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24-25 April 2014 - James A Baker Institute's Women and Human Rights in the Middle East Program international conference.The Middle East is undergoing a process of major transformation, not only on the political level, but also-and most importantly-on the societal and ideological levels. Despite the surge in research on different agents of change in the region since the onset of the Arab Spring, scholarship focusing on women's issues has been few and far between.In order to bridge this gap, the Women and Human Rights Program at the Baker Institute will be organizing an international conference on April 24-25, 2014, to produce and promote cutting edge research in the field of women and human rights in the Middle East. This important conference also seeks to produce substantive, fact-based policy recommendations that inform wider policy debates about the advancement of women's rights, both on the political and socioâ?economic levels. To achieve these goals, this cross-disciplinary conference will employ a comprehensive framework to the study of gender and human rights in the Middle East.The conference will feature three main topics:1) Women's socio-economic development in the region2) Political representation and the advancement of women's rights in the Middle East3) Islamic law and women's rights in the Arab world.Advanced graduate students are invited to present their research pertaining to gender and human rights in the region during the second day of the conference. The conference welcomes papers employing multiple methods and approaches for the study of gender in the region. Select graduate students will be invited to present their current project/dissertation, and to discuss their work with the participating scholars and benefit from their expertise. Priority will be given to students in the ABD phase of their graduate career.The Baker Institute will invite up to three graduate students to present their work and will provide a stipend for each student. There is no fee to participate in the event and meals will be provided for participants.Graduate students interested in participating in the conference are asked to email a one-page summary of the research to be presented, and an updated C.V. to mshalaby@rice.edu no later than December 15th, 2013. Successful candidates will be notified by February 1st.