Politics of Apprehension: Teaching about the Middle East in Uncertain Times

Abstract

This paper engages with the complex ways in which current uncertain political conditions brought on by the politics of war and terror have produced new sets of fears, anxieties and obstacles for Middle Eastern anthropologists teaching about the Middle East in general and Iran in particular in U.S. academia. Elaborating on issues pertaining to the democratic rights of academics, censorship, self-censorship, and the general parameters of academic freedom, the author hopes to raise questions and seek practical solutions to overcome the current state of apprehension.