​​Day two of the 2026 Arab Graduate Students Conference kicked off on Sunday 4 October 2026. Under the Politics and International Relations track, Jad Baghdadi presented “The Political Economy of State-Capital Relations in Lebanon: The Case of the Pharmaceutical Sector,” examining Lebanon’s pharmaceutical sector as a reflection of broader relations between the state, capital, class, and sectarian networks. He argued that the sector’s import dependency and market structure are rooted in established political and economic relationships rather than mere institutional weakness. Sultan Al Bimani presented “Soft Diplomacy Tools in the Sultanate of Oman: A Theoretical Perspective and Cultural Applications,” addressing how cultural heritage and institutions serve as instruments of Omani soft diplomacy. He further explored the role of initiatives including Shabab Oman II, the Royal Opera House Muscat, museums, heritage sites, and cultural tourism in strengthening Oman’s international image. In “Saudi Leadership and the Evolution of Saudi Foreign Policy Toward China (1949–2015),” Abdullah Bin Mansour traced the development of Saudi–Chinese relations through the changing perceptions and priorities of successive Saudi leaders. In his presentation, Abdullah examined how leadership calculations interacted with shifts in the international system and China’s growing economic importance. Finally, Muhammed Zeyn presented “Weaponized Exile and Reclaimed Citizenship: How Social Media Mediates Syrian Political Rights Across Displacement and Return,” examining the role of digital platforms in shaping displacement, return, and political participation among Syrians following the fall of the Assad regime.

The Economics, Public Policy, Energy, and Urban Studies track featured presentations on labour market inequalities, Gulf urban development, and barriers facing racialized women entrepreneurs in Canada. Mohammad Al-Masaeid presented “The Wage Gap Between Public and Private Workers in Jordan: Role of Experience, Education, Location and Gender,” examining differences in public- and private-sector wages in Jordan and found that wage disparities vary significantly by gender, education, location, and work experience, with women facing particularly persistent disadvantages. Jasmine Ali presented “A Pioneering Urban Spectacle and Ecosystem Hero: Sabah Al Ahmad Sea City, from the 1980s to Today,” tracing the development of Kuwait’s Sabah Al Ahmad Sea City since its announcement in 1986 and explained how the project evolved over time and critically assessed its positioning as both a major urban development and an environmentally beneficial project. For her part, Besma Soltan presented “Conditional Legitimacy: Racialized Women Entrepreneurs and the Structural Limits of Ecosystem Access in Canada,” exploring how racialized women entrepreneurs navigate access to credibility and support within Canada’s entrepreneurship ecosystem.

The Conflict and Settler Colonialism Studies track included Mohammed Amer’s presentation, “Islamic Peacebuilding and Resistance: Ifsha Al-Salam’s Approach to Confronting Organized Crime and Gun Violence in Palestinian Communities in Israel.” He examined how the Ifsha al-Salam Committee uses Islamic peacebuilding practices and community-based conflict resolution to address organized crime and gun violence within Palestinian communities in Israel, while placing these efforts within the wider context of structural marginalization and settler-colonial frameworks.

The Sociology and Psychology track looked at presentations on caregiving, juvenile justice, inequality, and gender-based violence. In “The Lived Experiences of Arab British Carers Between Home and Heritage: Rethinking Caregiving Theory in an Ethnically Minoritized Context,” Soha Almehmadi presented on how Arab British carers navigate unpaid caregiving, identity, and access to formal support, highlighting the need for more culturally responsive caregiving policies and services. Lama Karame presentation, “Poverty on Trial: Law, Welfare, and Childhood in Lebanon’s Juvenile Courts,” examined how Lebanon’s juvenile courts have increasingly taken on welfare functions amid the collapse of social protection systems and found that the “judicialization of welfare” can individualize structural problems and increase the penalization of poverty-related cases. Mortada Al-Amine presented “When Meritocracy Challenges and Justifies Inequality: The Interplay Between the Dimension of Meritocratic Belief and Type of Inequality,” and explained why meritocratic beliefs can both challenge and legitimize inequality, distinguishing between different forms of meritocratic belief and their effects on perceptions of educational and ethnic inequality. Sarah Hasbini presented “Fragmented Statehood and the Gender Regime: Civil Society and Violence Against Women in Lebanon,” and explained why violence against women persists despite the presence of active state and civil society institutions. She argued that service-oriented, elite-mediated forms of feminism can provide essential support while limiting deeper structural change.

The Migration and Refugee Studies track spotlighted presentations on family life after forced migration, the economic effects of refugee movements, displaced women’s agency, and “irregularized” migration. Fadi Hasan’s “‘Perhaps moving to Germany solved some of our problems caused by the war in Syria, but...’: A Structuration Theory Analysis of the Meanings and Transformations of Marriage and Family Systems in the German Post-Refugee Context,” looked at how forced migration has reshaped marital and family relations among Syrian couples living in Germany. Kamal Kassam presented “The Effect of Refugees on Bilateral Trade Between Hosting Countries,” analyzing the impact of Syrian refugee populations on trade between host countries. He went on to say that his findings indicated a positive relationship between refugee presence and bilateral trade, particularly in the textile and food production sectors. In “From Victimhood to Agency: The Role of Yemeni Displaced Women in Cultural Transformation,” Khaled Alosaimi explored how displaced Yemeni women use their skills to contribute to host communities and looked into their role in economic participation, social cohesion, and changing gender norms. Abdallah Ounour’s “Assisted Migration or Human Trafficking? Eastern Sudan as a Gateway for Irregularized Migration,” examined migration through Eastern Sudan and challenging conventional distinctions between trafficking, smuggling, and voluntary mobility and proposed “assisted migration” as an alternative framework for understanding how migration is collectively organized and negotiated.

In the History, Philosophy, Literature, Linguistics, and Cultural Studies, Shadi Rohana presented his paper, “Cervantes and the Arabs: al-Andalus in Don Quixote and Its Translations into Arabic,” and in it he examined the Arab-Islamic presence in Miguel de Cervantes’s Don Quixote, particularly its references to al-Andalus and the figure of Cide Hamete Benengeli, the novel’s supposed Arab author. He explored how these elements have been translated into Arabic since the nineteenth century and how translators have handled their linguistic, cultural, and historical significance. Achouak Chalkha’s “Translation Issues in Non-Arabic Corpora: Translation as a Third Space of Semantic Negotiation and a Practice of Symbolic Resistance Among the Moriscos,” examined how Aljamiado translation served as a means of preserving religious and cultural identity under persecution. Ghada Ghazal presented “Nazm al-Quran and the Hermeneutics of Surah Structure: A Comparative Study of Amin Ahsan Islahi and Michel Cuypers,” comparing Islamic and contemporary rhetorical approaches to Quranic coherence and the structural interpretation of surahs. Finally, Safinaz Saad presented “Rereading Kinship in the Modern Arabic Novel: Ethics of Coexistence,” looking at friendship and non-blood relationships in Radwa Ashour’s Farag as alternative forms of kinship, care, and solidarity amid social and political upheaval.

The conference will conclude on Monday, 5 October 2026, following presentations and discussions across four thematic tracks. The program will end with an introductory session on the Arab Encyclopedia project, “Arabica.”

For more information about the conference, please see the full program and conference booklet.