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Liberation has been a recurrent theme in the Middle East for millennia. People have sought it in a multitude of ways – through politics, mysticism, philosophy, and personal piety. In the modern Middle East, different political movements – nationalist, communist, economic liberalist, Islamist, and secularist – have all promised liberation of different kinds. It is also a key theme of feminist writing, and of modern Middle Eastern literature. Together with ‘bread and dignity’, it was one of the central principles of the Arab Spring.With the reassertion of military rule in Egypt, and the descent in Syria from popular uprisings to bloody civil war, ‘liberation’ is now even more in question in the Middle East than it was before 2011. The BRISMES Annual Conference 2015 will explore the multitude of meanings that the concept has for the region today.Call for PapersBRISMES 2015 invites papers on any aspect of liberation – and we will also welcome papers on any other theme.We will include panels on as wide as possible a range of disciplines, including: politics, religious studies (Islam, and also other religions), history, law, economics, sociology, anthropology, literature, linguistics, geography, translation studies, and language teaching. Please submit paper proposals here and panel proposals here.Deadline for submission of abstracts and panel proposals: 20 February 2015Accepted papers and panels announced: 20 MarchDeadline for participant registration: 10 AprilDeadline for paper submission: 20 MayNon-presenting conference participants are warmly welcomed and registration will open shortly.