MENA (Middle East and North Africa) Research Group
We host one of the largest concentrations of MENA scholars in social sciences in the UK.
About us
Our research, which is methodologically diverse, spans the wider fields of geography, politics and sociology, and covers a broad geographical span of the region.
Throughout the academic year, we run monthly activities that include:
- a regular reading group to discuss new and cutting-edge research on the Middle East and North Africa;
- seminars and workshops involving internal and external speakers;
- ‘work-in-progress' and ‘just-out’ seminars to help colleagues at different stages of the publication process engage in fun and fruitful networking activities, and to promote their work;
- student-oriented seminars and engagement events; and
- collaborative outreach with MENA-related academic networks across the North East.
Our areas of expertise
We have a number of globally recognised areas of expertise, including:
- political regimes
- citizenship and refugee studies
- social movements and resistance studies
- politics of mobility and migration
- political economy and development
- war, conflict and forced displacement
- security, space and violence
- policing and crime
- culture, religious and affective politics
- media, language and discourse
- urban life
- environmental politics and nature
- gender and race
Who we are
Read more about our group members and their research interests:
- Burak Tansel Senior Lecturer in International Political Economy & Politics of Global Development
- Craig Jones Senior Lecturer in Political Geography
- Deniz Yonucu Senior Lecturer in Sociology of Crime
- Dimitris Skleparis Senior Lecturer in the Politics of Security
- Jemima Repo Reader in Political and Feminist Theory
- Lewis Turner Senior Lecturer in International Politics
- Malene Jacobsen NUAcT Fellow: Cities and Place
- Mark Griffiths Reader in Political Geography
- Mohamed El-Shewy Research Associate in Political Geography
- Mori Ram Lecturer in the Politics of the Global South
- Olivia Mason Lecturer in Political Geography
- Silvia Pasquetti Senior Lecturer in Sociology
- Soudeh Ghaffari Lecturer in Social Geography
- Una McGahern Senior Lecturer in Politics
The group is co-convened by Dr Una McGahern and Dr Mohamed El Shewy
We are interested in connecting with other researchers and organisations with an interest in research on the Middle East and North Africa region.
Please contact us for further information and to learn how you can participate.