“No to harassment” Cairo, Egypt
Scholar. Writer. Teacher.
My work seeks to expose the oppressive powers at the heart of institutions and movements that claim to be liberating. I have written about this phenomenon in art worlds, universities, and revolutions.
My aim is to highlight the unexpected places that power resides, so that we might collectively and with more awareness build a better world.
I am an anthropologist of the Middle East by training, with research and teaching specializations in cultural politics, social movements, aesthetics, the state, social class, gender, and the politics of higher education.
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Dr. Jessica Winegar is Professor of Anthropology and Middle East and North African Studies at Northwestern University. She is the author of numerous book chapters and articles on culture and politics in the Middle East and the US.
These have appeared in publications such as American Ethnologist, Cultural Anthropology, Anthropological Quarterly, British Journal of Middle East Studies, Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, Review of Middle East Studies, Critical Interventions, Middle East Journal of Culture and Communication, Middle East Report, Jadaliyya and ArteEast.
Her book Creative Reckonings: The Politics of Art and Culture in Contemporary Egypt (Stanford, 2006), won the Albert Hourani award for best book in Middle East studies and the Arnold Rubin award for best book on African arts. She is also the co-author, with Lara Deeb, of Anthropology’s Politics: Disciplining the Middle East (Stanford, 2015). She regularly engages the media through op-eds and appearances on radio and television.
She is currently Director of the Alice Kaplan Institute for the Humanities at Northwestern University.
Key Academic Publications
My Books
Creative Reckonings: The Politics of Art and Culture in Contemporary Egypt
Winner of the Albert Hourani Book Award, given by the Middle East Studies Association for the best book in Middle East studies. Winner of the Arnold Rubin Outstanding Publication Award given by the Arts Council of the African Studies Association. (Stanford University Press, 2006).
Anthropology’s Politics: Disciplining the Middle East
Co-authored with Lara Deeb. (Stanford University Press, 2015).
Selected Articles
“The Power of Nonsense: Humor in Egypt’s Counter/Revolution.” British Journal of Middle East Studies 48(1):1-15, 2021.
“When They Don’t Like What We Write: Criticism of Anthropology as a Diagnostic of Power.” Co-authored with Lara Deeb. In The Scholar As Writer: Writing Anthropology, Ethnography, and Beyond. Carole McGranahan, ed. Durham: Duke University Press, 2020.
“Dissenting Bodies: The Performance Art of Adham Hafez.” Middle East Journal of Culture and Communication 11:123-140, 2018.
“A Civilized Revolution: Aesthetics and Political Action in Egypt.” American Ethnologist 43(4):609-622, 2016.
“Islam at the Art School: Religious Young Artists in Egypt.” In Islam and Popular Culture, Karin van Nieuwkerk, Mark Levine, and Martin Stokes, eds. University of Texas Press, 187-203, 2016.
"Civilizing Muslim Youth: Egyptian State Culture Programs and Islamic Television Preachers," Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute Volume 20, 445-465, 2014.
“Anthropologies of Arab-Majority Societies,” Annual Review of Anthropology. Co-authored with Lara Deeb. Volume 41, 537-558, 2012.
“The Privilege of Revolution: Gender, Class, Space, and Affect in Cairo.” American Ethnologist 39(1), 67-70, 2012.
“Culture is the Solution: The Civilizing Mission of the Egyptian State.” Review of Middle East Studies 43(2):189-197, 2009.
“The Humanity Game: Art, Islam, and the War on Terror,” Anthropological Quarterly, 81(3):651-681, 2008.
“Cultural Sovereignty in a Global Art Economy: Egyptian Cultural Policy and the New Western Interest in Art from the Middle East.” Cultural Anthropology 21(2):173-204, 2006.
“Of Chadors and Purple Fingers: U.S. Visual Media Coverage of the 2005 Iraqi Elections.” Feminist Media Studies 5(3):391-395, 2005.
“In Many Worlds: a discussion with Egyptian artist Sabah Naeem.” Meridians: a journal of feminism, race, transnationalism 2(2):146-162, 2002.
Op-Eds
I regularly write op-eds for venues such as The Hill, Ms. Magazine, Truthout, the Chronicle of Higher Education, do radio and television interviews, and give lectures to the public.
For a full list of op-eds please visit public engagements
“Hug each other!” Cairo, Egypt
Contact
Email:
j-winegar@northwestern.edu
Office address:
Department of Anthropology
Northwestern University
1810 Hinman Avenue
Evanston, IL 60208
Twitter: