Social sciences and especially humanities are being deprioritized in many locations with profound implications for disciplines from which MESA draws the vast majority of its members, but also for liberal arts education. In the Arab world, this trend is very much in evidence and it marks a setback from the documented invigoration of these disciplines in the region in the aftermath of the Arab uprisings . Can that momentum be recovered and the current tide reversed Panelists will speak to a number of interrelated issues including: • the challenges posed by marginalization and technocratization of these disciplines within liberal arts institutions in the region; • wider political and financial pressures; • challenges for research production in those disciplines; and • finally, what are the possible synergizes, linkages, and potential collaborations that can help strengthen these programs.