This panel features the renowned Bassem Youssef, an Egyptian surgeon turned comedian, who fled his homeland after the government forced him to terminate the production of his show “Al-Bernameg” – the first political satire show in the Middle East. Youssef will join U-M distinguished scholars Juan Cole, Samer Ali, and Weiser Emerging Democracies Postdoctoral Fellow, Jean Lachapelle, to discuss the shifting relationships between Egyptians, their government, and freedom of expression in an Egypt that attempts to thrive beyond the Arab Spring.

Moderator: Pauline Jones, DISC director.

Panelists: Samer Ali, CMENAS Director, U-M; Juan Cole, Richard P. Mitchell Collegiate Professor of History, U-M; Jean Lachapelle, Weiser Emerging Democracies Postdoctoral Fellow, U-M; Bassem Youssef, satirist.