1. Method Station Materials
Station 1: Digital Methods
Overview: Digital methods involve analyzing digital traces, online content, and computational data to understand Middle Eastern cultures, politics, and societies.
Key Principles:
- Digital spaces are crucial sites of Middle Eastern cultural production and political expression
- Arabic, Turkish, Persian, and Hebrew digital content requires specialized tools and cultural literacy
- Platform-specific cultures (Instagram vs. TikTok vs. Twitter) shape different forms of expression
- Digital censorship and surveillance create unique research ethics considerations
Micro-Exercise (3 minutes): Examine the Instagram posts from Lebanese artist @yazan_halwani (e.g. showing one of his street art murals in Beirut; https://www.instagram.com/yazanhalwani/):
- What visual and textual elements reveal cultural meanings?
- How do the Arabic comments differ from English ones in tone and content?
- What research questions would this digital trace inspire about art, politics, and public space in Lebanon?
Middle East Examples:
- Zeynep Tufekci’s research on Twitter during the Arab Spring
- Limor Shifman’s work on Internet memes in Israeli-Palestinian discourse
- Analysis of #MeToo movement adaptations across MENA region (#Ana_Kaman, #Ena_Zeda)
When to Use: Social media activism, digital diaspora communities, online religious discourse, digital art and culture
Station 2: Visual Methods
Overview: Visual methods analyze and create images, maps, and visual representations to understand Middle Eastern cultures, spaces, and experiences.
Key Principles:
- Visual culture in the Middle East carries deep historical and religious significance
- Photography and representation have colonial histories requiring careful navigation
- Visual methods can bridge language barriers in multilingual research contexts
- Images can capture spatial and embodied experiences of displacement, conflict, and resilience
Micro-Exercise (3 minutes): Analyze the photographs from Tanya Habjouqa’s series “Women of Gaza” (2014), https://www.noorimages.com/hat-women-of-gaza:
- What does this image reveal about daily life under siege?
- How does the photographer’s choice of framing and composition create meaning?
- What participatory visual methods might allow Gazans to represent their own experiences?
Middle East Examples:
- Susan Slyomovics’s photo-documentation of Palestinian village ruins
- Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige’s “Wonder Beirut” photography project
- Participant photography projects with Syrian refugee women in Jordan, e.g. ImageNations participatory photography projects in Zaatari camp
When to Use: Urban studies, conflict research, refugee experiences, cultural heritage, gender studies
Station 3: Participatory Methods
Overview: Participatory methods involve Middle Eastern communities as co-researchers, addressing power imbalances in research about the region.
Key Principles:
- Communities have been over-researched and under-benefited from academic work
- Language and cultural competency affect power dynamics in research relationships
- Religious and social protocols must be respectfully navigated
- Diaspora communities may have different priorities than homeland communities
Micro-Exercise (you may need more than 3 minutes): Review Saba Mahmood’s approach in “Politics of Piety” (mosque movement in Egypt, https://criticalmuslimstudies.co.uk/remembering-saba-mahmood-twenty-years-of-politics-of-piety/):
- How did she navigate her position as researcher versus participant?
- What would a fully participatory version of this research look like?
- How might mosque participants have framed research questions differently?
Middle East Examples:
- Rosemary Sayigh’s oral history work with Palestinian refugee women in Lebanon (Palestinians: From Peasants to Revolutionaries, 1979)
- Participatory mapping in Cairo: Farha Ghannam’s work in Remaking the Modern: Space, Relocation, and the Politics of Identity in a Global Cairo (2002) includes community mapping elements; or projects by Takween Integrated Community Development in informal settlements
When to Use: Community development research, diaspora studies, religious community research, policy-oriented work
Station 4: Mixed Reality Methods
Overview: Mixed reality methods recognize that Middle Eastern lives span digital platforms, transnational spaces, and local contexts simultaneously.
Key Principles:
- Diaspora communities maintain homeland connections through digital platforms
- Political movements coordinate across online and offline spaces
- Religious practices increasingly incorporate digital elements
- Surveillance concerns require careful ethical protocols
Micro-Exercise (3 minutes): Examine Yasmin Elayat’s digital storytelling project “18 Days in Egypt” (documenting the 2011 revolution) alongside physical protests in Tahrir Square, https://docubase.mit.edu/project/18-days-in-egypt/:
- How did digital documentation (videos, tweets, Facebook posts) interact with physical occupation of space?
- What role did diaspora Egyptians play in amplifying digital content internationally?
- How would you study both the digital archive creation and the embodied experience of revolution?
Middle East Examples:
- Lara Deeb’s Enchanted Modern: Gender and Public Piety in Shi’i Lebanon (2006) examines Hezbollah’s media and community networks
- Studies of Turkish political engagement across Germany and Turkey, e. g. Bahar Baser’s work on transnational Turkish political engagement; or Ahmet İçduygu and Damla B. Aksel’s research on Turkish diaspora political participation (I think, would need to re-check)
- Research on Iranian diaspora’s digital connections to homeland protests, e.g. Gholam Khiabany and Annabelle Sreberny’s work on Iranian diaspora media; or research on #MahsaAmini protests and diaspora digital activism (2022-ongoing)
When to Use: Transnational communities, political movements, diaspora studies, digital activism
Station 5: Creative Methods
Overview: Creative methods engage with the rich artistic traditions of the Middle East while addressing sensitive political and cultural topics.
Key Principles:
- Storytelling traditions (hakawati, meddah) offer culturally grounded research approaches
- Creative methods can navigate political censorship and surveillance
- Art has been central to resistance and cultural preservation in the region
- Poetry, music, and performance carry deep cultural meanings
Micro-Exercise (3 minutes): Listen to this excerpt from Mashrou’ Leila’s song “Lil Watan” (For the Homeland, https://youtu.be/Qn3EFPOuEGM?si=LN7M8bmpC1fhkbJO):
- What themes about belonging and identity emerge in the lyrics?
- How might you use music analysis to understand LGBTQ+ experiences in Lebanon?
- What creative methods might participants use to express complex political feelings?
Middle East Examples:
- Lila Abu-Lughod’s use of Bedouin poetry in ethnographic research
- Collaborative storytelling projects with Palestinian refugees, e.g. We Are Not Numbers project (Palestinian youth storytelling initiative)
- Zara Houshmand’s work with Iranian women artists; or Shadi Ghadirian’s photography exploring women’s experiences in Iran
When to Use: Identity research, trauma studies, censored topics, intergenerational knowledge
Station 6: Experimental Methods
Overview: Experimental methods test specific hypotheses about Middle Eastern societies, particularly in psychology, economics, and political science.
Key Principles:
- Cultural contexts affect experimental validity and interpretation
- Religious and social norms influence participant behavior in experimental settings
- Historical trauma and political instability create unique baseline conditions
- Ethical review processes may differ across Middle Eastern countries
Micro-Exercise (3 minutes): Review this study idea: Testing whether exposure to diverse Middle Eastern media representations affects American students’ attitudes toward the region:
- What control variables would you need to consider?
- How might you randomize media exposure while maintaining ethical standards?
- What cultural factors might affect how participants interpret the media?
Middle East Examples:
- Economic experiments on trust and cooperation in post-conflict Iraq, e.g. Eli Berman and colleagues’ work
- Educational interventions testing bias reduction in Israeli-Palestinian contexts, e.g. Juliana Schroeder and others’ work on perspective-taking interventions; or Emile Bruneau’s research on conflict reduction interventions
- Natural experiments studying migration effects from Syrian conflict, e.g. Semih Tumen’s work on Syrian refugees’ economic impacts in Turkey
When to Use: Policy evaluation, bias and stereotyping research, economic behavior, educational interventions
2. Challenge Categories Framework
Access Issues
- Common Problems: Visa restrictions, institutional gatekeepers, security concerns, language barriers
- Middle East Examples: Accessing archives in Damascus during conflict, interviewing government officials in authoritarian contexts, researching in occupied territories
- Brainstorming Prompts: What diaspora communities could provide alternative access? How might digital archives supplement restricted physical access?
Ethical Concerns
- Common Problems: Surveillance states, participant safety, orientalist representation, colonial research legacies
- Middle East Examples: Protecting Iranian interview participants, avoiding harm to Palestinian communities, navigating Israeli academic boycott debates
- Brainstorming Prompts: How can research benefit rather than extract from communities? What would community-controlled research look like?
Language and Translation
- Common Problems: Arabic diglossia, multilingual participants, translation accuracy, cultural concepts
- Middle East Examples: Translating Islamic legal concepts, capturing Kurdish dialect variations, understanding Turkish-German code-switching
- Brainstorming Prompts: What multilingual methods exist? How might translation become collaborative rather than extractive?
Political Sensitivity
- Common Problems: Censorship, political persecution, changing political contexts, funding restrictions
- Middle East Examples: Research during Arab Spring transitions, studying Kurdish issues in Turkey, Iranian nuclear program research
- Brainstorming Prompts: How might indirect methods address sensitive topics? What historical precedents exist for politically engaged scholarship?
3. Triangulation Scenario
Research Scenario: “Cultural Memory and Identity Among Second-Generation Arab Americans”
Background: You’re studying how second-generation Arab Americans (children of immigrants) negotiate their cultural identity through memory practices, focusing on how family stories, cultural objects, digital media, and community events shape their sense of belonging. You’re particularly interested in how 9/11 and subsequent Islamophobia affected identity formation processes.
Specific Context: Lebanese, Palestinian, and Syrian American communities in Detroit/Dearborn area, chosen because of large population and multi-generational presence.
Real Example for Analysis: The Arab American National Museum’s StoryCorps project, where community members record family stories. You have access to selected recordings (with permission) and can observe recording sessions.
Available Resources:
- Access to Arab American community centers and mosques in Detroit
- Arabic language skills (or translation partnerships)
- Digital archives from Arab American organizations
- Oral history collections from University of Michigan-Dearborn
- Community partnerships already established
Research Constraints:
- Post-9/11 sensitivity about research in Arab American communities
- Intergenerational trauma may affect willingness to participate
- Community research fatigue (many previous studies conducted)
- Need to balance academic goals with community benefit
Your Triangulation Challenge: Design a research approach using at least 4 different data sources that could include:
- Oral histories (StoryCorps recordings, family interviews)
- Material culture (family photographs, cultural objects, home spaces)
- Digital media (social media posts, WhatsApp family groups, YouTube videos)
- Community observations (cultural events, religious gatherings, political meetings)
- Archival sources (immigration documents, community newspapers, organizational records)
- Survey data (demographic patterns, attitude surveys, existing datasets)
4. Research Design Sketch Template
Research Design Prototype – ISME
Project Title: ________________________________
Regional/Cultural Focus: ________________________________ (e.g., specific countries, diaspora communities, transnational connections)
Core Research Question: [Refined version incorporating cultural sensitivity and specificity]
Primary Methodology + Cultural Considerations:
Method: ________________________________
Why this approach for this Middle Eastern context? ________________________________
What cultural protocols must I observe? ________________________________
Language considerations: ________________________________
Stretch Method (from today’s speed dating):
Method I want to try: ________________________________
How it addresses Middle East studies challenges: ________________________________
Cultural adaptations needed: ________________________________
Data Triangulation Strategy:
Source/Method Type 1: ________________________________
Source/Method Type 2: ________________________________
Source/Method Type 3: ________________________________
How these address orientalist research concerns: ________________________________
Biggest Anticipated Challenge:
Challenge: ________________________________
Community-centered solution: ________________________________
Alternative approach if primary plan fails: ________________________________
Who in the community might advise me? ________________________________
Timeline Sketch (considering cultural/political factors):
Month 1-2: ________________________________
Month 3-4: ________________________________
Month 5-6: ________________________________
Month 7-8: ________________________________
Ramadan/religious holidays/personal events considerations: ___________________________
Community Benefit Plan:
How will this research serve the community studied? ________________________________ What will participants receive in return? ________________________________
5. Specific Middle East Studies Resources
to be added