Zawiya, the Cultural Map of the Middle East, is the arts and culture blog of the Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies at Tel Aviv University. Through our coverage of art, literature, music, film, and style, we provide analysis of contemporary Middle Eastern cultures and trends.
Zawiya is the Arabic word for angle. There are similar words in all the major languages of the Middle East, namely Hebrew (zavit), Turkish (zaviye) and Persian (zavieh). The choice of the blog’s title reflects the project’s underlying purpose: to emphasize the cultural and artistic dimensions of the Middle East, which are often tossed aside in the domineering world of geopolitics.
Editors
Turkey and Iran
Duygu Atlas is a research assistant at the Moshe Dayan Center and the program coordinator of the Süleyman Demirel Program for Contemporary Turkish Studies. She is also on the editorial board of the Middle East News Brief and a staff member of the Center’s new Audio-Visual library. Fields of interest: Cultural history of Turkey, literature, contemporary Turkish politics and minorities in Turkey.
Syria, Lebanon, and the Gulf
Shoshi Shmuluvitz is a graduate student of Middle Eastern History at Tel Aviv University. She is also a Producer of the Diwaniyya podcast on Middle East culture, history and politics, as well as an Editor of the Dayan Center publication Middle East News Brief, and Assistant Editor of Tel Aviv Notes. Her interests include the history of the body and sexuality in the Middle East, music, art and pop culture.
Egypt, Jordan, and Iraq
Ben Silsbee is the Media Coordinator of the Moshe Dayan Center, a producer of Diwaniyya, and a co-editor of the Dayan Center's student-faculty journal Sharqiyya. His interests include the cultural history of Iraq and youth and new media.
The Maghreb
Joyce van de Bildt is a research assistant and Program Development Manager at the Moshe Dayan Center. She is also a staff member of the Center’s new Audio-Visual library. Her interests include Islam in the West and Diaspora politics.
Pitch a story!
If you're interested in pitching us ideas for an article, review, or interview, email us at zawiya.mdc@gmail.com. Please put the region the story takes place and the type of art in the subject line (for example: Turkey, visual art). We'd love to hear your ideas and receive your article submissions!
Zawiya is the Arabic word for angle. There are similar words in all the major languages of the Middle East, namely Hebrew (zavit), Turkish (zaviye) and Persian (zavieh). The choice of the blog’s title reflects the project’s underlying purpose: to emphasize the cultural and artistic dimensions of the Middle East, which are often tossed aside in the domineering world of geopolitics.
Editors
Turkey and Iran
Duygu Atlas is a research assistant at the Moshe Dayan Center and the program coordinator of the Süleyman Demirel Program for Contemporary Turkish Studies. She is also on the editorial board of the Middle East News Brief and a staff member of the Center’s new Audio-Visual library. Fields of interest: Cultural history of Turkey, literature, contemporary Turkish politics and minorities in Turkey.
Syria, Lebanon, and the Gulf
Shoshi Shmuluvitz is a graduate student of Middle Eastern History at Tel Aviv University. She is also a Producer of the Diwaniyya podcast on Middle East culture, history and politics, as well as an Editor of the Dayan Center publication Middle East News Brief, and Assistant Editor of Tel Aviv Notes. Her interests include the history of the body and sexuality in the Middle East, music, art and pop culture.
Egypt, Jordan, and Iraq
Ben Silsbee is the Media Coordinator of the Moshe Dayan Center, a producer of Diwaniyya, and a co-editor of the Dayan Center's student-faculty journal Sharqiyya. His interests include the cultural history of Iraq and youth and new media.
The Maghreb
Joyce van de Bildt is a research assistant and Program Development Manager at the Moshe Dayan Center. She is also a staff member of the Center’s new Audio-Visual library. Her interests include Islam in the West and Diaspora politics.
Pitch a story!
If you're interested in pitching us ideas for an article, review, or interview, email us at zawiya.mdc@gmail.com. Please put the region the story takes place and the type of art in the subject line (for example: Turkey, visual art). We'd love to hear your ideas and receive your article submissions!
