Ali Abdullatif Ahmida , Professor and Chair, Department of Political Science helped organize a conference and tribute to honor the distinguished scholar and Ottoman historian Rifa' at Abou-El-Haj: Beyond Dominant Paradigms in Ottoman and Middle Eastern/North African Studies on April 24, 2010 at Binghamton University.  His paper was entitled, "Beyond Orientalist, Colonial and Nationalist Models: A Critical Mapping of North African Studies."