Vision
We offer mentoring in science communication for researchers and provide access to academic knowledge about Islam, the Middle East and its connections to Europe for a wider audience.
The blog of the Swiss Society for the Middle East and Islamic Cultures (SSMEIC) was launched in 2020 by journalist Monika Bolliger and anthropologist Emanuel Schaeublin. It aims at highlighting the diversity and richness of academic research on Islam, the Middle East and its connections to Europe conducted in Switzerland. Scholars are supported by experienced media professionals in editing their research papers in such a way that they become comprehensible and entertaining for a broader audience. Journalistic mentoring is especially important as this form of communication is rarely taught in universities.
This blog is supported by the Swiss Academy of Humanities and Social Sciences (SAGW), the Universities of Basel, Bern, Zürich and Fribourg, as well as the Arditi Foundation. In order to give our blog greater visibility, we publish a selection of texts in cooperation with the online platforms Geschichte der Gegenwart and Orient XXI. Once a year, the blog posts are reproduced in the magazine Almanach with an editorial.
Submitting a text
The SSMEIC blog is open to researchers from Master’s level upwards who are affiliated with a Swiss university or higher education institution, or who are working on a topic related to Switzerland. Articles must be based on the author’s recent research on the MENA region or Islam and their connections to other regions and traditions. In their final version, articles should be between 1,500 and 2,000 words.
Academics who wish to disseminate their research findings on the blog and acquire journalistic skills are invited to contact César Jaquier (FR/EN – cesar.jaquier(at)gmail.com) or Elife Biçer-Deveci (GR/EN – elifebicer(at)gmail.com). The SSMEIC editorial committee will review the proposals and determine the publication schedule in agreement with the mentors and the editorial coordinator.
Please send us a title and a short abstract (150-300 words) that briefly addresses the following points:
- What is the topic of the article?
- What is the main argument/what are the main ideas?
- On the basis of what research were the results obtained?
- What is the relevance of the text for our understanding of the contemporary context? (It may be a link to topical events or how the text can help us to better understand the history, economy, politics and societies in the Middle East and/or Islamic cultures).
- Please provide an approximate timeframe for the submission of the first draft (this can be the month or simply the beginning/middle/end of the current calendar year).
Please do not hesitate to write to us if you have any questions regarding the above points or if you would like more information about the SSMEIC scientific communication project.
Emmanuel Haddad (French)
The French-Lebanese journalist is currently working as an editor in Paris after having been based in the Middle East and North Africa as a freelance journalist for ten years. His work has notably been published in French and Swiss media such as in Le Monde Diplomatique, La Croix, Le Courrier and RTS.
Meret Michel (German, English)
Meret Michel grew up in Bern. She studied political science at the University of Zurich and started to write for various local newspapers in Zurich and Hamburg, before attending the School of Reporting in Reutlingen, Germany. Since 2017 she has been working as a freelance reporter in the Middle East, focusing on the developments in Syria, Lebanon and Iraq. Her articles were published in the Swiss Wochenzeitung, NZZ am Sonntag, Republik, SRF Kontext, die Zeit and in the Greenpeace Magazine. She was awarded with the real21-Price in the category newcomer and nominated twice for the Zürcher Journalistenpreis, category newcomer.
Helene Aecherli
Helene Aecherli is of Swiss-Swedish descent, is a freelance journalist and moderator as well as a reporter for annabelle, Switzerland's most renowned women's magazine. After studying English, Nordic and German languages at the University of Zurich and in the US, she started her journalistic career at the Luzerner Zeitung and soon moved on to national weekly newspapers and magazines. For years she has been focusing her work on gender and human rights issues as well as socio-political developments in countries of the Middle East. In 2019, she was elected Reporter of the Year.