The Middle East and Central Asia are undergoing profound transformations that are reshaping the ways their futures are imagined, debated, and pursued. Across the region, governments, societies, businesses, artists, and communities are drawing upon historical legacies, cultural traditions, and collective memories to articulate competing visions of the future. From governance, diplomacy, and economic development to technological innovation to cultural production, the future has become a powerful arena in which ideas, identities, and aspirations are negotiated. Rather than viewing the past and the future as opposing forces, this conference explores how historical experiences continue to inform contemporary transformations and future trajectories across the region.
The upcoming conference will be organised under the “Middle East and Central Asia Futurescapes Network,” an initiative by the ANU’s Centre for the Arab and Islamic Studies (CAIS) to bring together scholars to examine the tangible and intangible ways by which the region is being re-shaped and re-imagined through the prism of future-facing technology.
For more information about the network, click here.
Image credit: Abdulmeilk Aldawsari (Pexels)
The conference invites scholars and early career researchers from across the humanities and social sciences to explore questions such as:
· How are competing visions of the future imagined and contested across the Middle East and Central Asia?
· How are war, technological innovation, climate change, demographic shifts, and economic transformation redefining the region's futures?
· What roles do states, cities, businesses, religious institutions, artists, and civil society play in imagining and constructing tomorrow?
· How are emerging regional and global orders reshaping identities, governance, security, and everyday life?
By bringing together diverse disciplinary perspectives, the conference seeks to foster new conversations on the multiple futures of one of the world’s most dynamic and rapidly evolving regions.
Six panel themes:
1. Power, Geopolitics and Future Regional Orders
2. Technology, Innovation and Digital Futures
3. Economy, Sustainability and Development Futures
4. Society, Identity and Social Transformation
5. Religion, Heritage and Future Imaginaries
6. Media, Arts and Cultural Futures
Abstract deadline: 31 August 2026
Please email abstracts to: Niloufar.baghernia@anu.edu.au
Registration plus the schedule of fees will be made available by September 2026.
Limited funding support will be available for selected participants within Australia.
A full program will be available by late November 2026
An exciting line-up of keynote speakers is currently being finalised.
Once confirmed it will be advertised here by October 2026.
Discover destination dining, cultural icons, family adventures and local secrets shared by Canberrans.
If you are planning on staying longer in Canberra either before or after the conference, we encourage you to access the Canberra Visitor Guide 2026.
The event will be hosted by the Centre for Arab and Islamic Studies at the Australian National University and will be held at ANU's Acton campus in Canberra.
An exact location will be published ahead of the event.
The Centre for Arab & Islamic Studies is located at the Australian National University in Canberra on the lands of the Ngunnawal people. The Centre acknowledges and respects the continuing culture of the Ngunnawal people as the region’s first inhabitants. The Centre’s staff are committed to supporting meaningful reconciliation with Australia’s traditional owners.
Queries? Questions?
Please reach out to :
Niloufar Baghernia
PhD Student
Centre for Arab and Islamic Studies (The Middle East and Central Asia )
College of Arts and Social Sciences
Niloufar.baghernia@anu.edu.au