Sudan in Conversation
Nisrin Elamin (University of Toronto) & Mosaab Baba (Gisa Group)
Friday, November 8, 2024 2:00 PM EST
Fenwick Library, Main Reading Room, 2001
Only 4 seats left!
To reflect on the current situation in Sudan, five years on from the 2019 revolution, and in light of a now year long civil war, the AbuSulayman Center for Global Islamic Studies in coordination with the Sudanese Student Association at George Mason University will host a in-depth discussion with two Sudanese experts and leading commentators.
Dr. Nisrin Elamin
Dr. Nisrin Elamin is an Assistant Professor of Anthropology and African Studies at the University of Toronto. She is currently writing a book tentatively titled: Stratified Enclosures: Land, Capital and Empire-making in central Sudan which focuses on Saudi and Emirati land grabs and community resistance to land dispossession in the Gezira region of Sudan. In addition to scholarly articles, Nisrin has also published and co-written several op-eds for Al Jazeera, the Washington Post, Okay Africa, Hammer and Hope and the Egypt Independent. Before pursuing her Ph.D., Nisrin spent over a decade working as an educator, organizer and researcher in the US and Tanzania. She is also a member of the Sudan Solidarity Collective which has been supporting local emergency response rooms (ERRs) in the face of a largely absent international aid community and civilian state. The collective has raised over $300,000 for ERRs through political education and teach-ins. It has also been organizing around more just Canadian immigration policies.
For this panel discussion, Dr. Elamin will focus on The political economy of Sudan's neglected war and provide context the current counterrevolutionary war and famine. In particular, she will discuss ongoing struggles over land and the role civilian volunteers on the frontline of mutual aid and relief efforts.
Mosaab Baba
Mosaab Baba is the Media Development Director at Gisa Group, a non-profit organization focusing on developing media and access to justice in Sudan. Mosaab also serves as the acting Director for Ayin Network (3ayin.com), which has done comprehensive coverage in Sudan since 2013. Mosaab is also a media trainer and technical consultant who has worked extensively with civil society, media, NGOs and human rights groups in Africa, with a main focus on Sudan.
Presenting with:
Dr. Naglaa Hussein completed her Ph.D. in African Studies at Howard University. She served as a Fulbright scholar to Five Colleges, Inc., in Amherst, MA; an Arabic teacher at Smith College in Northampton, MA; and a visiting research scholar to the English Department at George Washington University in Washington, DC. Her research interests include the literature of black minorities in the Middle East, Gender and Islam in Africa, and media representations of darker skins. Her current research focus is on rural Nubian women economic empowerment.
Her review of Cleo Cantone’s Making and Remaking Mosques in Senegal was published by Islamic Africa Journal in 2012; she also wrote “Identity Politics of Color, Nation, and Land in the Literature of Nubian Egyptians” in Who Defines Me: Negotiating Identity in Language and Literature, Eid Mohamed and Yasser Fouad, ed. (Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2014).
Reel Khalid Eltayeb is a sophomore at George Mason University, majoring in Cybersecurity Engineering, and currently serves as the Co-President of the Sudanese Student Association. As co-president, she helps lead the association’s mission to celebrate Sudanese culture, heritage, and identity while fostering a strong sense of community. The association is dedicated to promoting cultural exchange, academic support, and social empowerment for its members. Through spearheading initiatives that raise awareness and strengthen connections both within GMU and the broader NoVA community, she works to inspire a deeper appreciation of Sudanese traditions and make a lasting, positive impact.
