Introduction Part I: Researching Political Dynamics in the Middle East 1. The Past is Here: Reflections on modern Middle Eastern HistoriographyIlan Pappé 2. Doing research in conflict and post-conflict contextsIrene Costantini and Sansom Milton 3. Researching (and deconstructing) Sectarianism in Lebanon and BeyondAna Almuedo-Castillo 4. Researching Livelihoods for Syrian Refugees in Protectionist Labour Markets: The Cases of Jordan, Lebanon and TurkeyLorraine Charles Part II: Identity and Positionality in Research 5. Talking to Young People about Being a National: Fieldwork Reflections from DubaiIdil Akinci 6. ‘Here be Dragons: Navigating the Problems of Researching ‘Terrorism’ and Critical Terrorism StudiesRichard McNeil-Willson 7. Positionality and Access: Doing Surveys and Empirical Research in the Middle EastBethany Shockley Part III: Conducting Ethnographic Research 8. Women, Conflict and the Everyday: Feminist Ethnographies in Palestine and KurdistanSophie Richter-Devroe and Veronica Buffon 9. From the ethical to the practical: cases of working with interpreters in Middle East StudiesAlex Mahoudeau & Yves Mirman 10. Conducting Research in Arabic: challenges and new perspectivesGiorgia Ferrari Part IV: Research through Text, Symbols and Technology 11. Problems of Method: Applying ‘Western Literary Theory’ to Arabic TextsHannah Scott Deuchar 12. YouTube and Ethnography in the Middle East: Creative Access in Difficult PlacesKenneth H. Schmitt 13. Reading the Signs: Toward a Semiotic Approach in Islamic StudiesPierre Hecker

Divided into 4 sections covering core themes: researching political dynamics; identity and positionality in research; conducting ethnographic research; and research through text, symbols and technology