23.01.2025 Syria at a Crossroads | open lecture series

On December 8, 2024, the Assad regime in Syria was overthrown. Rebel groups, led by the Islamist Hay'at Tahrir ash-Sham (HTS), succeeded in driving the dictator out of the country. Unlike in 2015, neither Russia nor Iran intervened. The fall of the regime has opened unexpected opportunities for Syrians, who have been ruled with an iron fist for decades, and have been forced in millions outside their countries into exile and new diasporic lives elsewhere. Among Syrians there is widespread joy and hope, but also anxieties for and about a better future in freedom and justice. Within the country and the diaspora a wave of optimism and a desire for a fresh start are palpable. What questions, concerns and visions for the future exist among Syrians within the country and in the diaspora? How will they deal with the legacies of past violence, and the presence of victims and perpetrators? What does the restoration of justice mean? And what return? What experiences from the exile can contribute to the rebuilding process, what is the new relation between diaspora and home? What challenges must be overcome in the monumental task of state-building? The interim government is expected to remain in power until March 2025, but what comes next remains uncertain. Similarly unclear is whether it will be possible to reconcile the many diverse expectations and hopes within the country.

The open lecture series will address these and other current issues with contributions on Syrian politics, society, and culture. The series is a collaboration between the departments of Arabic Studies and Politics of the Near and Middle Eastern Studies at the CNMS of Philipps-Universität Marburg, the research program Europa im Nahen Osten -Der Nahe Osten in Europa (EUME),  the Forum Transregionale Studien in Berlin, and the Merian Institute for Advanced Studies in the Maghreb (MECAM) in Tunis, Tunisia.

27.01.2025: Dr. André Bank (GIGA/ Hamburg/ MECAM)

Political Transition in Syria : The End of the Assad Regime and the Perspectives for the Future 
5:15 PM; CET; CNMS Room 00A26
For virtual participation please click here

29.01.2025: Ansar Shahhoud (Dublin), Mohammed Al-Attar (Berlin) in conversation with: Anne-Marie McManus (SYRASP/ Forum Transregionale Studien), Clara Abai (SYRASP/ Forum Transregionale Studien/ FU Berlin)

Beginnings: Documentation, Justice, and History for Syrians After Assad's Prison Regime
5-7 PM CET; in the framework of EUME Berliner Seminar

10.02.2025: Dr. Anna Christina Scheiter (Philipps-Universität Marburg)

"Hama lam tamut wa-Suriyya lan tamut" (Hama ist nicht gestorben und Syrien wird nicht sterben) - Das Massaker von Hama als Symbol der syrischen Revolution (2011/2024)
6:15 PM CET, CNMS Room 00A23
For virtual participation, please click here

02.04.2025: Yassin Al Haj Saleh (Al-Jumhuriya / EUME Fellow 2019/20) and Rasha Abbas (Al-Jumhuriya / Writer), moderated by Rashof Salih (Forum Transregionale Studien / Freie Universität Berlin)

After Prison and Exile
17:00-18:30 CEST 

15.05.2025: (speakers tba), moderated by Laura Ruiz de Elvira Carrascal (Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, Marseille)

Transitional Justice in Tunisia and Syria
18:00-20:00 CEST

03.06.2025: Eylaf Bader Eddin (Davidson College / EUME Fellow 2021-24/PhD CNMS 2020)

Sednaya Prison: Possible Fieldwork
18:00-20:00 CEST 
For virtual participation please click here.

03.07.2025: (speakers tba), moderated by Anna Christina Scheiter (CNMS Philipps-Universität Marburg)

Transitional Justice and the Arts in Post-Assad Syria
18:00-20:00 CEST
For virtual participation please click here.

More information will follow soon.