The Department of Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies (MESAAS) at Columbia University is pleased to announce its annual Graduate Student Conference to be held on April 18-19 2024. This conference is a space for graduate students to present their original work in a welcoming and stimulating environment.

Our conference this year aims to investigate the Extra/ordinary as a category and rhetoric of socio political, historical and cultural thought. What makes a particular event, invention, time, war, crisis, or phenomenon extraordinary? On the contrary, what is relegated to the realm of the ordinary? During a time of multiple compounding crises, where must we look, focus and thoughtfully respond? Is it helpful to highlight the multiplicity of crises or is our crisis-ridden world best understood through an overarching analytical framework?

We welcome a wide range of submissions that speak to our general theme and encourage (but do not seek to limit) interpretations of the Extra/Ordinary as mentioned in our Call for Papers. You can keep updated about the conference on our website: https://mesaasgraduateconference.wordpress.com. For any questions or inquiries, please contact mesaasgraduateconference@gmail.com.