Duke Professors Preview Egyptian Election in Live Webcast June 15

In a live webcast Friday, June 15, six Duke scholars currently in four different countries discussed the significance of the Egyptian presidential runoff election, scheduled for June 16-17.

Students in DukeEngage Egypt in Cairo with instructors at the Arab Academy where some group members are studying Arabic (see more photos). Professor Mbaye Lo, second from left, participated in a webcast discussion June 15 on the presidential election in Egypt.

The election pits competing visions for the future of the fledgling democracy during a time of political instability. The contest has Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohamed Morsi competing against Ahmed Shafik, a former prime minister under past president Hosni Mubarak.

The participants were:

-- Mbaye Lo in Cairo, Egypt. Lo is an assistant professor of the practice in Asian and Middle Eastern studies. He teaches Arabic and recently conducted a study of the role of Al Jazeera Arabic writers during the Arab Spring. He is currently leading a group of Duke students in the DukeEngage Egypt civic engagement summer program (read the group's blog).

-- Shalom Goldman in Israel. Goldman is a professor of religion. His teaching and research interests include modern Hebrew language and biblical themes in Jewish and non-Jewish literature. He regularly comments on current events in the Middle East in the magazine Religion Dispatches as well as on blogs.

-- Abdeslam Maghraoui in Paris, France. Maghraoui is an associate professor of the practice in political science and author of "Liberalism without Democracy: Nationhood and Citizenship in Egypt, 1922–1936" (Duke University Press). His research and teaching address questions about democracy, governance, transparency and political ethics in North African and the Middle East.

-- David Schanzer in Durham. Schanzer is director of the Triangle Center on Terrorism and Homeland Security, and an associate professor of the practice at Duke's Sanford School of Public Policy. His area of expertise is emergency preparedness, homeland security, civil liberties and strategies for combatting terrorism.

-- Nadia El-Shaarawi in Durham. El-Shaarawi is a postdoctoral research associate at Duke's Kenan Institute for Ethics whose current scholarship examines the mental health and well-being of Iraqi refugees in Cairo.

Moderating the conversation was Azeddiine Chergui, an Arabic instructor at Duke and affiliated faculty member of the Duke Islamic Studies Center.

The online event was part of Duke's "Office Hours" interactive webcast series, which allows members of the Duke community and others to engage with faculty in their areas of expertise. Co-sponsoring the webcast was the Duke Islamic Studies Center's Transcultural Islam Project.