Past Event

Conference: North Africa at the Crossroads: Culture, Identities, and the Politics of Change
Institute of African Studies of Carleton University 2011-12 Conference: North Africa at the Crossroads: Culture, Identities, and the Politics of Change
April 4-5, 2012
Carleton University
In line with its mandate to promote a holistic vision of African studies which transcends the traditional division of the continent into North Africa and sub-Saharan Africa, with the latter almost always serving as a synonym for the whole of Africa, the Institute of African Studies is convening an inter-disciplinary conference on the theme, “North Africa at the Crossroads: Culture, Identities, and the Politics of Change”, from April 4-5, 2012.

The conference opens on April 4 with the 7 pm screening of the movie, Laicité inch Allah/Neither Allah, nor master! with the filmmaker Nadia El Fani in attendance (Room 100, St. Patrick’s). Nadia El Fani is an award-winning Tunisian film director. Starting in cinema as Assistant Director to such giants as Nouri Bouzid, Franco Zeffirelli and Roman Polanski, she has directed several documentaries and fiction films. Her most important films include Bedwin Hacker (2002), Ouled Lenine [Children of Lenin] (2002) and, her latest, Neither Allah, Nor Master (2011), which was screened at the Cannes and Berlin film festivals. She started production of the latter film before the fall of the Ben Ali regime and completed it after the Revolution. The film, which raises tough questions related to the status of secularism in a predominantly Muslim country, has encountered the ire of Islamists who attacked the theater where the film was supposed to be screened and accused the director of violating the sacredness of Islam. Nadia El Fani was even a recipient of death threats and numerous online ad hominem attacks on Facebook. Her film and engagement remind us of the potential role of the cinema in helping shape debates in societies in transition, in particular, in the aftermath of the Arab Uprising.

The conference continues during the day of Thursday April 5th in the Arts Lounge (Dunton Tower 2017) and boasts a range of panels on gender and political consciousness in North Africa, the Arab Spring and its implications for the continent, and also, country-specific presentations on Egypt, Tunisia and Libya. A distinguished cast of scholars from Canada and the United States are participating, with a keynote given by Réda Bensmaia, University Professor and Professor of French Studies and Comparative Literature at Brown University, author of Experimental Nations : or The invention of the Maghreb (2003, Princeton University Press).

The conference closes the evening of April 5 with a social event featuring a guest poet and a North African spoken word performer at Raw Sugar Cafe (692 Somerset Street West).

Conference Schedule.

We wish to thank the generous support of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences and the Faculty of Public Affairs.