Dear SNAP Members,
I hope everyone’s enjoyed a restorative summer. SNAP is continuing to develop an array of projects this academic year and I’m excited to update you on the organization’s activities.
Catholic University of America Symposium: On behalf of the executive board, I’d like to extend a warm invitation to all members to attend the symposium. The program, announced by lead-organizer Andrew Devereux earlier today, promises to generate compelling conversations. As our North American “coming out,” it will be an excellent opportunity for members to get to know each other and to help set the intellectual agenda of SNAP for the future. I look forward to seeing and meeting you all at CUA on November 30, 2011. Please also spread the word about the symposium to colleagues.
Medieval Encounters special issue: The executive board acting as co-guest editors has assembled the abstracts of a full issue. We are excited that our first collaborative publication is moving forward. We would like to thank all members who submitted abstracts for the issue for their interest and their commitment to SNAP.
Journal of North African Studies special issue: In April 2011, members engaged in a lively email conversation exploring possible themes for a second SNAP collaborative publication. I am pleased to announce that Miriam Ali-de-Unzaga and Adam Gaiser will serve as co-guest editors of the special issue. Please be on the lookout for a call for papers that they will send out in the coming weeks. I encourage interested members to submit abstracts for consideration.
SNAP websites version 2: New public and members-only websites, designed by Camilo Gómez-Rivas, Abby Balbale, and the rest of the Executive Board, have come online. In a separate email, I will explain their features and how to make use of them most effectively. We would like to sincerely thank Richard Taylor for his groundbreaking work on version 1 that has served us so well.
Middle East Studies Association Roundtable: Following the CUA Symposium, Abby Balbale’s roundtable “Is Iberia a Middle East Topic?” will take place at the MESA Annual Meeting on Saturday, December 2, 2011 at 2:30pm. Members attending the Symposium and/or MESA are invited to join us for the roundtable.
American Historical Association Panel: My panel, “The Transformation of Christian and Muslim Communities from Spiritual to Territorial after the Wars of Twelfth-Century Iberia,” will take place at the AHA Annual Meeting in Chicago on Sunday, January 8, 2012 at 8:30am. Members attending AHA are invited to join us for the panel.
Board Meeting: The executive board met for three days following ASPHS in Lisbon to work on projects and other future planning. We meet monthly via Skype, and our next physical meeting will take place at the 2012 AHA.
To close this update, I’d like to thank the SNAP members who’ve participated and contributed to our activities and those who have signed up for events in the future. It’s extraordinarily rewarding to meet you, get to know your work, and build dialogue between members. SNAP is a collaborative organization and we encourage all 60+ members to get involved. As always, everyone is welcomed to invite new colleagues to the organization based on interest in our mission. Please also propose projects to us/each other and distribute news of your own work (publications, conferences, panels), calls for papers, exhibitions, events, and other news via our Google group http://groups.google.com/group/spainnorthafrica?hl=en.
Have a wonderful beginning of the semester everyone!
Warmly,
Gen for the Executive Board