Promises, Then the Storm: Memory, US Politics, and the Israel-Gaza War
Promises, Then the Storm Draws on McAlister’s decades of experience as a scholar of US–Middle East relations, as well as her personal history in activism, this incisive and dynamic text traces the devastating development of the current war in real-time, identifying echoes with previous moments in the history of the region and the protests and artistic responses they prompted. This series of meditations explores the enduring power of narrative and memory, threading throughout the work of Arab and Arab American poets and musicians to tell a story of Palestinian resistance and resilience.
Speakers
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Melani McAlister specializes in the multiple “global visions” produced by and for Americans. In her writing and teaching, she focuses on how cultural and political history intersect, and on the role of religion and culture in shaping US “interests” in other parts of the world, particularly the Middle East and Africa. Her own interests include the rhetoric of foreign policy, transnational popular culture, nationalism and transnationalism; cultural theory; religion and US cultural history.
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Amal Amireh received a BA in English literature from Birzeit University in the West Bank and an MA and a PhD in English and American literature from Boston University. Before joining George Mason University, Amireh taught at An-Najah National University and Birzeit University.