The Critical SWANA (South West Asia and North Africa) Research Cluster in the Department of American Studies and Ethnicity presents Dr. Lila Sharif (she/her) to talk about her forthcoming book. Noting that olives have been cultivated in Palestine for over 7,000 years and every part of the olive is used to sustain Palestinian life today, through a global indigenous perspective "Guardians of the Olive Tree" analyzes the ways in which the olive continues to be the center of the Palestinian struggle, identity, and land traditions. Sharif argues that Palestinians from multiple locations and social positions around the world sustain and reinvigorate their attachments to their homeland through a set of practices that link at the olive tree.

Dr. Sharif is an Assistant Professor of Asian American Studies at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign; is a founding member of the Critical Refugee Studies Collective (CRSC), and is the first-ever Palestinian to earn a Ph.D. in Ethnic Studies.  

This event is co-sponsored by the: Transpacific Research Cluster, Department of Middle East Studies, and the Department of American Studies and Ethnicity