To Catch a Glimpse from Afar: MENA Scholars in US International Conferences

Abstract: As a dauntless practitioner of exulansis , I write this Note from the Field in an attempt to unlearn my practice of keeping silent about the challenges of moving across borders. It is based on a survey I did about the challenges and issues (e.g., securing visas and funds) that Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) scholars/researchers sadly encounter when they decide to participate in US conferences. While offering specific action items to the ATHE organizing committee, I remind my fellow MENA colleagues who have experienced disconnect that their sadness should prompt a vivid upsurge of collective attention to the countless possibilities we organizers and participants still have for cosmopolitan friendship while taking joy and grief all in, at once, from afar.