With the support of the Yale University Council on Middle East Studies and the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy at the American University of Beirut
"Transnational Tides and the Future of the Arab City." This interdisciplinary event encourages the exchange of cutting-edge expertise by environmental, cultural, business, political, design, and intellectual innovators, Yale alumni or otherwise.
Keynote address by Mr. Talal Shair, Vice Chairman and CEO, Dar Al-Handasah
Special address by Dr. Rajendra Pachauri, Nobel laureate and Director, Yale Climate and Energy Institute
The Arab experience of globalization has resulted in the refashioning of Arab cities into unique spaces hosting transnational communities. These communities are distinguished not only by their demographic diversity but also by their extraordinary mobility. And despite the fluidity of these transnational communities, they are a fixture, at least for the foreseeable future.
The movements within the globalized Arab Middle East – of people, of capital, of ideas – can be understood as tide-like in their scale, force, and effect. Gesturing toward the historical dimension of these shifting patterns of migration and exchange, this conference explores how transnational leaders can use their mobility and resources to engage the new metropolitan network in the building of a sustainable, integrated regional future.
Conference program
Thursday 1 October
Top 21, Crowne Plaza Beirut
6:00pm: Registration
8.00pm: Welcome Reception
Friday 2 October
West Hall, American University of Beirut
8.00am: Late Registration
9.00am: Opening Ceremony
Ms. Léa Hakim, Conference Co-Chair, YAAA Representative in Lebanon
Mr. James A. Cohen, Assistant Secretary of the University for International Affairs, Yale University
Mr. Omar Christidis, Conference Strategist, YAAA Co-Founder
Dr. Peter Dorman, President, American University of Beirut H.E. Mrs. Bahia Hariri, Minister of Education and Higher Education H.E. Mr. Ziad Baroud, Minister of Interior and Municipalities
10.00am Welcome Coffee Break
10.30am: Panel 1: Urbanism
Moderator:
Mr. Todd Reisz, Office of Metropolitan Architecture/AMO, Co-author, Al Manakh
Panelists:
Mr. Akram Abu Hamdan, Director General, Mawared
Mr. Angus Gavin, Urban Development Division Head, Solidere
Mr. Sinan Hassan, Architect, Principal, Sinan Of Syria Architects (SOSA) Archiculture
Mr. Gregory Acker, Senior Planning Manager, Estidama
12.00am: Coffee Break
12.00pm: Panel 2: Infrastructure
Moderator:
Dr. Walid Fayad, Principal, Global Energy and Utilities Practice, Booz & Co.
Panelists:
Ms. Sandra Frem, MIT Department of Architecture
H.E. Dr. Bader Alsheraan, Minister of Electricity and Water, Kuwait
Dr. Abdel Malik Al Jaber, CEO, Zain Levant Region
Ms. Tabitha Decker, Yale University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Dubai School of Government
Dr. Saleh Jallad, Group Vice President, Consolidated Contractors Company
2.00pm: Lunch
3.30pm: Special video address
Ms. Jasmine Melvin-Koushki, Director of Content, YAAA Representative in Kuwait
Dr. Rajendra Pachauri, Director, Yale Climate and Energy Institute and Chairman, Nobel Prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
3.45pm: Panel 3: Environment
Moderator:
Mr. Mohamad Chakaki, Aga Khan Scholar for Islamic Architecture, MIT
Panelists:
Mr. Brian Cullinane, Sustainability Leader for the Gulf Region, Arup
Mr. Khaled Awad, Director, Property Development Unit, Masdar
Dr. Weslynne Ashton, Lecturer and Program Director, Industrial Ecology in Developing Countries, Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Science
Dr. Mey Jurdi, Chair, Environmental Health Program, American University of Beirut
5.30pm: End of First Day
8.30pm: Hariri Foundation for Sustainable Development Dinner
Khan El Franj, Saida
Hosted by H.E. Mrs. Bahia Hariri, Minister of Education and Higher Education
Saturday 3 October
West Hall, American University of Beirut
9.30am: Keynote address by Mr. Talal Shair Chairman and CEO, Dar Al-Handasah
10.00am: Coffee Break
10.30am: Panel 6: Culture
Moderator:
Dr. George Arbid, Associate Professor of Architecture, American University of Beirut
Panelists:
Ms. Karla Britton, Lecturer in the History of Architecture and Urbanism, Yale School of Architecture
Ms. Huda Smitshuijzen AbiFares, Founding Director, The Khatt Foundation, Center for Arabic Typography
Mr. Omar Al-Qattan, Filmmaker and Cultural Activist
Mr. Omar Rajeh, Founder, Beirut International Platform of Dance
12.00am: Coffee Break
12.30pm: Panel 5: Education
Moderator:
Dr. Marcia Inhorn, Chair, Council on Middle East Studies, Yale
Panelists:
Mr. Walid Gerard El Ghass, Chief Learning Officer, Hariri Foundation for Sustainable Human Development
Dr. Safwan Masri, Director, Columbia University Middle East Research Center
Ms. Liz Kepferle, Director of Admissions, School of Foreign Service in Qatar, Georgetown University
Mr. Mohamad Chakaki, Aga Khan Scholar for Islamic Architecture, MIT
2.00pm: Lunch
3.30pm: Panel 4: Entrepreneurship
Moderator:
Mr. Gilbert Doumit, Senior Partner, Beyond Consulting and Training, Yale World Fellow
Panelists:
Mr. Abdulsalam Haykal, CEO, Transtek and President, Syrian Young Entrepreneurs Association
Dr. Marcia Inhorn, Chair, Council on Middle East Studies, Yale University
Mr. Kamal Nasser, CEO, Conservus
Mr. Mohammad Meddah, Founder and Editor, startuparabia.com
5.00pm: Closing Ceremony
8.30pm: The Future of YAAA
10.00pm: Party with special performance by Mr. Omar Offendum Chakaki
Walimat Wardeh, Hamra
Sunday 4 October: Optional activities
*To be confirmed
**YAAA members only
Please visit conference.yalearabalumni.org for more information and a complete list of speakers. For general inquiries, please contact conference@yalearabalumni.org.
