Al-Diwan Roundup: News and Analysis from Publishing and Academia

Al-Diwan brings you the latest news and analysis from the publishing and academic worlds that relate to pedagogy and knowledge production.

Education

Q&A: A New Way to Access Higher Education for—and by—Displaced Syrians
By (Open Society Foundations)

Talking with Ben Webster of the Jamiya Project, the Open Society Foundation looks into how one organization is working to navigate the issue of obtaining higher education for displaced Syrians.

Ambitious But Secretive Arab Education Provider: Iran
By Wagdy Sawahel (Al-Fanar Media)

 Wagdy Sawahel delves into the budding presence of Iranian universities across countries in the Arab World. He looks at various aspects of the institutions, such as cost, language of instruction, and the programs themselves.

Publishing

Journalists Syndicate react to reduction of verdict against former head and board members
By (Mada Masr)

 Mada Masr reports on the ruling handed down by an Egyptian appeals court in the case of Amr Badr and Mahmoud Sakka. Their arrests were just one part of an ongoing “standoff between the state and the journalists.”

Dangers Surrounding Egyptian Publishing Industry 
By Dalia Assam (Asharq Al-Awsat)

 Dalia Assam looks into the impact of a rise in foreign currency on the Egyptian publishing industry. Her conversations with various publishers provide a few different perspectives on how to understand this point in history for publishing companies.  

No Place for Critical Press in Egypt 
By (Fanack Chronicle)

 The Fanack Chronicle takes a look into the prospects for critical journalism under President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi. New laws and institutional restructuring have challenged journalists’ abilities to write and critique the Egyptian government as they please.

Gallimard and Kalimat Sign Publishing Collaboration Agreement in Paris 
By Porter Anderson (Publishing Perspectives)

 A new publishing agreement was recently struck by the UAE based Kalimat Group and French institution, Gallimard. This contract starts an exchange between the two companies where they will begin translating each other’s books to Arabic and English, respectively.

Vice Media takes its edgy journalism to the Middle East
By Alexander Cornwell (Reuters)

 Shortly, Vice Media is expected to launch a branch in Dubai. The Middle East branch of Vice will still be covering the same topics and issues that it does in English, but now will also have content in Arabic, Farsi, Turkish, and Urdu.

Political poetry as a crime: Inside the surreal trial of Dareen Tatour 
By Yoav Haifawi (+972 Magazine)

Yoav Haifawi follows up on the ongoing trial of Palestinian poet, Dareen Tartour. Tartour’s trial has forced conversations about artistic freedom into the public sphere.