Jonathan Wyrtzen

Latest Britbox find is "Blue Lights" - police drama in Belfast - some say Irish "Wired" though I'm not sure about that. Super interesting so far (not a total mind break like MM though)

Morocco at Breaking Point? Drought, Misrule, and the Rise of Gen Z 212 From late September to mid-October 2025, Moroccans across the country descended into the streets to once again demand change from their government. Under the banner of a leaderless youth coalition dub...

“While Gen Z 212’s slogans and hashtags are new, the underlying message of citizens weary of government indifference is not.”

Good Samia Errazzouki analysis of Morocco’s latest protest movement.
arabcenterdc.org/resource/mor...

We are running a search for an Associate Professorship (or Professorship) in Modern Middle Eastern History 1830-1970, with expertise in across key regions, including Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Palestine, Syria, Turkey, Egypt, and the Maghreb.

www.trinity.ox.ac.uk/vacancies

The Lost Daughters of Bousbir Under French rule in the 1930s, hundreds of Moroccan girls and women were trapped in Casablanca’s red-light district

In Morocco in the 1930s, hundreds of women and girls were trapped by the French authorities inside the walls of Bousbir — Casablanca’s red-light district and a tourist destination for Europeans. Catherine Phipps uncovers their stories for @newlinesmag.bsky.social

Call for Papers: Political Movements in North Africa and the Sahel after the Arab Uprisings - Project on Middle East Political Science The last two decades have seen dramatic and transformative evolution in the forms, organizations, ideas and practices of political movements of all descriptions across North Africa and the Sahel.  Pop...

TWO DAYS LEFT to apply! POMEPS is pleased to announce a Call for Papers: Political Movements in North Africa and the Sahel after the Arab Uprisings. The deadline to apply is Friday, Nov. 7th, COB. For more information on how to apply: pomeps.org/call-for-pap...

Call for Papers: Political Movements in North Africa and the Sahel after the Arab Uprisings - Project on Middle East Political Science The last two decades have seen dramatic and transformative evolution in the forms, organizations, ideas and practices of political movements of all descriptions across North Africa and the Sahel.  Pop...

DEADLINE EXTENDED! POMEPS is pleased to announce a Call for Papers: Political Movements in North Africa and the Sahel after the Arab Uprisings. The deadline to apply is Friday, Nov. 7th, COB. For more information on how to apply: pomeps.org/call-for-pap...

Help! Teaching an Intro to the Middle East in spring and looking for a short reading to assign that covers the rise/politics/context of the Gulf and Saudi Arabia in 21st century?

Beyond Bad Borders: How Nationalism, Imperialism, and Power Politics Shaped the Modern Middle East In 2014, the Islamic State swept across large swaths of Iraq and Syria, soon emerging as the obligatory lede for every article about the Middle East and

Grateful to @centuryintl.bsky.social for the chance to bring together, update, and expand some of my writing on maps and Middle Eastern borders

tcf.org/content/repo...

Beyond Bad Borders: How Nationalism, Imperialism, and Power Politics Shaped the Modern Middle East In 2014, the Islamic State swept across large swaths of Iraq and Syria, soon emerging as the obligatory lede for every article about the Middle East and

@nicholasdanfort.bsky.social ‘s history of Middle Eastern border creation, richly illustrated with historical maps, shows that there is nothing exceptionally conflict-prone about the shape of regional states. (4/5)

Universities like UT Austin have shown that they will place ideology and political power ahead of the most vulnerable students, faculty, and staff they serve.

Fight against the closure of Black, Latino, and Gender Studies at UT Austin. Support our students.

#Blacksky #polisky

A great opportunity for Middle East scholars looking to workshop their first book.

Thanks SO much ya'll! (Also where'd you end up on the latest T Childers album with new producer?)

Call for Proposals: POMEPS Junior Scholar Book Development Workshops 2025-2026 - Project on Middle East Political Science The Project on Middle East Political Science is pleased to call for proposals for the POMEPS Junior Scholar Book Development Workshops to be held in a virtual format throughout the academic year 2025-...

POMEPS is pleased to call for proposals for the POMEPS Junior Scholar Book Development Workshops to be held in a virtual format throughout the academic year 2025-2026. The deadline to apply is Sept. 15. More info: pomeps.org/pomeps-junio...

In the latest bulletin of the Syrian Studies Association there's a report by Michael Provence on the current state of the Syrian national archives.

They'll be an important resource for any future Syria, but they're in a precarious state.

www.syrianstudiesassociation.org/ssa-bulletin

An opportunity for those working on Islam in the Americas!

18,500 names
wapo.st/3IRLZn6

#sociology job!

Trump Cracked Down on Campus Protesters. A Court Will Decide How Far He Can Go. A two-week trial explored the administration’s arrests of international students and the rights of noncitizens in the U.S. legally.

“The challengers, led by the AAUP, say the administration’s efforts to revoke green cards and visas from pro-Palestinian campus activists amount to proof of a policy of “ideological deportation” that has terrified noncitizens in higher education and chilled their speech.”
www.wsj.com/us-news/law/...

Rabat Casbah views of Bouregreg valley development area

How a Hazelnut Spread Became a Sticking Point in Franco-Algerian Relations The wildly popular Nutella competitor El Mordjene has been banned by the European Union, a move some see as politically motivated.

Brilliant read about Franco-Algerian Nutella affair

"It was about nostalgia, memory, injustice, nationalism, globalization, decolonization, protectionism, racism, identity, immigration, invasion—the same things that all arguments are about nowadays, transposed to the realm of spreadable snacks."

Shadow puppets for xtra credit

Congrats!!!

VIDEO. Donald Trump contre la science Les coupes budgétaires se multiplient depuis la prise de pouvoir de Donald Trump aux Etats-Unis, semant la panique chez les chercheurs. Elles visent particulièrement les agences scientifiques, comme l...

From France 2, a profile of my Yale colleague Jeffrey Wickersham and the attacks on science in the USA. www.franceinfo.fr/replay-magaz...

Totally interesting and important story but headline somewhat misleading:
Fact is that close to 200K African colonial troops were deployed to fight in Indochina;
100s "found new life" in SE Asia,
but 100Ks fought, were injured, died, returned home transformed. More history on this needed!

The Dallas Mavericks Tumbled Into a Miracle With Cooper Flagg Inexplicably, the NBA lottery gods handed the Mavs another franchise-altering talent. What they’ll do next is anyone’s guess.

Life-long Mavs fan (as in, I went to a game in the inaugural 1980 season),
and this season has been OD, as the kids say.

But somehow we have a new day

Still shell-shocked, but this time in a good way!

#MFFL #Dallas #Mavs
www.theringer.com/2025/05/12/n...

This is satisfying on SO many levels

Judge frees Columbia student activist whom Trump administration wants to deport Mohsen Mahdawi was arrested as part of a crackdown on pro-Palestinian students who were legally studying in the United States.

By ordering the Columbia student's presence in his courtroom and ordering his release then and there, a federal judge robbed Trump and his team of the opportunity to defy his order, which was implemented on the spot by court officers. www.politico.com/news/2025/04...

Super important story - connected to larger decolonization history that involves 100,000s of colonial troops deployed to fight wars from 1940s-60s.

Also important, the 60K Moroccans / 100Ks other Africans that fought for France then went home after 1954 Dien Bien Phu. Their story still to be told

(4/28/2025) Here's a visualization of the colleges and universities whose presidents have signed the AAC&U letter, "A Call for Constructive Engagement" https://www.aacu.org/newsroom/a-call-for-constructive-engagement

AACU Anti-Trump Letter Map (updated 4/28/2025) - 523 universities/colleges
Geography still reflecting red/blue state division for the most part

www.google.com/maps/d/u/1/v...

AACU Anti-Trump Letter Map - Google My Maps (4/28/2025) Here's a visualization of the colleges and universities whose presidents have signed the AAC&U letter, "A Call for Constructive Engagement" https://www.aacu.org/newsroom/a-call-for-constru...

Here is the map to click and navigate on