The Ethics of Political Science Research and Teaching in MENA

9-11 June 2015, Rabat, Morocco

Funded by the American Political Science Association MENA Program and Carnegie Corporation of New York, the LSE Middle East Centre and King Mohammed V University in Rabat co-hosted a workshop on 'The Ethics of Political Science Research and Teaching in MENA'. A discussion was held between researchers and scholars facing shared challenges, in terms of human subject protection, identity of the researcher, increased state surveillance, working in conflict areas and with vulnerable people. Participants also shared best practices of teaching political science inside the region. The workshop follows on the efforts of POMEPS at George Washington University. 

A workshop bibliography is available to download. Memos by most of the workshop participants were posted on our blog, with links below.

Workshop Programme and Memos (linked)

Session 1: Ethics and Challenges of Conducting Political Science Research in Conflict/Politically Sensitive MENA Environments

• Sarah Parkinson 'Towards an Ethics of Sight: Violence Scholarship and the Arab Uprisings'

• Evren Balta 'Researching the "Unresearchable": State Politics and Research Ethics in the MENA Region'

• Karen Young 'The Perils and Parachutes of Funding in MENA-based Research'

Session 2: The Practice of Teaching Politics in the Middle East and North Africa

• Guy Burton ‘Teaching Practices of Middle East Politics: Potential and Challenges’

Session 3: Case Studies of Research and Teaching Strategies

• David Mednicoff 'Religious Identity and Social Science Research in the Middle East'

• May Darwich 'The Challenge of Bridging Disciplines and Area Studies in Teaching the Middle East'

• Nermin Allam 'Embodied Scholars: The Insider-Outsider Status of Researchers in Field Work'