Dear Friends of the Hollings Center,

We are gearing up for our Higher Education Dialogue on Oral History in the Middle East and Central Asia that will take place in early February in Istanbul. The dialogue will bring together a select group of scholars and practitioners from Afghanistan, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, Turkey, United Arab Emirates and the United States to exchange ideas on how to create and sustain best practices in oral history studies.  Shortly after the dialogue, we will issue a snapshot report in English, Turkish and Arabic on this site.

Our previous dialogue, The Economies of the Arab Spring brought together participants from Egypt, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, and the United States to discuss the trajectory of the economic transitions in the Middle East. For more details on the discussion points, you can read the snapshot report in Arabic, English, and Turkish.

We also suggest that you visit the Digital Dialogues section on our website and check out Good Reads.  It features a review of the recent book Afghanistan’s Troubled Transition and includes a fascinating interview with author Scott Seward Smith, a former senior official with the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan.  Smith’s book covers the highs and lows of the UN’s experience in Afghanistan.  His interview gives the reader a rare, first-hand glimpse into the life of UN workers in Afghanistan.

If you would like to stay in touch, please follow us @HollingsCenter on Twitter.

With our very best,
George Gavrilis
Executive Director