Edward W. Said Memorial Lecture | Prof. Noura Erakat: "Building the World Anew"

[Sid Shniad]

SFU Centre for Comparative Muslim Studies’ (CCMS)
Project for Palestine Studies

Presents

2026 Edward W. Said Memorial Lecture

 

This year, we are thrilled to welcome renowned human rights lawyer, respected professor, award-winning author, celebrated human rights lawyer, and dignified activist Noura Erakat to be the speaker for the 2026 Edward W. Said Memorial Lecturer in an evening of conversation forged for this cataclysmic moment. The title of Erakat’s talk is “Building the World Anew” and will address our collective futures considering Palestinian justice and freedom. Erakat draws from her forthcoming co-authored book with John Reynolds to argue that the decolonization of Palestine is not only a struggle for justice in one land, but the very heart of a livable, equitable future for all of humanity. Following her address, Erakat will participate in a Fireside Chat with lawyer Dania Majid, activist Sara Kishawi, and scholar Dr. Adel Iskandar.

This year’s edition of the Edward W. Said Memorial Lecture with Noura Erakat is an urgent, unmissable evening of political imagination and moral clarity. The event will be held at UBC Chan Centre for the Performing Arts on Monday, June 1 at 6:30PM.

TICKET LINK

(Indigenous persons, students, and those facing
financial difficulties can access discounted tickets)

About the Speaker

Noura Erakat is Professor of Africana Studies and Criminal Justice at Rutgers University, New Brunswick. She is the author of Justice for Some: Law and the Question of Palestine (Stanford University Press, 2019), which received the Palestine Book Award and the Bronze Medal for the Independent Publishers Book Award in Current Events/Foreign Affairs. In 2023, Noura co-chaired an Independent Task Force on the Application of National Security Memorandum-20 to Israel, a report documenting how U.S. arms to Israel have been used in violation of U.S. and international law and which was submitted to the White House. She is co-founding editor of Jadaliyya and an editorial board member of the Journal of Palestine Studies as well as Human Geography. She is a co-founding board member of the DC Palestinian Film and Arts Festival. She has served as Legal Counsel for a Congressional Subcommittee in the US House of Representatives, as Legal Advocate for the Badil Resource Center for Palestinian Refugee and Residency Rights, and as National Organizer and Legal Advocate of the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation. Noura has also produced video documentaries, including “Gaza In Context” and “Black Palestinian Solidarity.” Noura completed a non-resident fellowship of the Religious Literacy Project at Harvard Divinity School as well as a Mahmoud Darwish Visiting Professorship at Brown University. In 2022, she was selected as a Freedom Fellow by the Marguerite Casey Foundation. In 2025, the University of Ghent awarded the Amnesty International Chair in recognition of her contribution to human rights and scholarship. In 2026, the University of Antwerp awarded her an honorary doctorate in recognition for her academic scholarship and public contributions. Her forthcoming book, Confronting Zionism: Decolonizing Palestine and Building the World Anew, co-authored with John Reynolds, will be published by Haymarket Press and out in November 2026.

About the Discussants

Dania Majid is the co-founder and president of the Arab Canadian Lawyers Association. She is also the co-founder and artistic director of the Toronto Palestine Film Festival. In addition to being a long-time advocate for the Palestinian and Arab community, she is also a human rights lawyer and housing advocate with a legal aid clinic in Ontario. Dania completed her Hon. B.Sc. at the University of Toronto before completing her MES/LLB at York University/Osgoode Hall.

Sara Kishawi is a Palestinian community organizer and Sociology graduate from Vancouver Island University (VIU). Originally from Gaza, she has been a leading voice in campus and community organizing, and served as the spokesperson for the VIU Palestinian Solidarity Encampment; Canada's longest running encampment.

Adel Iskandar is Director of the Centre for Comparative Muslim Studies and an Associate Professor of Global Communication at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver/Burnaby, Canada. He is the author, co-author, and editor of several works including “Egypt In Flux: Essays on an Unfinished Revolution” (AUCP/OUP); “Al-Jazeera: The Story of the Network that is Rattling Governments and Redefining Modern Journalism” (Basic Books); “Edward Said: A Legacy of Emancipation and Representation” (University of California Press); “Mediating the Arab Uprisings” (Tadween Publishing); and “Media Evolution on the Eve of the Arab Spring” (Palgrave Macmillan). Iskandar’s work deals with media, identity, and politics, and he has lectured extensively on these topics at universities worldwide. His forthcoming publications are two monographs, one addressing the political role of memes and digital satire and the other about contemporary forms of imperial transculturalism. Iskandar’s engaged, participatory research includes supporting knowledge production through scholarly digital publishing such as “Jadaliyya” and academic podcasting such as “Status.” His community research agenda involves showcasing local grassroots, participatory, creative production by communities in the Middle East to confront the rise of extremism. Iskandar’s work also involves the autobiographical documentation and self-representation of Syrian newcomer women in the Lower Mainland illustrating their ingenuity in the face adversity. Prior to his arrival at SFU, Iskandar taught at the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies and the Communication, Culture, and Technology Program at Georgetown University, in Washington, DC.

This year’s Edward W. Said Memorial Lecture is generously supported by a large number of Academic Sponsors including: SFU Indigenous Studies, SFU School for International Studies, SFU History, SFU School of Communication, SFU Labour Studies, SFU School for Contemporary Arts, SFU Geography, SFU Institute for Black and African Diaspora Research and Engagement (IBADRE), SFU Cassidy Centre for Educational Justice, UBC Centre for Climate Justice, UBC Asian Studies, UBC Middle East Studies, UVic Department of Gender Studies, and the UVic Critical Muslim Studies. We are also grateful for the support of community groups and organization for this edition of the Said Memorial Lecture including: Amnesty International Vancouver, the Palestinian Cultural Society of BC (PCSBC), SFU Community-Engagement Initiative, IDRF Canada, Ismailis for Palestine, Independent Jewish Voices (IJV), Apartheid-Free Communities, BC Muslim and Arab Professional Society (BCMAP), BC Physicians Against Genocide, Decolonise Palestine Collective (DPC), and Insurgent/resurgent knowledges (IRK LAB).

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The Edward W. Said Memorial Lecture is an ongoing annual event of SFU’s Centre for Comparative Muslim Studies (CCMS) that was inaugurated in May 2025. It is a lecture that platforms public intellectuals and thinks who exemplify Edward W. Said's legacies as a scholar, public intellectual, activist, and person--namely, the pursuit of justice, the commitment to truth, and the practice of bravery. Each year's lecture will invite speakers to lecture on these intersecting subjects in an attempt to “speak truth to power” from within the halls of academia. The Edward W. Said Memorial Lecture is an activity of the Project on Palestine Studies. In May 2025, Dr. Cornel West delivered the inaugural Edward W. Said Memorial Lecture which can be watched CCMS’ YouTube Channel.