including within the Institute of Arab & Islamic Studies (IAIS). Read our letter: bit.ly/3SZnsS7 1/2

🎉 We are delighted to announce that Yasmine Hafez and Danielle Andréa Krikorian have each been awarded a 2026 BRISMES Early Career Development Scholarship of £3,000. These scholarships support the academic development of #EarlyCareerScholars. Read more: www.brismes.ac.uk/awards/ecds 1/2

🎉 A huge congratulations to the winners of the 2026 Leigh Douglas Memorial Prize! 🏆 Joint Winners: Omar Abolnaga (@omarabolnaga.bsky.social) and Abdulla Moaswes (@karakmufti.bsky.social) 🌟Joint Runners Up: Maram Theodory & Florence Wolstenholme Read more: brismes.ac.uk/awards/ldmp 1/2

🎉 Congratulations to all of our prize and scholarship recipients! It was a pleasure to celebrate the outstanding work of researchers in the BRISMES community at #BRISMES2026. Over the coming days, we will be highlighting each award and its recipients.

TODAY: Iran in Context Part II: Politics and Counter Politics in Contemporary Iran with Naghmeh Sohrabi, Mohammad Ali Kadivar and Paniz Musawi Natanzi. Join us online at 17:00 BST. Register here: us02web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

Grantee @merip.bsky.social's Iran in Context series features scholars on the complex political and military disturbances in Iran over the last year. Part I: Gender and Revolution, is available now on major podcast platforms ⬇️ https://loom.ly/uVzQi3A

TOMORROW: Iran in Context Part II: Politics and Counter Politics in Contemporary Iran with Naghmeh Sohrabi, Mohammad Ali Kadivar and Paniz Musawi Natanzi. Join us at 12PM EST online!

PAIS PhD researcher, Sena El Banna, has won the 2025 BRISMES Conference Student Paper Prize for her paper "Family afterlives of activism among Egyptian Islamist women since the Revolution".

Thank you to everyone who has supported the BRISMES campaign so far. At a time of growing pressure on academic freedom and public debate, your support helps sustain independent Middle East Studies. Support BRISMES today. Every contribution matters: donorbox.org/brismes_fund...

#Research | Free to access in #BJMES until the end of August: “The absence, marginalization and culturalization of the presence: representation of the Kurds in Persian post-revolution novels: 1980–2011" by Erfan Rajabi & Kamal Khaleghpanah. Read more: bit.ly/3ZHUwy1

#OnlineEvent | Should we globalise the intifada? Lessons from revolutionary history 📅Wednesday 1 July, 19:00 (BST) 💻Online event 🔗 actionnetwork.org/events/intif... Hosted by Protest is not Terrorism, co-sponsored by @brismes.bsky.social and @bricup.bsky.social. All welcome.

That's a wrap on #BRISMES2026! A huge thank you to all delegates, speakers, organisers, volunteers, and staff who made this year's conference such a success. We are grateful for the energy, insight, and conversations shared across the event. See you at BRISMES 2027!

📢 #OnlineEvent | Join BRISMES, @merip.bsky.social & SeSaMO for the second event in our #Iran in Context series titled "Politics and Counter-Politics in Contemporary Iran" with Naghmeh Sohrabi, Mohammad Ali Kadivar & Paniz Musawi Natanzi. 🗓 2 July 2026 ⏰ 17:00 – 18:30 BST 🔗 Register: bit.ly/OP_Iran2

#BRISMES2026 | Many thanks to our Bronze Sponsor @Thenewarab for supporting this year's conference. Find out more about their work here: www.brismes.ac.uk/conference/a...

#BRISMES2026 - Day 3 The final day of the conference is here. We look forward to a packed programme of panels, including our final screening The Phoenix of Gaza, open to non-delegates via this registration link: bit.ly/PoGaza

"What is resistance when life itself is at stake?". Thank you to everyone who attended this powerful and important session “The Fire Will Never Cease: Defiant Ecologies in South Lebanon" at #BRISMES2026. It was a full house. Our heartfelt thanks to our invited speaker Dr Munira Khayyat.

Thank you to everyone who attended this incredibly moving session "Overkillability and the Genocide in Gaza: The Expansions of Spaces of Killing and the Logic of Evisceration" at #BRISMES2026. Standing ovation for our invited speaker Nadera Shalhoub- Kevorkian.

On my way from Berlin to @brismes.bsky.social annual conference in London @soasuni.bsky.social. Looking forward to a week in London and opportunities to discuss recent scholarly work with colleagues as well as the conditions we work in, which I will discuss in two panels on academic freedom.

#BRISMES2026 starts tomorrow! From 23rd-25th June, pop by the MUP stand at SOAS to browse our Middle Eastern Studies books at up to 60% off and chat with our editors. Can't make it? Check out our digital reading list: bit.ly/4xFsmDE @brismes.bsky.social

Today, BRISMES launches a crowdfunding campaign to support independent scholarship, academic freedom, and informed public debate on the Middle East and North Africa. Support BRISMES today: donorbox.org/brismes_fund... Every contribution counts. #MiddleEastStudies #Fundraising

Join us at #BRISMES2026 for a special screening of The Phoenix of Gaza and a live Q&A with filmmaker @YousefAlhelou. 📅 25 June, 16:00 (UK) 📍 SOAS Brunei Gallery Theatre, London Free for conference delegates. Non-delegates can purchase tickets here: bit.ly/PoGaza

⏰ Last chance to register for #BRISMES2026! Registration closes today, 8 June. Don't miss out! Registration info here: www.brismes.ac.uk/.../abou.../... Image credit: Osama Hussein

BRISMES co-vice president Lewis Turner is quoted in CNN's coverage of the UK government's decision to deny entry to Hasan Piker, discussing the implications for freedom of expression and public debate. 👇 www.cnn.com/2026/06/01/u...

📢 New Event Series | Iran in Context Part I: Gender and Revolution Join BRISMES, MERIP & SeSaMO for a discussion on women, revolution, and the gendered politics of Iran from 1979 to the present. 🗓 18 June 2026 | ⏰ 15:00–16:30 (UK) 🔗 Register: bit.ly/OP_Iran

📢Members of BRISMES, please don't forget to vote in the 2026 election for BRISMES President and for four vacancies on Council! All members have been sent an email with details on how to vote; please get in touch at [email protected] if you haven't received this. Voting closes on 3 June.

Join BRISMES Trustee, Dr @ferasalkabani.bsky.social for this book talk hosted by @explodingappendix.bsky.social at 7pm on 9 June in #Brighton. Full details below 👇 All welcome 🙏 Paperback edition 📚 now out (only £23.19 with discount code: GLR BD8, directly from @bloomsburyacademic.bsky.social)

BRISMES expresses grave concern following reports about the detention of the Global Sumud Flotilla civilian activists, among whom are UK scholars Dr Antonis Vardis and Hasnain Jaffer. Read our statement: bit.ly/brismes-290526

An expert opinion on the term #intifada by Abdul Bashid Shaikh and Mustapha Sheikh was endorsed by over two dozen scholars, including former BRISMES VP Neve Gordon, President Nicola Pratt, and VPs Lewis Turner and Sharri Plonski. Read and share widely: shorturl.at/9s5YX

Applications are still open to join the British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies as Associate Editor. You will work closely with the rest of the editorial board to manage manuscript submissions and uphold the journal’s high academic standards. 🗓️31 May 👉bit.ly/4vWQIbd

SEMOMM, SeSaMO, and BRISMES declare their solidarity with François Burgat and express their concern regarding the judicial process against him and the threats facing #academicfreedom and freedom of expression, especially when directed at scholars and researchers. Our statement 👇

This was a really insightful and powerful discussion worth listening to

A statement opposing the criminalisation of #globalisetheintifada is open for signatures from #highereducation workers. “Intifada” is an Arabic term meaning “shaking off” or “uprising,” historically used for movements against colonialism, occupation, and authoritarian rule. 1/3

📢 The recording is now available for “Between a Rock and a Hard Place: A Roundtable on War, Repression, #Iran and International Solidarity.” The discussion brought together reflections on war, transnational solidarity, and the current moment in Iran: youtu.be/-vOPd1om184

Congratulations 🥳 🎉 to BRISMES Trustee, Dr @ferasalkabani.bsky.social, on the publication of the paperback edition 📚 of his first monograph 👏 Get your discounted copy for £23.19 with this code GLR BD8 directly from @bloomsburybooksuk.bsky.social 👇

✨Happening Tomorrow!

📣 CALL FOR IMAGES BRISMES Committee on #AcademicFreedom is seeking high-resolution images for our first annual report! Themes: • Academic freedom • Student protest • Freedom of expression on campus 📍 UK, Europe & Middle East 📸 Submit your image: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

⏰ Reminder: Nominations for 4 vacancies on BRISMES Council close on 11 May! Help shape the future of BRISMES and play a key role in guiding the Society's work and strategy. We welcome nominations from all career stages and backgrounds. 👉 bit.ly/4twL2De

Submissions of papers for our 2027 virtual conference #VirtualBISA2027 are OPEN NOW 🌟 'Conflict and cooperation in a changing world' 🌍 Find all information here! 👉 https://indico.bisa.ac.uk/event/659/ Simon Rushton Jamie J. Hagen @julietdryden.bsky.social City St George's, University of London

#UpcomingEvent | Grant Writing & Pathways to Funding Research Join the BRISMES Graduate Section on Thursday, 14 May, for an online discussion on funding opportunities, grant writing, and research development in Middle East Studies. More info and registration: bit.ly/GS_Funding

📚 #Research by BRISMES Members | "From language shift to linguistic hybridity: The status and perceptions of Tamazight in the Algerian higher education system" by Imene Medfouni & Yousef Barahmeh Read more: l1nq.com/djxmtvf

Watch Dr Farah Alrajeh tell us about her experience attending last year’s BRISMES Conference as a non-presenting delegate. A year on, she is now presenting her work at this year’s Conference @soasuni.bsky.social Register to attend as a non-presenting delegate: www.brismes.ac.uk/news/2026-br...

📢Nominations are open for 4 vacancies on BRISMES Council. Want to help shape the future of BRISMES? Join our Council and play a key role in guiding the Society’s work and strategy. We welcome nominations from all career stages and backgrounds. 🗓️11 May 2026 👉bit.ly/4twL2De

We Are Still Here ( 📅 Weds 29 April, 12:00-13:00 📍Sussex University Library Exchange (ground floor) The launch will feature poetry readings, visual arts and video installations. The event is introduced by Sussex academics & students, including those recently arrived from Gaza All welcome 🙏

#AcademicFreedom | BRISMES Committee on Academic Freedom fully endorses this letter denouncing the reported introduction of an “emergency brake” on student visas for applicants from Afghanistan, Cameroon, Myanmar, and Sudan. Please sign and share it 👇 docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...