Centre for Minorities Research Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

In the first episode of the 4th season of the CMR Podcast, Sara Allam Shaltout, a PhD candidate at the School of International Relations, delves into the complexities of church-state relations in Egypt and their influence on the everyday lives of Christian minorities, particularly Coptic Christians. Joined by Dr. Fouad Halboni, Lecturer of Political Anthropology at the American University in Cairo, the discussion traces the origins of these relations to the Millet system from the Ottoman Empire—a framework for managing religious affairs for non-Muslim subjects under Islamic rule. This episode sheds light on the continued relevance of this system in understanding contemporary church-state dynamics and their impact on Christian communities in Egypt.

About the Host
Sara Allam Shaltout is a PhD candidate at the School of International Relations, University of St Andrews. Her research focuses on Christian-Muslim relations and church-state relations in the Middle East. She holds a Master’s degree in Middle East Studies from the American University in Cairo and a Master’s in Religious Studies and Theology from the University of Edinburgh.

In this episode, Michelle Alm Engvall, social researcher, MA in Anthropology and Humanitarian Action; Megan Denise Smith, Protection and Gender Specialist, Independent Consultant and PhD candidate in Political and Social Sciences at Universitat Pompeu Fabra; and Esther Neira, PhD candidate in Anthropology at Queen’s University Belfast, discuss the intersections between transactional sex (TS) and humanitarianism. They contextualise the differences between transactional sex and sex work to then discuss some of the current measures and policies put in place by the humanitarian agencies to address the needs of those who engage in TS within humanitarian settings. Based upon their experiences within their humanitarian sector and academia, they talk about the challenges that researching this topic implies, the gaps between the humanitarian industry and academia, and how to build better bridges between both.

References:

IASC (2018). "Gender Handbook for Humanitarian Action". Available at: https://interagencystandingcommittee.org/iasc-reference-group-gender-and-humanitarian-action/iasc-gender-handbook-humanitarian-action-2018.

UNHCR (2021). "Operational Guidance: Responding to the health and protection needs of people selling or exchanging sex in humanitarian settings". Available at: https://www.unhcr.org/sites/default/files/legacy-pdf/60dc85d74.pdf.

WRC (2016). "Working with Refugees Engaged in Sex Work: A Guidance Note for Humanitarians". Available at:https://www.womensrefugeecommission.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Refugees-Engaged-in-Sex-Work-Guidance-Note-Oct-2016-Modified.pdf.

Alm Engvall, M. (2019). "Sex Work and Humanitarianism: Understanding Predominant Framings of Sex Work in Humanitarian Response". MA Thesis. Available at: https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/record.jsf?pid=diva2%3A1343555&dswid=-8294

Alm Engvall, M., Heidari, S., Hilhorst, D., Kahn, C., and Smith, M. (2022) Rethinking Transactional Sex in Humanitarian Settings: Reflections on the Way Forward. International Institute of Social Studies (ISS) Blog on Global Development and Social Justice (BLISS).

In this episode, listen to St. Andrews History PhD student, Jessica Secmezsoy-Urquhart, as they tell the forgotten life story of the Greatest Man from the Smallest County in all of England, Jeffrey Hudson. As a young boy of only 1 1/2 foot tall, at the age of 7 his life changed forever when Charles I friend, the Duke of Buckingham, had him become his household dwarf before showing him at a royal banquet, which saw him given a new position as court dwarf and wonder (someone celebrated for looking physically different but not considered a monster) in Queen Henrietta Maria’s royal household. What followed was a life of great privilege but also great sorrow, as Hudson found himself over his life defined as everything from court dwarf, entertainer, warrior, Civil War Captain of Horse, Ottoman slave, Catholic Prisoner, Elderly Pauper to Murderer.

In this episode Anisha Minocha and Nishita Koushik, both undergraduates in English at the University of St Andrews, will be discussing their own experiences and challenges with the structure of higher education. Stressing the importance of diversifying and decolonising the curriculum, and what steps are being done by students to improve this.

Growing Flowers in the Desert: A Conversation with the Lemon Tree Trust will reveal how one packet of seeds can bring hope to even the most desolate of situations. In this podcast, Rachael Jefferies, a Master of Arts (Honours) student in French and German, at the University of St Andrews, explores the power of gardening with Jennie Spears from the Lemon Tree Trust. Discover stories of displaced individuals and see how the act of gardening becomes a common language of dignity between people and a bridge to build community.

In this episode Anushrut Ramakrishnan Agrwaal, a PhD Candidate in Film Studies at the University of St Andrews talks to Lara Jost, a PhD Candidate in Philosophy who also manages Philosophy's academic skills workshops for undergraduate students. Anushrut and Lara discuss the potential uses of the Academic Skills Projects workshops to make the discipline of Philosophy more inclusive, as well as the challenges facing it. The podcast seeks to elucidate on local practices that those concerned with equality, diversity, and inclusiveness within the University could support. Further, it offers a grassroots level perspective on how and why disciplines become restrictive in their approach.

In this episode Manar Kawasmi, a PhD Candidate in Social Anthropology at the University of St Andrews talks to Haneen Maikey, a Palestinian feminist queer activist and organiser. Haneen is the co-founder and former director of al-Qaws for Sexual and Gender Diversity in Palestinian Society, which is a Palestinian LGBT+ grassroots activist organisation. Manar and Haneen discuss the context in which al-Qaws was established and its main goals in countering colonialism, homophobia, and patriarchy. They also talk about pinkwashing and how it exposes the relationship between these three forces. For al-Qaws, countering pinkwashing works as a main queer activist strategy to counter settler-colonialism in the context of Palestine/Israel. They further discuss queer politics and the importance of anti-colonial analysis to queer liberation movements, and the benefits of digital online work for expanding grassroots queer activist networks.

In this episode, we discover the Expanding German Studies network with one of its founders, Dr Tom Smith, a Lecturer in German Studies at the School of Modern Languages at the University of St Andrews, and Gwendoline Choi, a German Studies Masters student. Expanding German Studies (EGS) is a collaborative resource, blog and collective, focussing on promoting teaching that reflects the diversity of German-speaking culture. EGS aims to better represent German Studies’ multitude of voices and to connect existing diversity work between different universities in the UK.

In our fifth episode Parisa Saghafian, a recent graduate student from the University of St. Andrews in the Erasmus Mundus Masters of Crossways in Cultural Narratives, reflects on the life of Behrouz Boochani and his memoir “No Friends but the Mountains”, exploring his Kurdish and refugee identity.

Bibliography used for the podcast:

Boochani, Behrooz `No friends but the mountains: Writing from Manus prison` translated by Omid Tofighian, pub by Picador Publications, 2018.

Burnett, Karl `Feeling like an outsider: a case study of refugee identity in the Czech Republic`, Research Paper No. 251 in New issues in refugee research, UNHCR, 2013.

Ek, Richard. `Giorgio Agamban and the spatiality of the camp: an introduction`. pub by Human Geography. Dec 2006.

Gould, Ruby, J `Placing the Stateless Refugee: a philosophy of statelessness, nationality, and rights`. pub by Bucknell University Press, 2019

Knudsen, Ar J. ‘Humanity: An International Journal of Human Rights, Humanitarianism, and Development`, pub by University of Pennsylvania Press, 2016

Service provider reports `Eroding our identity as a generous nation: Community views on Australia’s treatment of people seeking asylum`. pub by Refugee Council of Australia, Dec 2015.

In our fourth episode, Federica Consiglio, an undergraduate in German and Comparative Literature at the University of St. Andrews, analyses different points of view on the issue of including greater gender sensitivity in languages, both in their everyday use and in their grammatical structure. Looking at possible practical solutions that have recently been explored by linguists and their relevant critiques in Italian and German, encouraging greater awareness on the subject, solutions and most importantly, to understand the need of a cultural change, together with a linguistic one.