Lecture: Poetry, Pain, and the Promise of Palestine, UofW, 7-9pm on Wednesday 26 November 2025

The University of Waterloo’s Faculty of Arts is honoured to present guest speaker Dr. Sa’ed Atshan – scholar, Palestinian Quaker, and LGBTQ human rights advocate – on the role of poetry in capturing the realities of contemporary Palestinian life in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and beyond.

Please join us for this unique opportunity to explore how interdisciplinary scholarship can be applied to both understand and address a global crisis which has had such tragic human consequences.

About the speaker

A bald man wearing a suit jacket. He is staring past the camera to the left.
Sa’ed Atshan
Dr. Sa’ed Atshan is Associate Professor of Peace and Conflict Studies and Anthropology and Chair of the Department of Peace and Conflict Studies at Swarthmore College. He has previously served as an Associate Professor of Anthropology at Emory University, as a Visiting Assistant Professor of Anthropology and Senior Research Scholar at the University of California, Berkeley, and as a Postdoctoral Fellow at Brown University’s Watson Institute for International Studies. He earned a PhD in Anthropology and Middle Eastern Studies and MA in Social Anthropology from Harvard University, an MPP from the Harvard Kennedy School, and BA from Swarthmore College. Atshan is the author of Queer Palestine and the Empire of Critique (Stanford University Press, 2020), coauthor (with Katharina Galor) of The Moral Triangle: Germans, Israelis, Palestinians (Duke University Press, 2020), and co-editor (with Galor) of Reel Gender: Palestinian and Israeli Cinema (Bloomsbury, 2022).


Details and proceedings

Registration is required for in-person and online attendance. For those attending in-person, proof of registration is required at the reception area.

  • Doors open: 6:30 p.m.
  • Lecture and moderated Q & A: 7:00 to 8:20 p.m.
  • Reception for the in-person audience: 8:30 to 9:00 p.m.

Paid visitor parking is available in Lot M across from Federation Hall. More parking information.


This lecture is made possible through the generosity of alumni and friends. UofW Faculty of Arts extends sincere appreciation to the donors who contributed to the Foundation for Palestinian Studies Fund.

Watch past recordings from the UofW Palestinian Lectures series on YouTube.

Urgent Meeting of WR for Palestine, 6pm on Tuesday 5 August 2025

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For two years Canada has lied about their arms trade with Israel- and now we have the proof.

Join us on Tuesday, 5 August 2025 at 6:00pm for a critical community meeting to plan our next steps. Register now via link in bio.

This is your chance to get informed, get organized and take action. This is our chance to demand a two-ways arms embargo on Israel once and for all.

Arms Embargo Now Urgent Community Meeting The time to act is now. For two years Canada lied about sending weapons to Israel -- now we have the proof. Join us to get informed, get organized and to take action. Tues, Aug 5th @ 6:00 Register for Location Link in Bio Palestinian Youth Movement Neighbour

Stop Starving Gaza — KW Emergency Protest at Waterloo Public Square at 6pm on Thursday 24 July 2025

Gaza is being starved to death!

The past few months have pushed our people to the edge — children are dying from hunger and dehydration, families are being wiped out under siege and bombing, and exterminated by a lack of food, water and medical care. This is a murderous genocide, and starvation has become an intentional weapon used by Israel. This inhumanity must be stopped through world protests and actions, we will honour our responsibility to bring this to an end.

JOIN US on Thursday 24 July 2025 at 6:00pm in Waterloo Public Square to demand an immediate lift of the siege! 🇵🇸

Palestinian Youth Movement
KW Emergency Protest
Stop Starving Gaza Now!
Thursday July 24 6:00pm
Waterloo Public Square
75 King St S, Waterloo , ON N2J 1P2
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Organizers: