The lecture shed light on the fact that the largest communities of Palestinians outside of the Arab World are located in Latin America. In his lecture, Dr. Bawalsa asked how that came to be. He examined the emergence in Latin America of a Palestinian diaspora throughout the early twentieth century, specifically, in 1920s Chile.

Dr. Bawalsa's research is the first of its kind, taking the historical analysis of the formation of Palestinian national consciousness outside of geographic Palestine to the farthest reaches of the Americas. It also projects the narrative of a Palestinian struggle for a right of return to Palestine 23 years back from 1948 to 1925.

During her talk, Ruba Ahmad spoke to us about ARRD and all the great work they do in the development field. She is a political scientist and a sociologist, concentrating in policy making that facilitates human rights dialogue and socio-economic change. She discussed the contemporary situation in Jordan, as well as Jordan’s role and relationship regarding the region’s refugee crisis.

Rana Sweiss is a New York Times journalist and author of the book Voices of Jordan. She is also the fouder of WishBox Media, an organization that provides media training and general research services on the Middle East political, social, media and refugee issues.

During her lecture, she reflected on her role as a journalist in society and illustrated the contemporary political situation in Jordan, as well as Jordan’s role and relationship regarding the region’s refugee crisis.

Lina Shannak is a Jordanian journalist, translator, and author whose writing centers around documenting people's experiences. She also works in support of human rights and social justice in Jordan.

In her lecture, Ms. Shannak spoke to us about her experience as an author and about the challenges faced by some local families living in Jabal Al-Joufah. We had a lively discussion of Ms. Shannak’s book Qa’ Al Madina.

A group of writers from Al-Hudood Newspaper spoke about their work and the role of satire in covering current events. Al-Hudood (The Limits or The Borders) is an award-winning satirical Arabic news publication founded in July 2013. It originally focused on satirical journalism in Jordan and came to encompass news from the Arab world and from around the world, working with Arab writers and cartoonists from different parts of the Middle East and North Africa.

Taghreed Najjar is the founder of Al Salwa Publishing House. She is also a writer of children's books and educational material related to storybooks. She works closely with schools and presents workshops for teachers and children.
In this talk, Taghreed Najjar spoke to Sijal about her interesting experience as a writer and a publisher of children's books.

Mr Oraib Al-Rantawi is the director of the Think-Tank Al-Quds and a well-known political analyst in Jordan.
In this talk Mr Al-Rantawi spoke to Sijal about Jordan’s regional relations and his experiences working in the field.

In this lecture, Dr. Sanabel Al-Far discussed the technical expertise employed by Qasem Haddad, the Bahraini poet, in his translation of his self-vision of the world and the individual, where it presents the art of visual distribution, poetic text thresholds, and the poetry of narration, in addition to the role of these tools in questioning the outside and re-examining human existence through poetry and writing.

Dr. Ramzi Salti has published numerous works, including short stories, and has interviewed many celebrities including Debbie Harry from Blondie, Mashrou’ Leila, and Rania Kurdi.
A Lecturer in Arabic at Stanford University, his academic interests are related to Arabic Literature and Language, Digital Humanities, Feminist and Queer Theories, and Postcolonial Works of literature.
In this talk, Dr. Salti reflected on the music in the Arab world before and after the Arab Spring

A widely published scholar, Dr. Malek Abi Saab specializes in modern Middle Eastern history, colonialism and the nation state, women’s resistance, and Islamic movements. His current research deals with Syrian-Lebanese women and civil wars, female domestic labor in Lebanon, and peasant and labor unrest during and after Lebanon’s French colonial period.
He is also co-authoring a book on the Shi’i of Lebanon.
At McGill University, Dr. Abi Saab teaches courses dealing with the social and political transformation of the Middle East and women in Islamic societies, exploring new conceptual tools and comparative frameworks for discussing gender, labor, and the nation-state in the Middle East

A New York Times journalist, Rana Sweis examines the Jordanian political landscape, the Syrian refugee crisis, as well as media and cultural issues in her writing. Rana Sweis spoke to Sijal about her personal experiences, challenges, and victories as a female journalist in Jordan. She also illustrated the contemporary political situation in Jordan, as well as Jordan’s role and relationship regarding the region’s refugee crisis

Aref Husseini spoke to Sijal about his personal experiences working in Jerusalem/Palestine, establishing his own organization, Al-Nayzak (The Meteor), and aspiring towards humanitarian values.
Aref Husseini is a distinguished voice from Palestine’s NGO community dedicated to making science education accessible to the youth living in the West Bank and Gaza. A lifelong physicist and engineer, He also writes novels in his spare time and recently published Kafr Sabt (Saturday Infidel) and Haram Nusbi (Relative Taboo).

The last few years have seen an outbreak of “museum fever” in the Middle East. While the fever seems to have raged most fiercely in the Arab Gulf region, countries like Jordan, Palestine, Lebanon, and Egypt have not been immune. As museums globally are redefining themselves and their purpose, it is interesting to ask what kind of a role do museums play in our region today, if any? What purposes to they see themselves fulfilling?
Dr. Diana Abouali spoke to Sijal about case studies from Palestine and Jordan that give insight into what we can learn about the contribution museums are making as stewards of cultural heritage, and as institutions that define what cultural heritage and the historical narrative are or should be.

Sawsan Ahmad spoke to Sijal about the challenges facing Afro-Jordanians today. Drawing on original research, Sawsan's talk focused on the integration of Black Jordanians, whom she refers to as Afro-Jordanians, in three main areas: social, economic and political.

Nochi Motoharu and Deema Assef Spoke to Sijal about their fascinating reforestation work in Jordan. By applying the Miyawaki method, their project seeks to offer a sustainable alternative to urban landscaping.

Gian Spina, artist-in-residence at MMAG Foundation, spoke to Sijal about his art practice and his experiences working and walking around Jordan and Palestine.

In this talk, Sally Shalabi reflected on what it means to be a storyteller in today's modern world.

She will talk about the challenges of working within this tradition; namely, how to stay true to one's heritage while remaining relative and current in a modern context.

A professor of Social Development and Policy at Habib University in Kerachi, Pakistan, Prof. Massimo Ramaioli researches the intersection of Islam, politics, and international relations. He spoke with Sijal about the history of Salafism, its ideological foundations, and how its role in regional politics.

A scholar in the history and the development of the Arabic language, Prof. Philip Stokes presented a challenge to the widely-accepted notion that all Arabs spoke Classical Arabic prior to Islam and its spread throughout the Middle East and North Africa. Recent research, Prof. Stokes discussed, reveals that ancient desert inscriptions from across the region are indeed non-Classical Arabic, yet pre-Islamic, forcing us to rethink or conceptions of Arabic and its history.

Dr. Jona Fras, an expert in Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies, spoke with Sijal about his research on the language used on various Jordanian radio programs. While the language of specific programs is often explicitly “Jordanian” in dialect, Dr. Fras explored the language beyond its nationalistic undertones, namely how differences in language change how radio hosts interact with and attract listeners.

In 1997, Madian Al Jazerah founded Amman's Books@ Cafe, a cafe widely known for being a safe space for Amman's queer community. Madian joined us to discuss his early beginnings as an entrepreneur; his advocacy work; and his perspectives on the past, present, and future of LGBTQ life in Jordan.

Professional storyteller and storytelling coach Sally Shalabi, who goes by Shalabia Al Hakawatieh (Hakawatieh is Arabic for storyteller), joined us to discuss the art and history of storytelling in Jordan and the Arab world.

Dina Baslan, an activist, social worker, and co-founder of Sawiyan, spoke with Sijal about the recent history of Sudanese refugees in Jordan and the current legal, social, and economic issues they face in Amman. Sawiyan exists to support and advocate for marginalized refugee communities in Amman, of which the Sudanese community is a significant percent. 

الخميس الماضي كان لقاؤنا الثقافي مع الناشطة الاجتماعية دينا بسلان التي تحدّثت معنا عن أوضاع اللاجئين السودانيين في الأردن.

Shireen Talhouni, an award-winning choreographer based in Amman, presented on the status of contemporary dance in Jordan. With a background in architecture, Shireen was able to provide Sijal students with a unique perspective into the world of dance and movement, largely informed by her knowledge of architectural design.

سعدنا باستضافة شرين تلهوني التي أعطتنا صورة جميلة وواضحة عن الرقص المعاصر في الأردن. وقد استمتع طلابنا بالتقديم وسألوها العديد من الأسئلة التوضيحية ليتعرّفوا أكثر على هذا الجانب من المشهد الفنّي في الأردن.

The founder and managing director of Baraka and the Chairwoman of the Jordan Trail Association, Muna Haddad is a tourism expert with experience in site development, community based tourism, adventure tourism, ecotourism development and destination marketing. Muna joined us to discuss the Jordan Trail and Community Based Tourism in Jordan.

Rooted in deep cultural history and styles, Jordan's furniture industry is rapidly transforming. Basel Naouri, a multidisciplinary designer, architect, and musician, shed light on some of these transformations in his Brown Bag Lecture and sound exhibition on his current furniture pieces and the state of the furniture industry at large.

أسعدنا آن نستضيف المهندس المعماري والموسيقي والمصمم باسل الناعوري لمحاضرة تحدث فيها عن التغيرات في سوق صناعة المفروشات في الأردن

Part of the staple diet in Jordan, olive oil is a key component to many traditional dishes. Brittany Cook, a PhD candidate in Geography at the University of Kentucky, joined Sijal for a lecture on the political economy of olive oil production and its ramifications in Jordan.

Dr. Aida Essaid, Director of the Information and Research Center at the King Hussein Foundation, spoke with Sijal about the right of Jordanian women to pass on their citizenship to their children and non-Jordanian husbands. Students also learned about the Haqqi Information Zone, an open data source with information regarding legal, media, and human rights in Jordan.

أسعدنا باستضافة الدكتورة عايدة السعيد مديرة مركز المعلومات والبحث في مؤسسة الملك الحسين لآخر لقاء أكاديمي للفصل الدراسي الربيع والتي عرفتنا فيه على الموقع الالكتروني "حقي" الذي هو مساحة مفتوحة للجميع للوصول إلى المعلومة المتوفرة في التشريعات، والبحوث، والإعلام حول قضايا حقوق الإنسان في الأردن وكذلك ناقشت حقوق اعطاء المرأة الجنسية الأردنية لأولادها وزوجها غير الأردني.

Omar Sirri, doctoral student at the University of Toronto, spoke with Sijal about the BDS movement in North America. Sijal students learned about the efforts of student and academic labour unions to practice solidarity across race and class struggles.​

أسعدنا باستضافة عمر سرّي تلميذ الدكتوراه في جامعة تورونتو لثالث لقاء أكاديمي لطلّابنا والذي كان موضوعه حركات المقاطعة في أميريكا الشامالية وجهود الطلّاب والنقابات في دعمها وضمّها إلى الصراعات الاجتماعية الأخرى كالتعصّب العرقي وحقوق العمّال

As a Fulbright Fellow, Ryan Fan conducted his doctoral research on language and ideology in Morocco.  He gave a unique lecture on signed and spoken language contact and ideologies in Egypt and Morocco, as they relate to the broader Arabophone context.

يوم مميز آخر في سجال، فقد استضفنا رايان فان في محاضرة ضمن سلسلة المحاضرات الثقافية الخاصة بطلابنا. رايان الحاصل على منحة فولبرايت، وحاليا يعمل على أطروحة الدوكتوراه في المغرب، قدم لنا مقدمة وافية عن لغة الإشارة في اللغة العربية وعن الفروقات في اللهجات بما في ذلك المقاربات الأيديولوجية في لغة الإشارة العربية