Arab American Studies Association 2020/2022.0 Conference:
The Politics of Refusal and Impossibility in Arab American Studies
AASA 2022.0 welcome:
Welcome to the postponed, re/planned iteration of AASA 2020. Just days after I wrote the welcome letter for AASA 2020, we started to receive news of COVID-19 and its potential to become a global pandemic. In those early, disorienting moments, it was hard to keep track of the different layers of grief, and even harder to stay grounded. In the many difficult and heavy days throughout the pandemic, what kept me present was the desire for meaningful connection. The AASA 2020, Interrupted events last April 2021 as well as this hybrid convening have been organized in collaboration with the AASA Board/s in that spirit. As I look back on AASA 2020 and try to make sense of AASA 2022.0, I find inspiration in the words of Karen Barad: “Remembering is not a process of recollection, of the reproduction of what was, of assembling and ordering events like puzzle pieces fit together by fixing where each has its place. Rather, it is a matter of re-membering, of tracing entanglements, responding to yearnings for connection, materialized into fields of longing/belonging, of regenerating what never was but might yet have been” (“Transmaterialities: Trans*/Matter/Realities and Queer Political Imaginings,” 406-407). Welcome to AASA 2022.0, where we will celebrate – and build – “what never was but might yet have been.” Though so much has changed since we originally laid out the vision for AASA 2020, as I re-read the 2020 welcome – written in the pre-covid times – I am struck by how much of it still resonates. I have therefore chosen to maintain it here. Let us hold these two moments, and welcome them, side-by-side….
Amira Jarmakani
AASA 2022.0 past-president and conference organizer
AASA 2020 welcome:
Welcome to the 3rd triennial Arab American Studies Association conference. The 2020 theme of refusal and impossibility is meant to engage the idea of refusal as “a generative stance,” as Eve Tuck and K. Wayne Yang say, “not just a ‘no,’ but a starting place.” The theme is also inspired by the idea that “impossibility may be our only possibility.” Dean Spade, Morgan Bassichis and Alexander Lee suggest that it is only through embracing an ethic of impossibility that we can free ourselves to collectively imagine a world that prioritizes decolonial, feminist frameworks, which foreground access to basic human needs, rather than the racist, sexist, heteronormative, transphobic, and xenophobic logic of walls, borders, and other violent enclosures. In these senses, we also think alongside Umayyah Cable, Mejdulene B. Shomali, Charlotte Karem Albrecht, and Tahereh Aghdasifar, who ask what opens up once we refuse legibility, recognition, and inclusion in favor of queerly contested spaces of opacity. We are in conversation with all of these scholars and so many more and, most importantly, in our ongoing vision for the conference we are thrilled to be in conversation with all of you.
We are excited to offer concurrent panels for the first time in the history of the AASA conference. Though it will lamentably detract from some of the intimacy of earlier conferences, we are energized by the potential for growing the field that this volume of participation offers. We aim to build a conference space that invokes various modes of participation. Conferences are hard work on many levels — we want you to be inspired and invigorated by the papers you engage; we want presenters to be supported and challenged to think in news ways about their own work; and we want you to also have re/generative spaces to process it as you take it all in. In addition to attending panels, then, we also invite you to informally gather, organize, think, or simply be together in the multiple spaces of the conference — grab a spot under a willow tree, commune with the turtles (or see if you can follow the dedicated escapee; I am convinced they know all the best spots on campus), or take a break in the quiet/napping room in AL 246.
Foregrounding community and connection, this conference aims to foster an ethic of radical love. Chela Sandoval writes that “it is love that can access and guide our theoretical and political ‘movidas’ — revolutionary maneuvers toward decolonized being” (Methodology of the Oppressed, 2000, p. 141). Such radical love can be disruptive and unsettling. The themes of refusal, abolition, and impossibility are meant to invoke the spaces of rupture, abyss, and the stealth possibilities of zero/sifr. From these spaces of what appears to be nothing from the outside can grow possibilities for new forms of connection and being. The form and structure of the conference also strives toward these principles. Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha writes that “when we reach for each other and make the most access possible, it is a radical act of love” (Care Work, 2018, p. 76). We ask that as you engage the content of the panels and events, you also engage the format to be mindful of how to foster accessible and inclusive spaces. Speaking to this ethics of integration, collaboration, and radical love, we have also organized a parallel kid track for this year’s conference. It is inspired by Nadine Naber’s work on revolutionary mothering as well as Alexandra Gomez’s visionary MamaScholars symposium and ongoing collective. Participants in the kid track will be involved in a range of activities and workshops parallel to the conference, such as poetry and arts workshops, a stop-motion film animation workshop, a tatreez workshop, and more. Our ultimate goal is that we will all leave the conference revitalized, fulfilled, and meaningfully transformed.
Thank you for your engagement with Arab American studies — we look forward to building and shaping this and related fields together.
Amira Jarmakani
AASA 2020 president and conference organizer
Conference Program
SCHEDULE-AT-A-GLANCE:
FRIDAY, MARCH 25
The Friday opening event will be held at Centro Cultural de la Raza, Balboa Park.
6p-7:30p: Opening Panel
The Politics of Refusal and Impossibility: A conversation about Borders, Migration, and Transformations, Joe Kadi, Ramah Awad, Alexis Meza, Roberto Hernández
8p: Coast to Coast: Reflections from Al Andalus to Los Angeles, Omar Offendum and Ronnie Malley
Saturday and Sunday events will be held at San Diego State University, Scripps Cottage.
SATURDAY, MARCH 26
9a: registration and coffee
9:30: — Welcome and Conference opening
10:00-11:15 — concurrent microtalks, session I
11:30-12:45 — Skill Share/Build/Connect, session I
1:00-2:00 – Lunch and mentor-connect
2:15-3:30 — concurrent microtalks, session II
3:45-5:00 – Skill Share: Palestine Legal
5:00-6:15 — concurrent microtalks, session III
6:30-7:15 — Weaving the Maps: Tales of Survival and Resistance, Laila Farah and Isis Nusair
7:30-9:30 — book celebration and dinner
SUNDAY, MARCH 27
San Diego State University
9:30a – coffee and welcome
10-11:15a – concurrent microtalks, session IV
11:30-1:30 Brunch and Closing Conversation
DETAILED SCHEDULE:
FRIDAY, MARCH 25
5p: Welcome
6-7:15p: Opening Panel
Location: Centro Cultural de la Raza, Balboa Park
The Politics of Refusal and Impossibility: A conversation about Borders, Migration, and Transformations; a conversation among Roberto D. Hernández (who is Associate Professor of Chicana and Chicano Studies at San Diego State University, Chair of the National Association for Chicana and Chicano Studies-NACCS, and an organizer with the Sexta – Grietas del Norte – Zapatista network), Joe Kadi (who teaches Women’s Studies at the University of Calgary and is editor of Food for Our Grandmothers: Writings by Arab-American and Arab-Canadian Feminists), Alexis Meza (who is a collective member of the San Diego based grassroots organization Detention Resistance, a PhD candidate in the department of History at UC San Diego, and an Ethnic Studies educator), as well as Ramah Awad (who is a Palestinian community organizer and the Programs Manager at Majdal: The Arab Community Center of San Diego).
8:00p: Coast to Coast: Reflections from Al Andalus to Los Angeles
Syrian American Rapper and Poet Omar Offendum & Palestinian American Multi-Instrumentalist maestro Ronnie Malley weave stories of the past, present and future as they trace the influence of Al Andalus and Arabic-speaking peoples on music and culture from New York City’s Little Syria to the birth of California Surf Rock.
SATURDAY, MARCH 26
9:00am: registration and coffee
9:30am: Welcome and opening
Location: Scripps Cottage
SATURDAY, MARCH 26
CONCURRENT PANELS, SESSION 1
10:00-11:15am
Debt, Guilt, and Diversity: Racist Inclusion in/and the State
Location: West Commons 220
Moderators: Stan Thangaraj (virtual) and Danielle Haque (onsite)
Panelists:
Evelyn Alsultany, University of Southern California
Representing Muslims, One Crisis at a Time
Hanan Elsayed, Occidental College
Muslims as ‘false Nationals’: The Case of France
May Kosba, Graduate Theological Union
“I am not a White Man”: Mostafa Hefny and the De-Centering of Blackness in the Afro-Arab-American Context
Afaf Nash, Ph.D, UCLA
An Ecology of healthy living: Brokered medical decisions among immigrant Iraqi patients
Movements and Strategies of Resistance
Location: West Commons 230
Moderators: Mejdulene Shomali and Nina Shoman-Dajani
Panelists:
Leena Ali, San Diego State University
Palestine beyond the nation-state: alQaws, Decolonize This Place, and the statelessness of community organizing
Alice Mishkin, University of Michigan
Silenced Voices: Arab American Women in 1980s Feminist Discourse on Palestine and Israel
Chandni Desai, New College, University of Toronto
Tracing Geographies of Connection from Palestine to the Americas
Testimony, collectivity, and the ethics of care
Location: West Commons 201
Moderators: Suad Joseph (virtual) and Amira Jarmakani (onsite)
Panelists:
Deena Ziad Naime, University of Southern California
Radical Collectivity as Strategy for Arab American Women
Natalie G El-Eid, Syracuse University
Representations of Druzeness, Trauma, and Literary Testimony in Rabih Alameddine’s I, the Divine
Rania Said, Binghamton University
Arab Women’s Testimonies of the Arab Uprisings
SATURDAY, MARCH 26
SKILL SHARE, SESSION I
11:30a-12:45p
Publishing in Arab American Studies – a workshop facilitated by Stacy Fahrenthold of Mashriq & Mahjar and with comments from Carol Fadda of the Critical Arab American Studies Series with Syracuse University Press
=> note to participants: come ready to workshop! we recommend that participants bring a single page abstract (for working articles) and/or an abstract + table of contents (for book projects)
Location: West Commons 230
Intersections between creative and academic work – a conversation with Mejdulene Shomali, Laila Farah, Sara Abou Rashed, and Joe Kadi
Location: West Commons 220
1:00-2:00: Lunch and Mentor Connect/s
Location: Scripps Cottage and Patio
2:15-3:30
CONCURRENT PANELS, SESSION 2
The Radical Edge: Multi-Generational Arab American Feminism from the Northern Borders
Location: West Commons 220
Moderators: Therese Saliba and Amira Jarmakani
Panelists:
Therese Saliba, The Evergreen State College
Joe Kadi, University of Calgary
Alia Taqieddin, Independent Scholar
Samia Saliba, Independent Scholar
Navigating Questions of Identity through Literature
Location: West Commons 230
Moderators: Pauline Homsi Vinson (onsite) and Ghassan Abou-Zeineddine (virtual)
Panelists:
Omar Baz Radwan and Farah Sabbah
Ambiguous State of Being: Identity Construction in Contemporary Arab-American Writing
Meriem Abed, Manchester Metropolitan University
Memory, Food, and Gender in Diana Abu-Jaber’s Narratives
Rachel Norman, Linfield University
The Body that Speaks: Language in Contemporary Arab American Literature
The shape of transnational/ beyond borders
Location: West Commons 201
Moderator: Stacy Fahrenthold and Matthew Jaber Stiffler
Panelists:
Emily Regan Wills, University of Ottawa
The Transnational Blad: Thinking Diasporic Membership Through Lifeworlds
Neama Alamri, University of California Merced
Transnational Histories of Labor and Empire in the Yemeni Diaspora
Joshua Donovan, Columbia University
Orthodox Christian activism and nation-state citizenship in the mahjar
Candace Lukasik, Washington University in St. Louis
Religious publicity and transnational minority politics
SATURDAY, MARCH 26
SKILL SHARE/BUILD/CONNECT, SESSION 2
3:45-5:00p
Skill Share: Legal Perspectives on Academia and Advocacy
Zoha Khalili, Palestine Legal
Location: West Commons 220
SATURDAY, MARCH 26
CONCURRENT MICROTALKS, SESSION 3
5:15-6:30p
The Limits of Solidarity in Arab American studies
Location: West Commons 220
Moderator: Joe Kadi (virtual) and Amira Jarmakani (onsite)
Panelists:
Rana Razek, University of California, Santa Barbara
“Whiteness as Property”: Syrian Homesteaders in North Dakota
Charlotte Karem Albrecht, University of Michigan
Historicizing Arab immigrant Relationships to Indigenous Sovereignty in the U.S. and Canada
Tahereh Aghdasifar, CSU Dominguez Hills
Diaspora and Its Discontents: What’s Wrong with Iranian American Studies
Meiver de la Cruz, Scripps College
A brilliant title that had not yet been revealed at program finalization time
Anti-colonial Refusal and Global Decolonization: Collectivizing (Life)Styles of Struggle
Location: West Commons 230
Moderator: Umayyah Cable (virtual) and Nina Shoman-Dajani (onsite)
Panelists:
Nadine Naber, The University of Illinois at Chicago
Mothering is Radical: Expanding the Spaces of Immigrant/Racial Justice and Abolition
Omar Zahzah, Eyewitness Palestine
“New World Disorder”: (Dis-)Figuring a Perpetual Present
Eman Ghanayem, Cornell University
Towards Poetic Justice: Palestinian Women Writers Contesting Global Violence
Jennifer Mogannam, University of California, Davis
The Backbone of Revolution: Women, Gendered Labor and Palestinian Liberation Praxis
Migration, Movement and Contact in Arab American Literatures
Location: West Commons 201
Moderators: Nadine Sinno (virtual) and Pauline Homsi Vinson (onsite)
Panelists:
Elizabeth Saylor, North Carolina State University
“The Fiction of ‘Afifa Karam: Gender, Migration, and the Transnational Nahḍa”
Dina Hassan, The University of Oklahoma
Bilingual creativity: Laila Ahmed and Samia Serageldine as Arab women pioneers of contact literature
Benjamin Smith, Swarthmore College
Arabic Literary Texts focused on America
Nancy Al-Doghmi, Yarmouk University
Amid ‘Scattered Hegemonies’: A Transnational Reading of Arab-American Women Narratives
SATURDAY, MARCH 26
6:30-7:15 Weaving the Maps: Tales of Survival and Resistance
Location: Scripps Cottage
Laila Farah, DePaul University and Isis Nusair, Denison University
A one-woman show, performed by Laila Farah, based on narratives gathered over the last two decades with Palestinian, Iraqi and Syrian refugee women. It describes processes of veiling and unveiling of Orientalist narratives about the “other,” and simultaneous linking and breaking of binary spaces. We write/tattoo these narratives on the body, and trace how violence and the consequences of war are linked to the enactment of geopolitical power structures. We trace women’s narratives of crossing, displacement and forced migration, and mark the challenges of re-making life and stitching survival. We end with weaving the maps of resilience and resistance from the fabric of the women’s lives and memories, and the routes for creating systems of accountability, solidarity, coalition, and movement building.
7:30-9:30 – book celebration and dinner
Location: Scripps Cottage and Patio
Sally Howell and Pauline Homsi Vinson, opening comments
SUNDAY, MARCH 27
9:30am-10am
welcome, registration, and coffee
CONCURRENT PANELS, SESSION 4
10:00-11:15am
Militarization, Imperialism, and the Carceral State
Location: West Commons 220
Moderators: Dana Olwan (virtual) and Danielle Haque (in person)
Panelists:
Nadine Sinno, Virginia Tech
Identity, Citizenship, and Militarization in Marwa Helal’s Work
Carol Fadda, Syracuse University/Hamad Bin Khalifa University
Transnational Feminist Solidarities and the Carceral State
Keith Feldman, University of California, Berkeley
Proximate Causes: Imperial Formalism and the Poetics of Opacity
Mapping Arab American communities
Location: West Commons 230
Moderators: Louise Cainkar (virtual) and Nina Shoman-Dajani (onsite)
Panelists:
Adam Beddawi, Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services (ACCESS)
Equity for and Inclusion of the Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) Community in America
Amin Nash, Claremont Graduate University
“What does Little Arabia Mean to You: A Qualitative Approach to Understand Anaheim’s Arab American District”
Layla A Goushey, St. Louis Community College – Forest Park
Utilizing FBI Sources Obtained Through The Freedom of Information Act
Kristin Shamas, University of Oklahoma
Syrian Lebanese in Oil Towns of Oklahoma after 1907
Thinking Against Geography: The Possibilities and Limits of Arab & Muslim American Studies (A Roundtable on SWANA Studies)
Location: West Commons 201
Moderators: Manijeh Moradian (virtual) and Amira Jarmakani (onsite)
Participants:
Najwa Mayer, Dartmouth College
Randa Tawil, Texas Christian University
Ida Yalzadeh, Harvard University
SUNDAY, MARCH 27
11:30-1:30 – Brunch and closing
Future Directions in Arab American Studies: Toward a Critical SWANA Studies Journal
Moderated by Amira Jarmakani and Pauline Homsi Vinson
Location: Scripps Cottage and Patio
CREATING A WELCOMING SPACE
We aim to create a community-centered conference space, which prioritizes connection. Both organizers and participants play a very important role in creating an inclusive and welcoming conference. Please help us ensure full participation by reviewing the guidelines and suggestions below and by making reasonable efforts to follow them.
Mindful of how exhausting conferences can be, we have made efforts to build in breaks and down time, and we commit to maintaining the schedule. We ask that participants do so as well, and that we all give one another grace in this respect.
For presenters: Remember that disabilities may not always be visible or obvious. It is wise to assume there will be some members of your audience who may have trouble seeing visual aids (such as slides, overheads, video clips, etc.) and/or some who may have difficulty hearing what is said. We invite you to incorporate as many of these suggestions into your presentation as possible:
- Bring a few print copies for audience members who would like to follow along with you.
- Offer large-print copies (17-pt. or larger) of your full presentation and handouts at your session (feel free to add a disclaimer: “Please do not distribute without the expressed permission of the author” and include your name and contact information).
- use a high contrast color scheme (i.e. white background, black font or the reverse)
- use a sans-serif font, such as Arial, and maintain a large font size
- provide minimal text on each slide (only a few points)
- If your presentation contains visual aids such as graphics or photography, please describe orally the visuals for those who have difficulty seeing.
- If your presentation contains video or multimedia, please make sure that the content is captioned. Captioning assists those who are deaf or hard of hearing, as well as those who are not native speakers of the language. Find tips about how to add captioning to your videos here. [https://www.washington.edu/accessibility/videos/youtube/]
- Think about moving toward dialogue as a communication strategy for your paper.
- Use a microphone, if available, during the presentation.
- Provide verbal descriptions of any overheads, slides, or charts, reading all text on the visual aids.
Please notify the conference organizer, Amira Jarmakani (ajarmakani@sdsu.edu), as soon as possible, and by Friday, March 11 at the latest if you will request ASL interpretation or CART (Communication Access Realtime Translation) services.
Minimizing screens: Please be cognizant of how distracting and potentially harmful (e.g., migraine-inducing) multiple screens, projected images, and flashing lights (from cameras or other projected images) may be to other participants. We ask you to be mindful of your screen use and whether it may interfere in other attendees’ ability to be fully present in panels and other conference spaces.
Please note that AASA 2022.0 is a FRAGRANCE-SENSITIVE EVENT. “Fragrance” is an ingredient in many personal care and cleaning products that refers to synthetically-created fragrance or scent often listed as “fragrance,” “scent,” “parfum,” or “masking scent” on labels. The chemicals found in synthetic fragrances are harmful to people, animals, and the environment— they can cause sore throat, shortness of breath, headaches, migraines, dizziness, nausea, fatigue, and memory loss for those who are allergic or sensitive to such chemicals. As you can imagine, these symptoms can greatly impact people’s ability to attend class, work, or events and to participate fully in their communities. Given this potential negative impact on our conference attendees, we ask that you do the following:
• Take easy first steps: Refrain from wearing scented products such as perfume, cologne, and fragrant personal care products while using this space
• Be mindful: Consider limiting your use of personal air fresheners, hand sanitizer, fragrant lotions, scented lip balm, lotion, etc. while using this space
• Go above and beyond: Consider washing your clothes in fragrance-free detergent and refrain from using additional scented products like dryer sheets
(thanks to the UCLA Center for the Study of Women for creating this resource: https://csw.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/01/Fragrance-Free-Toolkit_FINAL.pdf)
MAPS and CONFERENCE SPACES:
Registration, book exhibit, and general conference gatherings will take place in Scripps Cottage and the surrounding patio area.
Concurrent panels will be held in the adjacent West Commons building, rooms 201, 220 and 230.
A quiet, comfortable space for relaxing, decompressing, napping, or just taking a break is available in Arts and Letters 237. Please ask a conference organizer or check updates on our website or at registration about how to access the room and the building.
[include “zoomed in map_SDSU” around here]
Dedicated kid track rooms are located in the Arts and Letters building:
- A quiet play or napping room for younger toddlers and babies is in AL 379.
- Workshops conducted inside may be held in AL 318.
Gender inclusive and accessible bathrooms can be found in West Commons 200A (second floor), and on the 3rd floor of Arts and Letters (to the right and right again after exiting elevators).
Thank you to our sponsors and supporters:
Co-sponsors:
Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies, North Carolina State University [full page back cover/ see image in folder]
Center for Arab American Studies, University of Michigan-Dearborn [full page inside cover/ see image in folder]
Benefactors:
Center for Islamic and Arabic Studies, San Diego State University [include logo]
Centro Cultural de la Raza
Majdal Center
Women’s Studies department, San Diego State University [include logo]
Department of American Studies & Ethnicity, University of Southern California [include logo]
Department of Economics, San Diego State University
Please visit our Exhibitors, Located in Scripps Cottage:
New York University Press
Syracuse University Press
Wayne State University Press
AASA 2020-2022 Program Committee
Amira Jarmakani
Sally Howell
Louise Cainkar
Pauline Homsi Vinson
Danielle Haquewith assistance from Layla Azmi Goushey, Deena Naime, and Layla Zbinden
AASA 2020 Board of Directors
Amira Jarmakani, President
Sally Howell, Past-President
Keith Feldman, Secretary
Matthew Stiffler, Treasurer
Ghassan Abou-Zeineddine, Treasurer Elect
Rebecca Karam, Web Coordinator
Layla Azmi Goushey, Web Coordinator Elect
Mejdulene Shomali, Member-at-Large
Nadia N. Abuelezam, Member-at-Large
AASA 2022 Board of Directors
Pauline Homsi Vinson, President
Amira Jarmakani, Past-President
Danielle Haque, Secretary
Ghassan Abou-Zeineddine, Treasurer
Layla Azmi Goushey, Web Coordinator
Stacy Fahrenthold, Member-at-Large
Nina Shoman-Dajani, Member-at-Large
Special thanks to the following for their help, from 2019-2022:
Heidi Doyle, SDSU department of Women’s Studies Administrative Coordinator
Louise Cainkar
Rachel Norman
Layla Azmi Goushey
Alexandra Gomez
Yazan Zahzah
Amanda Brown
Kerry Scroggie
Reyam Rammahi
Danielle Haque
Aya Krisht
Jess Whatcott
Kathy Peck
Alejandra Aguirre
Mikayla Knight
Matt Stiffler
Edward E. Curtis, IV
Getting to and around the conference:
San Diego trolley:
The Hampton Inn is located half a block from the County Center/Little Italy stop of the San Diego trolley Green Line. Catch the green line going toward “Santee” and it will take you directly to the San Diego State University stop, leaving you at the “transit center” on campus. A trolley comes approximately every 15 minutes, and it takes approximately 30 minutes to travel to the SDSU stop. See trolley line map included. Consult the full campus map (included here) for the highlighted route from the SDSU transit center to Scripps Cottage.
Driving Directions:
San Diego State University is located at 5500 Campanile Drive, San Diego, CA 92182. Parking structure 12 is the best option for parking. Keep in mind that you will need to pay for visitor parking.
Take I-8 West to College Avenue (Exit 10) and turn toward the university. Take a right at the first stoplight (at the edge of campus) onto Canyon Crest Drive. Follow Canyon Crest past Parking 15 and up the hill until you come to the stop sign, and turn right onto Aztec Drive. Turn right into the first Parking Structure that you see, Parking Structure 12 (PS 12) and use one of the pay kiosks to buy a day parking pass. There might also be a Pay by Phone option.
Once you have parked, make your way to the elevators that are marked “Main Campus” and go to the 4th floor. Immediately upon exiting the elevator, proceed across the pedestrian bridge toward campus. The West Commons building is located at the end of that bridge. To get to Scripps Cottage, proceed through West Commons (you will be passing through a food court area), exit the doors, and go up the stairs or the ramp located to the right. To avoid having to go through the WC building and avoid encountering stairs or ramp, make a left once crossing the bridge from parking and proceed to the elevator located outside. Once emerging from the elevator or from the stairs/ramp outside of WC, navigate to the right and you will see a pond/grassy area, and the outside patio of Scripps Cottage. To get to the Arts & Letters building from Scripps, follow the roadway toward West Commons and continue on this roadway until you reach the building directly at the end of the roadway. Ramps can be found on either side of the road to reach the building doors. A conference organizer will need to provide access to the building, as it will be locked.
RideShare (Uber/Lyft) Directions: The closest official pick up and drop off destinations to put into the uber/lyft apps (after you have entered San Diego State University or SDSU as your destination) is called “Rec field 103.” It is located directly across from Parking Structure 12, and you can follow pedestrian directions from there. However, if you are able to enter the roadway marked “Scripps Cottage/Turtle Pond,” that will get you directly to the main conference meeting point (or, alternately, simply ask your driver to drive up “Scripps terrace” road and it will get you right to the main conference building.) If you are dropped off at “Rec field 103,” you face a steep flight of stairs, and we recommend that you enter parking structure 12 and follow elevator/pedestrian directions from there.
Previous Communications Regarding AASA 2022.0
Please join us for AASA 2022.0 — the remix of the AASA 2020 gathering — on March 25-27, 2022 in San Diego, CA.
The gathering will be in-person with hybrid options.
Our Goals:
Reconnect: we aim to provide a space for us to reconnect and support one another, to celebrate getting through these past couple of years, and to build toward new projects, individually and collectively.
Vision:
Friday, March 25 (evening) — an opening conversation at Centro Cultural de la Raza in Balboa Park, with dinner and music
Saturday, March 26 (all day) — microtalk sessions interspersed with skill-share conversations. Microtalks will be modeled on the AASA 2021 virtual conference: we will group participants thematically and assign moderators to facilitate an informal conversation about ongoing work and nascent ideas on new projects. No formal papers, though we will list individual names and topic titles in the program for CV + reimbursement purposes.
Skill-shares will be conversations on various themes identified by participants and the AASA Board (e.g., brainstorm for an NEH collaborative grant proposal on critical SWANA studies to build toward a journal; skill share about how and where to publish; etc)
Sunday, March 27 — closing brunch and political action (TBD)
The fine print/details (more to come!):
Prior Registrants
Those who were registered for the 2020 conference are automatically registered for AASA 2022.0.
New Participants
For new participants: registration for faculty and professional members of AASA is $150, and for students and community organizers is $50. We aim to be able to offer scholarship options.
We welcome an optional registration with a suggested fee of $75 for people who were NOT registered for AASA 2020 and are able to contribute this fee.
Lodging
We do not plan to reserve a hotel room block, but will send hotel recommendations with price ranges soon.
Vaccination and Mask Policies
The CSU system (of which SDSU is a part) requires that all people who access campus are vaccinated (or have a recent negative COVID test) and wear masks. Read more about the policies and self-attestation form here. We will update you about these policies, as well as conference policies and health and safety plans, as the date approaches.
We aim to bring the following elements back, but it will take finesse due to COVID:
*a space for downtime/sleeping/relaxing
*a kid track
2020 Registrants Who Are Unable to Attend
If you are in a position to leave your registration with us, please consider donating your 2020 registration to help support new graduate student attendance. If you would like a refund, we will honor that — details forthcoming when we send out cfp info.
Appreciation
A huge thank-you to our sponsors, who stayed with us throughout the past eighteen months:
Sponsors:
Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies, North Carolina State University
Center for Arab American Studies, University of Michigan-Dearborn
Department of American Studies & Ethnicity, University of Southern California
with in-kind support from
Center for Islamic and Arabic Studies, San Diego State University
Centro Cultural de la Raza
Majdal Center
Women’s Studies department, San Diego State University
Meet us here!!
[The outdoor patio area of the reserved space for the AASA 2022.0 conference at SDSU. The photo shows a turtle and koi pond surrounded by stones. Part of the patio, marked at the edge by a white fence, extends partly over the pond. There is green grass in the foreground, and a variety of trees framing the picture.]
We can’t wait to see you.
Apologies for cross-posting!
With anticipation,
the AASA Board
****************************************
