Event Archives July 2017 - August 2018 › files › 2018 › 07 › Event-Archives...Event Archives...
Transcript of Event Archives July 2017 - August 2018 › files › 2018 › 07 › Event-Archives...Event Archives...
July 9, 2017 Persian Art Center in Carolina presents: A Night of Persian Poetry and Live Music Performance
Time 4:00 pm - 7:30 pm
Location The Club House, 400 Oak Tree Drive
Chapel Hill, NC 27517
Categories Lecture
Description
Join the Persian Art Center in Carolina for an analysis of poetry of two great contemporary
Persian poets, Fereydoon Moshiri and Ahmad Shamloo. Speakers will include Dr. Amir Rezvani
and Mr. Yousef Amiri. The program will begin with a social from 4-4:30, followed by a welcome
and introduction by Dr. Amir Rezvani. From 4:45-6:00, there will be presentations by Rezvani
and Amiri, followed by an open forum and discussion. From 6:45-7:45 there will be live Persian
music and poetry readings from your favorite poets.
This event is free and open to public. *Please note that the this event will be in Persian. The
Persian Poetry Group in Chapel Hill honors, respects and promotes freedom of speech and
expression. For more information, please contact 919-259-0959.
Sponsors Persian Art Center in Carolina
August 19, 2017 Presentation: History of Durham’s Ar-Razzaq Islamic Center
Time 3:00 pm - 4:00 pm
Location Durham County Library – Stanford L. Warren Branch Library, 1201 Fayetteville St.
Durham, NC
Categories Presentation, Lecture
Description
Join the Museum of Durham History for a look back at the rich history of this local institution.
Started in the 1950s, the Ar-Razzaq Islamic Center, formally Muhammad’s Mosque #34, is one of
the oldest Muslim communities in North Carolina. Naomi Feste, Community Curator, and Katie
Spencer, Curator, Museum of Durham History, will introduce this ongoing research project, and
welcome stories about its development from the local community.
SponsorsSponsored by the Durham County Library. Co-sponsored by the Museum of Durham History. For
more information, call 919-560-0268.
August 19, 2017 Pakistan’s 70th Independence Day Celebration
Time 5:30 pm - 11:00 pm
Location Cary Arts Center
101 Dry Ave, Cary, NC 27511
Categories Cultural Event
Description
The North Carolina Pakistani American Anjuman invites you to Pakistan’s 70th Independence
Day Celebration featuring the amazing band, Kaarma Nation at the Cary Arts Center. For more
information and tickets, contact 919-274-9373.
Sponsors North Carolina Pakistani American Anjuman, Media partner: Geet Bazaar Radio.
August 20, 2017 Week of Welcome: A Taste of Asia and the Middle East
Time 11:00 am - 1:00 pm
Location New West
UNC Chapel Hill
Event Archives July 2017 - August 2018Carolina Center for the Study of the Middle East and Muslim Civilizations
Events at Duke, Events at UNC, Events in the Triangle
Categories Cultural Event
Description
Come to New West, home to UNC’s Department of Asian Studies, to try some Asian and Middle
Eastern delicacies, engage in cultural activities, and learn about courses and programs of study
focused on the largest and most populous continent in the world. For more information, please
contact Hanna Sprintzik at [email protected].
Sponsors UNC Department of Asian Studies
August 23, 2017 Cries from Syria Documentary Screening and Discussion
Time 6:30 pm - 9:30 pm
Location Haven Medical
121 S Estes Dr Ste 205, Chapel Hill, 27514
Categories Film/Documentary Screening
Description
Please join us for a screening of the documentary “Cries From Syria” by award winning
filmmaker Evgeny Afineevsky. The film will be introduced by Duke professor of Political Science
Dr. Abdeslam Maghraoui. After the film, Mr. Afineevsky will skype in live from L.A. for a
questions. This event is free and open to the public, but seating is limited: please register
at 919.969.1414. The film contains some mature content. It should not be viewed by children
under the age of 14 without adult supervision.
Sponsors Haven Medical
August 27, 2017 The International Block Party
Time 3:00 pm - 10:00 pm
Location Raleigh City Plaza
400 Fayetteville St. Raleigh, NC 27601
Categories Multi-Cultural Event
Description
Held at City Plaza, the heart of downtown Raleigh, this free event offers a comprehensive
experience that allows participants to interact with multicultural arts in a fun and safe
atmosphere through visual arts, dance, music, cuisine, and traditional expression from around
the world. Food, Desserts, Bazaars, Dances and Live Bands from around the world in downtown
Raleigh! Come see a vibrant and affluent downtown! Travel the world without flying or driving …
Just walking!
Sponsors International Focus NC
August 28, 2018 Memorial Service for Rula Quawas 1960-2017
Time 4:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Location FedEx Global Education Center, room 4003
UNC Chapel Hill
Categories Memorial
Description
Please join us for a memorial service for Dr. Rula Quawas, professor of American Literature in
the Department of English at the University of Jordan. Dr. Quawas, an accomplished scholar and
champion for women’s rights in the Arab World, maintained close ties with UNC Chapel Hill
where she mentored students and collaborated with faculty on a number of projects. Friends,
colleagues, and former students of Dr. Quawas are encouraged to join us in remembering this
exceptional scholar and human being.
Sponsors UNC Chapel Hill
September 1, 2017Turkey Today: “Affective geopolitics: Entanglements of geopolitical lives of Syrian refugees in
Turkey”
Time 12:15 pm - 1:45 pm
Location FedEx Global Education Center, room 3009
UNC Chapel Hill
Categories Lecture
Description
The war in Syria is transforming bodies and territories well beyond the sites of the fighting.
Today, there are over 3 million Syrian refugees in Turkey and very few of these refugees live in
camps while most live in cities. For Turkey, the war has reconfigured (geo)political and spatial
imaginaries in ways that both express and exceed the real conditions of the crisis. In this talk, Dr.
Banu Gökarıksel will address the embodied, affective geopolitics of the Syrian war from the
perspective of ordinary Turkish nationals (in Istanbul, Konya, and Malatya, focus group research
conducted in 2014-2016) in relation to their encounters both with Syrian refugees and the
discourses that frame or contest Turkey’s official ‘open door’ policy.
Dr. Banu Gökarıksel is Associate Professor of Geography at UNC-CH and the co-editor of the
Journal of Middle East Women’s Studies (2014-2018). Her work engages feminist geography and
geopolitics with a focus on gender, bodies and public space.
SponsorsCenter for European Studies and TransAtlantic Masters Program, Duke Middle East Studies
Center, Carolina MidEast Center, Duke-UNC Consortium for MidEast Studies, Duke Center for
Latin American and Caribbean Studies, Duke History Department, European Union
September 4, 2017 "The Ethics of Stories in Contested Terrain" with Ben Ehrenreich
Time 3:30 pm - 5:00 pm
Location Ahmadieh Family Conference Room (101) West Duke Building on East Campus
Duke University
Categories Book Discussion
Description
On Sept. 4, journalist and novelist Ben Ehrenreich will discuss his most recent book, The Way to
the Spring: Life and Death in Palestine , which the New York Times calls, “Both heartbreaking
and eye-opening.” As a writer who works across genres, he will also discuss he broader
challenges of expressing truth when few agree on the basic terms of a debate. In his reporting
for the book, Ehrenreich traveled to and lived in the West Bank, staying with Palestinian families
in its largest cities and its smallest villages.
Sponsors Kenan Institute for Ethics
September 5, 2017Discussion: How Do We Approach the Problem? Interdisciplinary Perspectives on the
Complexities of Race, Ethnicity, and Religion Today
Time 5:30 pm - 6:30 pm
Location Stone Center Theater
UNC Chapel Hill
Categories Book Discussion
Description
How do experts from different fields approach important problems facing us today? Author
Moustafa Bayoumi and UNC professors from across campus will discuss the complex issues
raised by Bayoumi’s book, How Does it Feel to be a Problem?: Being Young and Arab in America .
Faculty from the sciences and the humanities will join Bayoumi for a dynamic conversation of
these issues and questions raised by the audience.
Sponsors UNC Integrated Curricula Program, 2017 Carolina Summer Reading Program
September 6, 2017 New Gaza Short Films: The Student Eye (Discussant: Ahmed Mansour)
Time 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
Location Ahmadieh Family Conference Hall, Room 240 John Hope Franklin Center
Duke University
Categories Film Screening
Description
A program introduced by Center for Documentary Studies instructor Nancy Kalow of six recent
short films by university students residing in Gaza, using a variety of forms from documentary to
experimental. The films are a uniquely vital commentary on today’s closed Gaza; kinetic
performance footage of parkour, for example, is contrasted with expressive reflections on daily
challenges. Films were made by students at Al Aqsa University, Al Azhar University, and Birzeit
University. A NYU documentary graduate student from Gaza, Ahmed Mansour, will be the
discussant and lead a Q&A.
Sponsors John Hope Franklin Center, Duke International and Global Studies Center
September 6, 2017Presentation: Moustafa Bayoumi, author of How Does it Feel to Be a Problem? Being Young
and Arab in America & Book Signing
Time 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Location Memorial Hall
UNC Chapel Hill
Categories Presentation, Book Signing
Description
Join Moustafa Bayoumi, author of the 2017 Carolina Summer Reading selection, How Does it
Feel to Be a Problem? Being Young and Arab in America, for insight into the book and where the
characters are today. Hear his stories of what living in America post-September 11th was like
and often still is for many Arab-Americans today. Information about tickets for this event will be
posted in mid-August. Get your copy of How Does it Feel to Be a Problem? Being Young and
Arab in America autographed by the author after his speaking engagement.
Sponsors 2017 Carolina Summer Reading Program
September 6, 2017 Film: Docunight #41: Out of Focus / Promised Land
Time 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Location 1304 Campus Dr, Durham, NC, Room 209
Duke University
Categories Film Screening
Description
Out of Focus profiles the artist Afshin Naghouni. Born and raised in Iran, he suffered a
catastrophic spinal cord injury during a birthday party in Tehran when he fell from the seventh
floor of a building while trying to escape from Iranian police. He was able to move to Great
Britain seventeen years ago for treatment and has rebuilt his life, getting married and now
working as an artist from his wheelchair.
Sponsors Graduate Student Association of Iranians at Duke
September 7, 2017 UNC Study Abroad Fair
Time 10:00 am - 3:00 pm
Location Great Hall, Student Union
UNC Chapel Hill
Categories Cultural Event
Description
The Study Abroad Fair has representatives from all over the world, study abroad staff, and past
study abroad students are available to answer your questions about studying almost anywhere
in the world! Come and see how you can join the #Heelsabroad network! Please come prepared
with questions.
Sponsors UNC Study Abroad Program
September 8, 2017Turkey Today | Public Talk: Authoritarian Backlash: An Interregional Comparison of Turkey
and Venezuela
Time 12:00 pm - 1:30 pm
Location Old Chem
Duke University
Categories Lecture
Description
In this public talk, former US Ambassador to Turkey Robert Pearson and Former US Ambassador
to Venezuela Patrick Duddy will provide a comparative analysis of authoritarian government,
civil society, and political crisis.
Sponsors
Forum for Scholars and Publics, Duke University Middle East Studies Center, Center for Latin
American & Caribbean Studies, and the Department of Political Science. Turkey Today is
cosponsored by the Duke Middle East Studies Center, the Carolina Center for the Study of the
Middle East and Muslim Civilizations, the Duke-UNC Consortium for Middle East Studies, the
Duke Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies, and Duke History Department; and is
supported by funding from the European Union
September 8, 2017 Film Screening: Changing the World, One Wall at a Time
Time 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm
Location FedEx Global Education Center
UNC Chapel Hill
Categories Film Screening
Description
As the largest religious minority in Iran, The Baha’is have been persecuted by the government
since the Revolution in 1979; Baha’i students are systematically barred from attaining higher
education. Join us for a film screening about one of the largest street art campaigns that
emerged as part of a larger movement to call attention to these human rights violations and call
for a change in the conditions of the Baha’is in Iran.
SponsorsUNC Baha’i Club, Carolina Center for the Study of the Middle East and Muslim Civilizations, and
Duke-UNC Consortium for Middle East Studies
September 9, 2017 Free Documentary Screening: The Eye of Istanbul
Time 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm
Location 122 E Chatham St, Cary, NC 27511
The Cary Theater
Categories Film Screening
Description
THE EYE OF ISTANBUL tells the story of Ara Güler, the legendary Armenian-Turkish
photographer, through the culmination of his retrospective exhibition in Istanbul. At 87 years
old, Ara is a complex and unforgettable character; he is still sharp, irreverent, funny and
philosophical. Although he is mostly recognized for his black and white photographs of Istanbul,
he has enjoyed an international career, which has spanned over sixty years and has generated
more than 1 million photographs.
Sponsors American-Turkish Association of North Carolina
September 9, 2017 A Night for Palestine
Time 5:30 pm - 8:30 pm
Location 5400 S Miami Bvd Ste 138. Durham, NC 27703
Baba Ghannouj Mediterranean
Categories Cultural Event
Description
Come hear from diverse speakers who have recently visited the West Bank and/or Gaza Strip. A
buffet dinner will be served at 6pm. Honored speakers include Matthew Hoh, Atrayus Goode,
and Serene Alsous, followed by a performance by Palestinian-American artist Sijal Nasralla and
the Baladna Dabkeh group. We will be paying tribute to Palestinian culture with music and
dance performances.
Sponsors Coalition for Peace and Justice
September 9, 2017 Eid Banquet
Time 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Location Penn Pavilion
Duke University
Categories Cultural Event
Description
Join the Duke Muslim Students’ Association in celebrating Eid-al-Adha with the annual Eid
Baquet! Come for free food catered from Flame Kabob and local Durham bakers, stay for
individual and group performances, dancing and fun!
Sponsors Duke Muslim Student Association
September 10, 2017 Persian Art Center in Carolina: Iranian Poetry and Music
Time 4:30 pm - 8:00 pm
Location 400 Oak Tree Drive (The Club House)
Chapel Hill, NC 27517
Categories Cultural Event
Description
Join the Persian Art Center in Carolina for an evening of poetry and music featuring Hayla
Siddiqui. The program will begin with a welcome and introduction by Dr. Amir Rezvani, 4:30-
4:45pm. From 4:45-6:00pm, there will be a presentation by Mr. Shahram Mazhari. From 6:45-
7:45pm, there will be live Persian music and poetry readings.
Sponsors Persian Art Center in Carolina
September 13, 2017 Lecture: Muslims in South Asia with Ali Mian, Ph.D.
Time 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
Location Ahmadieh Family Conference Hall, Room 240 John Hope Franklin Center
Duke University
Categories Lecture
Description
Professor Mian will speak on the emergence, expansion and contemporary condition of Muslims
in Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh. Ali Altaf Mian is assistant professor of Islamic studies in the
Department of Theology and Religious Studies at Seattle University. He completed his Ph.D. in
religious studies in 2015 from Duke University. His research interests include: Islam in South
Asia; Islamic law and ethics; gender and sexuality; feminist theory and practice; Sufism and
comparative mysticism; continental philosophy; comparative religion; theory and method in the
study of religion. Currently, he is working on two manuscripts: Muslims in South Asia
(contracted with Edinburgh University Press, forthcoming in 2019) and Surviving Modernity:
Ashraf ‘Ali Thanvi (1863-1943) and the Politics of Muslim Orthodoxy in Colonial India. His
publications have appeared in peer-reviewed journals such as Islamic Studies, Muslim World,
and Journal of Shi‘a Islamic Studies.
Sponsors John Hope Franklin Center and Duke’s Islamic Studies Center
September 14, 2017 Visiting Lebanese Scholars: Reception and Presentation
Time 4:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Location 1911 Building (NCSU), Seminar Room 125
North Carolina State University
Categories Presentation
DescriptionThe Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies invites you to join us September 14th for a
reception and presentation of the research of 7 visiting Lebanese scholars.
Sponsors Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
September 14, 2017 Turkey Today | Film: Middle East Film Festival: Kedi
Time 6:30 pm - 7:30 pm
Location East Duke, Room 209
Duke University
Categories Film Screening
Description
Witness the ancient city of Instanbul through, not the eyes of humans, but through the eyes of
cats and kittens. This film highlights the daily lives of seven stray cats that have roamed the
streets freely, enriching the lives of people that they come into contact with.
Sponsors Duke University Middle East Studies Center
September 14, 2017 &
October 1, 2017 Performance: Closer Than They Appear and Panel Discussions
Time 9/14: 8:00 pm & 10/1: 4:00 pm
Location Swain Hall, Studio 6
UNC Chapel Hill
Categories Performance
Description
Closer Than They Appear tells the colliding stories of Michael, an African American veteran
undergoing virtual reality therapy for PTSD, and Zaynab, a teenager from Fallujah blogging
during the Iraq war. It explores the haunted human lives—both American and Iraqi—that
shadow the digital surfaces through which we wage, view, and recover from war. The play
blends scripted live performance with projections developed from the animated landscapes of
Virtual Iraq, a virtual-reality program based on video-game graphics and developed as a therapy
tool for US veterans suffering from PTSD. Featuring Elisabeth Lewis Corley, Trevor Johnson,
and Smita Misra. Join the Process Series for two panel discussions, one focused on virtual reality
in education at the Morehead Planetarium, September 15th, and one focused on veterans and
civilian casualties following the matinee on Sunday, September 24th. There will also be a talk
back with the audience and the creative team following the preview on September 15th. See
website for more information and to purchase tickets.
Sponsors A collaboration of The Process Series, StreetSigns, and Playwrights Welcome.
September 18, 2017 Hajj: Legacy of Abraham - An Epic Journey through History
Time 11:00 am - 3:00 pm
Location Islamic Association of Raleigh
808 Atwater Street, Raleigh, NC
Categories Presentation
Description
The Islamic Association of Raleigh would like to open its doors and invite you as guests as we
explore the annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, known as Hajj, and the Legacy of Prophet
Abraham through an Islamic perspective in an effort to better inform ourselves about the
shared roots of the Semitic religions. We hope you will our enjoy our presentation about the
pilgrimage and how it honors the legacy of Prophet Abraham and his family, booths that
showcase Muslim life throughout the world, and delectable treats.
Sponsors Islamic Association of Raleigh
September 18, 2017 Panel Discussion: DACA in Crisis
Time 6:30 pm - 7:30 pm
Location FedEx Global Education Center, room 1005
UNC Chapel Hill
Categories Panel
Description
On Monday, September 18, there will be a panel discussion and information session titled
“DACA in Crisis,” which brings together five panelists working on various aspects of DACA and
undocumented issues on campus and in the community. The purpose of this panel is to provide
information about the current status of DACA, its impending repeal, and related undocumented
student concerns on campus. Being undocumented comes with its own obstacles and this
requires special attention from university faculty, staff, and students. This session will discuss
how the UNC-CH community can better understand these issues and support fellow students,
colleagues, and coworkers.
Sponsors UNC Chapel Hill
September 20, 2017 Reception and Talk: Meet Minister Gebran Bassil
Time 8:00 pm - 10:00 pm
Location Triangle Lebanese Center
241 Horizon Dr, Raleigh, NC 27615
Categories Presentation / Speaker
Description A reception for Lebanese Minister of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants, Mr. Gebran Bassil.
Sponsors Triangle Lebanese Center, Embassy of Lebanon, and Ministry of Foreign Affairs
September 22, 2017 Meet the Author: Zeynep Tufekci
Time 3:30 pm - 5:00 pm
Location Chapel Hill Public Library
100 Library Drive, Chapel Hill, NC 27514
Categories Presentation, Book talk
Description
The Friends of Chapel Hill Public Library welcome in authors and literary figures on a regular
basis to read from their works, speak with members of the audience, and share refreshments.
Join us for a book talk by author Zeynep Tufecki on Friday, September 22. Her new book, Twitter
and Tear Gas; The Power and Fragility of Networked Protest, examines political movements and
how governments have responded to the rise of digital tools with their own methods.
Sponsors Chapel Hill Public Library
September 22, 2017 Urdu Majlis: The life and works of Akhtar Sheerani (1905-1948)
Time 7:00 pm - 9:30 pm
Location FedEx Global Education Center, room 1009
UNC Chapel Hill
Categories Presentation
Description
Join the Triangle’s Urdu Literary Forum for a conversation on the life and works of Akhtar
Sheerani (1905-1948). Akhtar Sheerani is considered to be one of the leading romantic poets of
Urdu language.
Sponsors Carolina Asia Center and the South Asia Section of the UNC Dept. of Asian Studies
September 25, 2017 -
November 3, 2017 Art Exhibit: Annenberg Space for Photography’s REFUGEE
Time
Location The Friday Center
UNC Chapel Hill
Categories Gallery/Exhibit
Description
According to UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, the number of displaced people has reached over
65 million globally. Through images created by five internationally acclaimed artists, REFUGEE is
a multimedia art exhibit exploring the lives of refugees from a host of diverse populations
dispersed and displaced throughout the world. The exhibit features photographs taken in
Bangladesh, Cameroon, Colombia, Croatia, Germany, Greece, Mexico, Myanmar, Serbia,
Slovenia, and the United States. This timely exhibition of 125 portrait photographs, stories, and
accompanying film allows audiences to engage with aspects of the plight of refugees not
previously encountered, and to reflect on a full range of refugee experiences through singular
images that offer visitors insight into the plight of refugees, including their efforts to survive,
their needs, their dreams and their hopes for a better future.
Sponsors Friday Center
September 25th, 2017
Turkey Today | Lecture: The Formation of Turkish Republicanism with Professor Banu
Turnaoğlu, University of Cambridge
Time 5:30 pm - 7:00 pm
Location DeBerry Boardroom 3009, FedEx Global Education Center
UNC-Chapel Hill
Categories Lecture
Description This event is part of the Turkey Today Fall 2017 series.
Sponsors
Duke Middle East Studies Center, the Carolina Center for the Study of the Middle East and
Muslim Civilizations, the Duke-UNC Consortium for Middle East Studies, the Duke Center for
Latin American and Caribbean Studies, and Duke History Department
September 27, 2017 The Middle East and Islam in Global History: Three New Books
Time 12:00 pm - 2:00 pm
Location Rubenstein Library Holsti-Anderson Family Assembly Room 153
Duke University
Categories Book launch
Description
Book launch event with three authors: Cemil Aydin (UNC), The Idea of the Muslim World
(Harvard UP, 2017), Will Hanley (FSU), Identifying with Nationality (Columbia UP, 2017), Adam
Mestyan (Duke), Arab Patriotism (Princeton UP, 2017)
SponsorsDepartment of History, Duke Islamic Studies Center, and Duke University Middle East Studies
Center
September 27, 2017 Reclaiming and Retelling our Stories Featuring Mark Gonzales
Time 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Location The Landing, Bryan Center
Duke University
Categories Presentation
Description
Join the Center for Muslim life for Reclaiming and Retelling our Stories. In today’s world, it is
more important than ever that we are able to vocalize our own narratives. But what does it
mean when the narratives/stories that were given to you either no longer fit your reality. Or
they are not the ones you choose to accept or pass on. Join us as we explore what it means to
recreate your narrative. After the conversation, we will be physically manifesting our new
narratives through multiple art mediums like painting, etc. Select art work will be featured in the
Brown Gallery. Our speaker for the evening will be none other than Mark Gonzales: Mark
Gonzales is a storyteller, professor, father, and a futurist of social possibility. He specializes in
creative potential, engagement strategies, and the unique role stories play in the human
operating system. For over 20 years, he has worked with the private and the public sector to
synthesize the best practices and fabulous failures of civilizations into strategic visions for the
next stage of human power and potential.
SponsorsCenter for Muslim Life, The Center for Multicultural Affairs, UCAE, Mi Gente, DUU Visual Arts
and The Campus Center
September 28, 2017“50 Years of Occupation, 1967-2017: Israel/Palestine, Histories and Futures” | The
Anthropologist and the Settler: Updates From the Field in Israel/Palestine, Joyce Dalsheim
Time 11:45 am - 1:45 pm
Location 011 Old Chem
Duke University
Categories Presentation
Description
Who are Israeli settlers? What is the Israeli settlement project? Is settlement synonomous with
occupation? Having recently returned from fieldwork in Israel/Palestine, anthropologist Joyce
Dalsheim will share insights from the field. She will discuss the case of religiously motivated
Jewish settlers, the question of what constitutes Israeli Occupation, and Israeli opposition to
ongoing settlement in post-1967 Israeli occupied territories. Her talk will raise questions about
how perceived social, religious, and political divisions among Israeli Jews may disguise
fundamental similarities and work toward promoting a political project many claim to oppose. A
light lunch will be served.
SponsorsDuke Center for Jewish Studies, the Forum for Scholars and Publics, the Franklin Humanities
Institute, and the Duke University Middle East Studies Center
September 28, 2017Public Talk: Before Kaepernick: Dissent, Human Rights, and the Black Muslim Athlete – A talk
with Zareena Grewal
Time 4:30 pm - 6:00 pm
Location West Duke 101, East Campus
Duke University
Categories Presentation
Description
Zareena Grewal is a historical anthropologist and a documentary filmmaker at Yale University
whose research focuses on race, gender, religion, nationalism, and transnationalism across a
wide spectrum of American Muslim communities. Her first book, Islam is a Foreign Country:
American Muslims and the Global Crisis of Authority (NYU 2013), is an ethnography of
transnational Muslim networks that link US mosques to Islamic movements in the post-colonial
Middle East through debates about the reform of Islam. Her first film, By the Dawn’s Early Light:
Chris Jackson’s Journey to Islam (Cinema Guild 2004), examines the racialization of Islam and
the scrutiny of American Muslims’ patriotism long before September 11 2001. Her forthcoming
book, titled Is the Quran a Good Book?, combines ethnographic and cultural studies analyses
with historical research to trace the place of the Islamic scripture in the American imagination,
particularly in relation to national debates about tolerance. She has received awards for her
writing and research grants from the Fulbright, Wenner-Gren and Luce Foundations.
Sponsors The Kenan Institute for Ethics and Duke Islamic Studies Center
September 28, 2017 Reception and Talk: Lebanese Artist Joumana Medlej
Time 5:30 pm - 7:30 pm
Location Crafts Center, 210 Jensen Dr, Raleigh, NC 27606
NC State University
Categories Gallery/Exhibit and Presentation
Description
As part of its Artist-in- Residence program, the Khayrallah Center is hosting Ms. Joumana
Medlej. Please join us for the opening of an exhibition of her work and a talk titled Art in Times
of Crisis .
Sponsors Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies & Arts NC State
September 28, 2017 How Did Humans Come to be on Planet Earth and Where to Next – Dr. Firouz Naderi
Time 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Location Fitzpatrick Schiciano Auditorium
Duke University
Categories Presentation
Description
The Graduate Student Association of Iranians at Duke proudly presents a public speech by Dr.
Firouz Naderi that “traces humans’ cosmic roots to present and discusses where we, or our
robotic emissaries, will be headed next and the exponential technology that will disrupt our
future, for better and worse”. Dr. Naderi was a member of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory
since 1979 until 2016 and served as NASA’s Program Manager for Mars exploration between
2000-2012.
Sponsors Graduate Student Association of Iranians at Duke
September 28, 2017 Film Screening: Ahlaam (Dreams, 2006)
Time 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Location East Duke – 209
Duke University
Categories Film Screening
Description
Baghdad 2003, two days before the fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime. Three people are trying to
survive amidst the bombed-out ruins and have found temporary refuge in a psychiatric hospital.
Through their memories we discover something about their past. The student Ahlaam was just
about to get married when she was stunned by the arrest of her fiancé, a soldier. Medhi is an
idealist, a natural outcome of his role in the medical profession. Ali is a patient at the hospital, a
former soldier who desired nothing else but to loyally serve his country. After American bombs
destroy his unit, he becomes a traumatized wreck. The feature-length debut by Mohamed Al-
Daradji, inspired by real events, through the eyes of ordinary people.
Sponsors Duke University
September 29, 2017 Symposium: The Corpse Exhibition : Iraqi Literature after 2003
Time 1:30 pm - 6:00 pm
Location East Duke- Pink Parlor
Duke University
Categories Symposium
Description
The American occupation of Iraq produced a boom in dystopian novels and short stories.
Trauma from two preceding wars, sanctions, and draconian censorship by the Ba’athist regime
flood these works. This symposium brings together writers and scholars to discuss the role of
cultural production in reflecting upon the symposium in Iraq after the 2003 US invasion.
SponsorsDuke University Middle East Studies Center, Novel Project at Duke, AMES Presents, the Franklin
Humanities Institute, and the Program in Literature
September 30, 2017 In Memoriam: Remembering the Life of Dr. Ali Paydarfar
Time 2:00 pm - 3:30 pm
Location Nelson Mandela Auditorium, FedEx Global Education Center
UNC Chapel Hill
Categories Memorial
Description
This event is a memorial for Dr. Ali Paydarfar, a sociologist who was for many years associated
with social science research at UNC, and who is also well known for his pioneering demographic
research in Iran. It will be an opportunity for family and friends to share memories of a much
admired personality.
SponsorsUNC Persian Studies, Carolina Center for the Study of the Middle East and Muslim Civilizations
October 1, 2017 Paper Presentation: “Performing Hostility: the Wagah Border Soundscape”
Time 4:30 pm - 6:00 pm
Location Person Hall
UNC Chapel Hill
Categories Presentation
Description
John Caldwell will be presenting a paper on “Performing Hostility: the Wagah Border
Soundscape” Friday, Sept. 29 at 5:00 pm on the UNC Campus as part of the Annual Conference
of the South Central Graduate Music Consortium (UNC, Duke, and UVA).
Sponsors
Graduate School of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Fine Arts & Humanities in
UNC College of Arts & Sciences, UNC Music Department, Duke Music Department, UVA Music
Department
October 2, 2017Networked Revolutions: Understanding Protest Mobilization in Middle East and North African
Regimes
Time 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm
Location 271 Hamilton Hall
UNC-Chapel Hill
Categories Lecture/Presentation
DescriptionLecture: Ashley Anderson, Carolina Postdoctoral Fellow, UNC-Chapel Hill, “Networked
Revolutions: Understanding Protest Mobilization in Middle East and North African Regimes.”
Sponsors Department of Political Science, UNC-Chapel Hill
October 2, 2017“50 Years of Occupation, 1967-2017: Israel/Palestine, Histories and Futures” | Still Life:
Experiences of a Palestinian Exile, Diana Allan
Time 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Location Duke University Smith Warehouse, Bay 4, Ahmadieh Family Lecture Hall
114 S. Buchanan Blvd. Durham, NC
Categories Film Screening
Description
The importance of place and memory in preserving a people’s history are crucial to Diana Allan’s
illuminating documentary. Still Life examines the role that a series of personal photos that
survived the 1948 displacement play in the life of Said Ismael Otruk, an elderly Palestinian from
Acre now living in exile in Lebanon. These images play a central role as Said recalls his childhood
and the halcyon days of his youth. His memories are not always accurate, so he relies on the
photographs he managed to take with him. They are images of young boys, of the port, of
fishing boats and the sea. Allan will also be showing clips from a work in progress.
SponsorsDuke Human Rights Center at the Franklin Humanities Institute, Co-sponsored by the Program in
the Arts and the Moving Image, Duke Screen Society, Humanities Futures, the Human Rights
Archive, The Center for Jewish Studies, and the Trent Foundation, AMES Present.
October 4, 2017 Cyber Sufism: Lessons from the Landscape of American Digital Islam with Dr. Rob Rozehal
Time 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
Location Ahmadieh Family Conference Hall, Room 240 John Hope Franklin Center
Duke University
Categories Presentation
Description
Within the hybrid, multicultural landscape of American religious life, Cyberspace offers tech-
savvy Muslims an alternative platform for narratives and networking, piety and performance.
Since the adoption of the printing press, Sufis have demonstrated a remarkable ability to adopt
and adapt to emerging media technologies. Even so, the expanding use of the Internet by global
Sufi communities remains largely unexplored by academic scholarship. What is ‘new’ about new
media, and what is the future of digital religion? Drawing on new research, this talk spotlights
key patterns, tropes and trajectories in Cyber Sufism by exploring how several contemporary
American Sufi orders employ the Internet as a mediascape for the refashioning of authority,
identity and ritual practice.
Sponsors John Hope Franklin Center, and the Duke Islamic Studies Center
October 4, 2017 Photography Exhibition Opening Reception: Garmsir Marines
Time 12:00 pm - 1:30 pm
Location Forest Theater
UNC Chapel Hill
Categories Exhibit
DescriptionJoin Arts Everywhere and Click! Photography Festival for lunch and Q&A with photographer
Louie Palu. The Garmsir Marines Photography Exhibition is an outdoor exhibition of large format
portraits of U.S. Marines taken on the front line in Afghanistan.
Sponsors Arts Everywhere and Click! Photography Festival
October 4, 2017Lecture: Hanuman’s Tunnel: Space, Geography and the Unseen in the Indian Ocean before
European Colonialism, Prof. Scott Reese (Northern Arizona University)
Time 2:00 pm - 3:30 pm
Location 4003 FedEx Global Education Center
UNC Chapel Hill
Categories Lecture
Description
Scott Reese (PhD in African and Islamic History, University of Pennsylvania, 1996; MA in African
Studies, Ohio University, 1990) is a historian of Islam in Africa and the western Indian Ocean.
Reese focuses specifically on comparative history aimed at breaking down many of the regional
and geographic categories currently in use across the academy. His main research interests are
comparative Sufism, modern Muslim discourses of reform, and the construction of world
systems both in fact and imagination since 1500. He currently explores the role of Muslim
religious discourse in mediating the social consequences of empire. Focusing on the British
Settlement of Aden, located in present-day Yemen, this new project explores how Muslims from
across Britain’s empire use the commonality of their faith to fashion a new community within
the spaces created by imperial rule. Reese has published numerous scholarly articles as well as
two book length collections. He is currently the Senior Editor of the journal Islamic Africa.
SponsorsCarolina Asia Center, Carolina Center for the Study of the Middle East and Muslim Civilizations,
Carolina Seminar on Transnational and Modern Global History, Erasmus +/European Union, UNC-
CH Center for European Studies, and US Department of Education
October 4, 2017Lecture: Subduing the Saints: State Control over Sufi Lodges in Late Ottoman and Modern
Turkey
Time 5:30 pm - 6:30 pm
Location West Duke 101 – Ahmadieh Family Conference Room
Duke University
Categories Lecture
Description
A lecture by Prof. Brett Wilson (CEU). Increasing state control over religious institutions has
played a pivotal role in modernization projects in Turkey dating back to the early nineteenth
century. In 1925, the Turkish state abolished Sufi orders (mystical brotherhoods) and shuttered
their lodges in what was, for the 1920s, among the most radical interventions by a state in the
everyday practice of Islam. This act marked the culmination of a century religious reforms in the
late Ottoman Empire and set the stage for the development of underground Islamic networks
that formed both pious social movements as well as Islamic politics in modern Turkey. Brett
Wilson is Associate Professor of History at Central European University. He received his PhD at
Duke University in 2009 and is the author of Translating the Qur’an in an Age of Nationalism:
Print Culture and Modern Islam in Turkey (Oxford University Press, 2014)
Sponsors Duke History Department and the Duke University Middle East Studies Center
October 4, 2017 Film Screening and Discussion: The Syrian Conflict and its Everyday Heroes
Time 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Location Carolina Union Auditorium
UNC Chapel Hill
Categories Presentation
Description
You read Rasha’s story of emigrating from Syria in How Does it Feel to Be a Problem? and often
hear about Syria in the news today. Join the Carolina Summer Reading Program and Student Life
& Leadership to learn more about the current Syrian war and the civilians who risk their lives to
help others. Professor Navid Bapat from Political Science will provide groundwork for a viewing
of the Netflix Original Documentary The White Helmets .
Sponsors Carolina Summer Reading Program
October 5-7, 2017 Annual Meeting of the Nag Hammadi and Gnosticism Network
Time
Location Bingham
UNC Chapel Hill
Categories Conference
Description
The Annual Meeting of the Nag Hammadi and Gnosticism Network is an interdisciplinary
conference involving an international group of scholars dedicated to the study of the Nag
Hammadi Codices as well as significant related Coptic and early Christian and late ancient
literature. Each year the NHGN meets on a different university campus (Yale 2011; Princeton
2012; Laval 2014; Harvard, 2015; Austin, 2016) to connect doctoral students with junior and
senior scholars working on this material. The conference is organized around the presentation of
pre-circulated working papers and a keynote address. This year’s keynote speaker will be Dr.
David Brakke from the History Department at The Ohio State University. His address is entitled,
“The Gnostic Origins of Christian Biblical Interpretation: From Gospel to Commentary,” and will
be given on Friday, October 6th at 4pm in 103 Bingham Hall.
Sponsors
UNC College of Arts and Sciences, UNC Department of Classics, UNC Department of Religious
Studies, The Center for Late Ancient Studies, UNC Department of History, Duke University:
Classical Studies Department, Duke University: Department of Religious Studies, Carolina Center
for the Study of the Middle East and Muslim Civilizations, Duke-UNC Consortium for Middle East
Studies
October 5, 2017 Film Screening: My name is Khan
Time 6:30 pm - 7:30 pm
Location 103 Bingham Hall
UNC Chapel Hill
Categories Film Screeining
Description
Join us for the next film in the Fall South Asia Film Series. “My Name is Khan” tells the story of
Rizwan Khan (played by Shah Rukh Khan) whose family struggles with Islamophobia and racism
in America. In Hindi-Urdu with English subtitles – free admission.
SponsorsCarolina Asia Center, the Carolina Union, and the South Asia Section of the UNC Dept. of Asian
Studies
October 6-7, 2017 Translating Islam: A Conference in Honor of Carl Ernst
Time
Location Hampton Inn & Suites, Downtown Chapel Hill/Carrboro
370 E. Main Street, Carrboro, NC 27510
Categories Conference
Description
Carl Ernst has devoted his academic life to translating Islam, linguistically and culturally. From his
first book, Words of Ecstasy in Sufism (1985), to his most recent book, co-edited with Fabrizio
Speziale, Perso-Indica: An Analytical Survey of Persian Works on Indian Learned
Traditions (2017), he has focused on how Islamic concepts have traveled across time and space.
This conference, organized around themes in Islamic studies that Ernst’s work has addressed,
evokes and expands on the major contributions of this fertile, creative translator of texts, ideas,
and traditions within the orb of Islam.
SponsorsDepartment of Religious Studies, Global Education Fund/College of Arts & Sciences, Chancellor’s
Global Education Fund, Institute of Arts & Humanities, Carolina Center for the Study of the
Middle East and Muslim Civilizations, Duke-UNC Consortium for Middle East Studies
October 6, 2017 Concert: An Evening of Persian Music, Rohab Ensemble with vocalist Sepideh Raissadat
Time 8:00 pm - 10:00 pm
Location Stone Center Auditorium
UNC-Chapel Hill
Categories Concert, Performance
Description
As part of the event, “Translating Islam: A Conference in Honor of Carl Ernst,” join us for an
evening of Persian Classical Music. The Rohab Ensemble brings three acclaimed maestros from
the celebrated Dastan Ensemble – Hossein Behroozinia (barbat – lute), Saeed Farajpoori
(kamancheh – spike fiddle), and Behnam Samani (tombak – goblet drum), together with Hamid
Behrouzinia (tar – lute). The Rohab Ensemble is accompanied by the entrancing, lilting voice of
Sepideh Raissadat. Together, they offer a repertoire of classical Iranian music, featuring
romantic, and joyous pieces with lyrics that include poems from the vast treasury of classical
Persian poetry.
Sponsors
Iranian Cultural Society of NC (ICSNC), The Arts@TheCore initiative at Carolina Performing Arts,
The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Persian Studies Program at UNC Chapel Hill, Graduate
Student Association of Iranians at Duke University (GSAID), and the Carolina Center for the
Study of the Middle East and Muslim Civilizations
October 8, 2017 Tribute to Forough Farrokhzad with Dr. Farzaneh Milani
Time 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm
Location Duke University West Campus, Divinity School, Room 152
Duke University
Categories Presentation
Description
The celebration will include a speech by Professor Farzaneh Milani of the University of Virginia
followed by a Persian classical music by Syavoosh Pourfazli (tar) and Shahram Mazhari (santoor,
tonbak and vocal). Farzaneh Milani completed her graduate studies in Comparative Literature in
1979 at the University of California in Los Angeles. Her dissertation, “Forugh Farrokhzad: A
Feminist Perspective” was a critical study of the poetry of a pioneering Iranian poet. A past
president of the Association of Middle Eastern Women Studies in America, Milani was the
recipient of All University Teaching Award in 1998 and nominated for Virginia Faculty of the Year
in 1999.
SponsorsPersian Art Center in Carolina and the Persian Students Association at Duke in collaboration with
Iranian Students Association at NCSU
October 9, 2017 Film Screening: Dalya’s Other Country
Time 6:30 pm - 7:30 pm
Location 201 Parks Shops, 101 Current Dr, Raleigh, NC 27607
NC State University
Categories Film Screening
Description
The Khayrallah Center invites you to attend the premiere screening in North Carolina of Dalya’s
Other Country, and to a conversation with the co-producer Moustafa Zeno. In 2012 Dalya and
her mother Rudayna fled Aleppo for Los Angeles as war took over. Months before, Rudayna
learns a secret that destroys her marriage, leaving her single at midlife. Arriving in LA, Dalya
enrolls as the only Muslim at Holy Family Catholic High School. Can mother and daughter
remake themselves while holding on to their Islamic traditions?
Sponsors Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
October 11, 2017 Policing Muslim Identity During the Time of Trump – A talk with Khaled Beydoun
Time 4:30 pm - 6:00 pm
Location West Duke 101, Ahmadieh Family Conference Room
Duke University
Categories Presentation
Description
The Duke Human Rights Center at the Kenan Institute for Ethics, along with the Duke Islamic
Studies Center, host its second event Oct. 11 as part of the “American Muslims, Civil and Human
Rights” series, which examines the current human rights crisis for Muslims in the U.S. Khaled
Beydoun, Associate Professor of Law at the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law, will
present the talk, “Policing Muslim Identity During the Time of Trump” from 4:30 to 6 p.m. in the
Ahmadieh Family Conference Room (101) in the West Duke Building on East Campus.
Sponsors Duke Human Rights Center at the Kenan Institute for Ethics
October 11, 2017 Presentation: Raising Moderate Voices: A Conversation with Obada Shtaya
Time 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Location Student Union Room 3411
UNC Chapel Hill
Categories Presentation
Description
Join OneVoice at UNC as we hear from Obada Shtaya, a Palestinian working for the OneVoice
Movement in Washington, D.C. He will provide a brief introduction to the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict, share his personal experiences as an activist, and discuss what OneVoice is doing to
promote grassroots efforts in the region.
Sponsors OneVoice at UNC
October 12, 2017 Lunch Discussion with Ambassador Cofer Black
Time 12:30 pm - 2:00 pm
Location Hamilton Hall, room 569
UNC Chapel Hill
Categories Lunch
Description
Ambassador Cofer Black is an internationally recognized authority on counterterrorism, cyber
security, national security, and foreign affairs, with private sector experience and expertise in
international business development and strategy, particularly in the Middle East and Africa. In a
government career spanning thirty years and serving at the highest levels of the CIA and the
State Department, Ambassador Black conceived and executed highly effective programs of
international significance. Ambassador Black received the Distinguished Intelligence Medal, the
CIA’s highest award for achievement.
Sponsors Curriculum in Peace, War, and Defense
October 12, 2017 Webinar: The Art of Revolution: Tunisia, Egypt, and Syria
Time 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
Location UNC Chapel Hill
Categories Webinar
Description
This seminar explores the historical contexts leading to the eruption of the uprisings known as
the Arab Spring in early 2011. After a brief introduction to politics in Tunisia, Egypt, and Syria,
we turn to the flowering of music, art, graffiti, poetry, film, and digital media that gave
expression to the revolutionary unrest. We focus on the influence of religion, religious parties,
and religious movements in Tunisia, Egypt, and Syria—in the post-uprising elections,
governments, and constitutions. Although the 2011 uprisings initially seemed to be lit by the
same spark, they had very different outcomes in these different cases. The Humanities in Class
Webinars from the National Humanities Center are live, interactive professional development
webinars on compelling topics by leading scholars for humanities educators and advocates of all
levels.
SponsorsNational Humanities Center, the Carolina Center for the Study of the Middle East and Muslim
Civilizations, and the Duke-UNC Consortium for Middle East Studies
October 12, 2017 Refugees: A Global Crisis: Refugee Protection Today: Conflict and Potential
Time 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
Location Friday Center
UNC Chapel Hill
Categories Lecture
Description
Niklaus Steiner is the director of the Center for Global Initiatives at the University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is a native of Thun, Switzerland, who moved to Chapel Hill with his
family when his father became a professor at Carolina. Nicklaus has had the good fortune of
moving between cultures his whole life, so he is deeply committed to providing global
opportunities to all Carolina students. He earned a bachelor’s degree with highest honors in
international studies at UNC-Chapel Hill and a Ph.D. in political science at Northwestern
University. Because of his own movement across borders and cultures, his research and
teaching interests are immigration, refugees, nationalism and citizenship.
Sponsors Friday Center
October 14, 2017 Cultural Event: “Celebrating Resistance Bonfire”
Time 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Location 2505 Simpkins Rd, Raleigh, NC 27603-4433
Categories Cultural event
Description
The “Celebrating Resistance Bonfire” by Muslim Women For will feature various performances
embracing culture and history, such as hip hop performances, step teams, Palestinian Dapka,
spoken word, etc. There will also be prominent members from our community who will speak
and ground our space, which will be shared with various community organizations and
nonprofits. This will also be a kid-friendly event with social justice story time for children of all
ages.
Sponsors Muslim Women For.
October 17, 2017 Lecture and Book Signing with Dr. Trita Parsi: “Why Diplomacy Succeeded with Iran”
Time 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm
Location Nelson Mandela Auditorium, FedEx Global Education Center
UNC Chapel Hill
Categories Lecture
Description
The Iran Nuclear deal prevented both a war with Iran and an Iranian nuclear weapons option.
The road to this historic achievement was long and arduous. Today, the current administration
has threatened to kill the deal, bringing the US and Iran once again to the brink of war. Trita
Parsi, who advised the Obama administration on the talks, tells the story of how diplomacy
succeeded in his new book – as well as what is at stake if the administration kills the deal. This
talk will be followed by a book signing featuring Trita Parsi’s new book, “Losing an Enemy:
Obama, Iran, and the Triumph of Diplomacy” (Yale University Press, 2017) from 7:40-8:00pm.
Sponsors UNC Persian Studies, Duke Islamic Studies Center, the Carolina Center for the Study of the
Middle East and Muslim Civilizations, Duke-UNC Consortium for Middle East Studies.
October 17, 2017 Lecture: Frederick Fleitz, “The Growing National Threat from Iran”
Time 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Location The Event Center, 200 S. Elliot Rd., Chapel Hill, NC, 27514
Categories Lecture
Description
Fred Fleitz is Senior Vice President of the Center for Security Policy, a non-profit Washington,
D.C.-based nonpartisan national security think tank, where he focuses on the Iranian and North
Korean nuclear programs, nonproliferation, the Middle East, terrorism, and intelligence reform.
Fleitz served in U.S. national security positions for 25 years with CIA, DIA, the Department of
State and the House Intelligence Committee staff. During the administration of President
George W. Bush, Fleitz was chief of staff to John Bolton, then Under Secretary of State for Arms
Control and International Security.
Sponsors Icon Lecture Series
October 18, 2017 Panel Discussion: The US, Iran & the Nuclear Issue: Sanctions versus Diplomacy
Time 4:30 pm - 6:15 pm
Location Duke University Perkins Library, 217
Duke University
Categories Panel
Description
Join Trita Parsi, Omid Safi, and Bruce Jentleson as they discuss the US, Iran & the nuclear issue:
sanctions versus diplomacy. Free and open to the public. Trita Parsi’s newest book “Losing an
Enemy: Obama, Iran, and the Triumph of Diplomacy” will be available for purchase and signing.
SponsorsUNC Persian Studies, Duke Islamic Studies Center, the Carolina Center for the Study of the
Middle East and Muslim Civilizations, Duke-UNC Consortium for Middle East Studies
October 18, 2017Lecture: An Italian Jesuit in Canton and the War on the Chinese: ‘Orientalism,’ Conquest, and
the Eastern Indian Ocean in the 16th Century
Time 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Location Lilly Library
Duke University
Categories Lecture
Description
Why Did Matteo Ricci of the Society of Jesus lie about the Muslims of China? This talk presents
and discusses a passage in one of Matteo Ricci’s earliest reports on China in which he describes
the Muslims of the city of Canton. I will analyze the passage against the broader context of the
Portuguese and Ming China in the late 16th century explaining how Ricci addresses keys issues
such the “problem” of Islam and Muslims in the Indian Ocean and their presence in China on the
one hand, and plan to attack China on the other.
Sponsors Center for Jewish Studies, Art, Art History & Visual Studies, Asian & Middle Eastern Studies
(AMES), Duke University Middle East Studies Center (DUMESC), and Religious Studies
October 19, 2017Lecture: An Arab Jew in Rome: “Zionism” and “Islamophobia” in the 16th century and Now –
Zvi Ben-Dor Benite (NYU)
Time 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
Location Ahmadieh Family Lecture Hall – C105, Bay 4 (South) – Smith Warehouse
Duke University
Categories Lecture
Description
This talk revisits the story of David Ha-Reuveni, an impostor that showed in early 16th century
Rome with grandiose plans to defeat Islam, and the Ottoman Empire for the small fee of a large
navy and Palestine for the Jews. Against a line of interpretation that situated David within the
contours of Jewish history and Jewish mysticism, this talk situates the story within the broader
context of a global 16th Century “Theater of Operation” that brings together Europe, the Middle
East, and the Western Indian Ocean during the very early age of sail.
SponsorsDuke Center for Jewish Studies, Duke-UNC Consortium for Middle East Studies, Duke Middle
East Studies Center, Duke Islamic Studies Center
October 19, 2017 Refugees: A Global Crisis: Refugees: Pathways, Experiences, and Resettlement
Time 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
Location Friday Center
UNC Chapel Hill
Categories Lecture
Description
Scott’s presentation: Refugees welcomed to the United States come from all over the world,
represent a variety of religions, and are invariably hard-working individuals. This session will
explore and examine the realities facing refugees resettling in the US, in particular North
Carolina; as well as provide updates on current political contexts, such as the travel ban. The
session will provide an overview of the refugee issue at the local level with an exploration of the
resettlement process, examining both theory as well as practical aspects, through a discussion
of local resettlement efforts. The session will also highlight means and methods for community
engagement. | Josh’s presentation: Research shows that refugees experience
disproportionately high rates of chronic health and mental health issues, including anxiety,
depression, substance abuse, and other stress-related disorders. Refugees also face a multitude
of barriers to accessing healthcare services, including lack of culturally appropriate treatment
and limited access to interpretation services. This session will focus on the refugee experience in
North Carolina, and explore the ethical obligations of healthcare professionals to participate in
their care. The session will also provide information and resources on best practices for working
with refugees in North Carolina.
Sponsors Friday Center
October 19, 2017 Film Screening: “Off Frame AKA Revolution Until Victory”
Time 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Location Richard White Auditorium (Duke East Campus)
Duke University
Categories Film Screening
Description
Mohanad Yaqubi’s “Off Frame AKA Revolution Until Victory” will be shown at 7 pm at the
Richard White Auditorium (Duke East Campus). The Q&A will be led by Professor Nadia Yaqub of
UNC-CH. The trailer is here: http://idiomsfilm.com/movies/off-frame/. This documentary film
beautifully edits together rare footage from the Palestine Film Unit’s films made from 1968 to
1982.
Sponsors UNC-Duke
October 20-27, 2017 The 32nd Annual International Festival of Raleigh
Time
Location Raleigh Convention Center, 500 S Salisbury St.
Raleigh, NC 27601
Categories Cultural Event
Description
The International Festival of Raleigh provides a comprehensive platform for local ethnic
communities and multicultural artists to present international art in downtown Raleigh. Our
yearly, three-day event serves over 25,000 attendees annually and is a key component of the
City’s arts tradition. The Festival’s artists are both professional and amateur, and represent
Raleigh’s diverse population. More than 71 ethnic groups participate to present a variety of high-
quality arts through dance and musical performances, ethnic cuisines, dance, and global cooking
workshops, visual art, calligraphy, textile design, and cultural expression from across the globe.
Sponsors International Festival of Raleigh
October 20-21, 2017 Conference: Against the Use of Drones in Warfare
Time
Location Trinity United Methodist Church and Duke Divinity School
Duke University
Categories Conference
Description
This conference will feature speakers from different areas of expertise on the problems with
and the ramifications of the use of drones in warfare. In other words, this is not a conference to
debate the use of drones in warfare, but a conference to encourage students, scholars, and
citizens to be informed about problems related to the use of drones in warfare.
Sponsors Sponsored by the Board of Church and Society, the North Carolina Conference of the United
Methodist Church, and the Duke Human Rights Center at the Franklin Humanities Institute.
October 20, 2017“50 Years of Occupation, 1967-2017: Israel/Palestine, Histories and Futures” | International
Law and Fifty Years of Occupation, Lisa Hajjar
Time 11:45 am - 1:45 pm
Location 011 Old Chem
Duke University
Categories Presentation/Discussion
Description
The Israeli government’s approach to controlling the West Bank and Gaza and changes in the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict over the past fifty years involve evolving official reinterpretations of
international humanitarian law (IHL) as well as human rights laws. These einterpretations, while
intellectually sophisticated, deviate significantly from international consensus about the status
of the occupied territories and the rights and duties of an occupying state. The reinterpretive
project has been undertaken in order to, first, assert that the territories are not “occupied” and
then “legalize” state practices toward Palestinians that violate customary legal norms and
bedrock rules of IHL, including torture, targeted killing, and the use of massive force against
civilians. Israel’s continuing occupation provides a unique testing ground to debate the
interpretation, applicability, and enforceability of IHL. This talk addresses the reinterpretative
project and its consequences. A light lunch will be served.
SponsorsForum for Scholars and Publics, the Franklin Humanities Institute, and the Duke University
Middle East Studies Center
October 22, 2017 Talk: Pilgrimage to Peace program
Time 3:00 pm - 4:00 pm
Location St. Francis UMC
2965 Kildaire Farm Rd, Cary NC 27518
Categories Presentation/Discussion
Description
Join Rev. Dr. Mae Elise Cannon, executive director of Churches for Middle East Peace
(www.cmep.org) and Daoud Nassar from Tent of Nations Farm near Bethlehem as they discuss
peace and reconciliation efforts in Israel-Palestine.
Sponsors Coalition for Peace with Justice
October 24, 2017Public Talk | Amir Soltani: “Religious Freedom and Hypocrisy in Iran: An Activist’s Guide to
Changing the World”
Time 6:00 am - 7:30 pm
Location FedEx Global Education Center, room 1005
UNC Chapel Hill
Categories Presentation/Discussion
Description
What is religious persecution? What forms does a modern inquisition take? Who enforces it and
how? What is the role of language? What does it mean to be changed as a heretic, to spread
corruption on earth, or to wage war against God? How do you resist? These are some of the
questions Amir Soltani will consider through prism of the struggle for religious freedom in Iran.
Amir Soltani is an Iranian-American writer, journalist and human rights activist who has worked
in business, media, nonprofits and philanthropy.
SponsorsUNC Persian Studies, Department of Asian Studies, Carolina Center for the Study of the Middle
East and Muslim Civilizations, Duke-UNC Consortium for Middle East Studies, Center for Global
Initiatives, Department of Religious Studies, Institute for the Arts and Humanities
October 25, 2017A TISS Dinner-Seminar: “Google, ISIS, and anti-Muslim Sentiment” featuring Christopher Bail,
Duke University
Time 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm
Location Friday Center
UNC Chapel Hill
Categories Seminar
Description
Chris Bail is the Douglas and Ellen Lowey Associate Professor of Sociology and Public Policy at
Duke. His research examines how non-profit organizations and other political actors shape
public discourse by analyzing large groups of texts from newspapers, television, public opinion
surveys, and social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter. His research has been published
by Princeton University Press, the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the
American Sociological Review, and other leading publications. In 2017, he was one of 30
academics recognized worldwide by a prestigious Andrew Carnegie Fellowship. His work has
also been recognized by awards from the American Sociological Association, the Association for
Research on Non-Profit Organizations and Voluntary Action, the Society for the Scientific Study
of Religion, and the Society for Study of Social Problems, and supported by the National Science
Foundation, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and the Russell Sage Foundation. His
research has also been covered by major media outlets such as NBC News , National Public
Radio , and the Washington Post . Dr. Bail is currently studying the community-level predictors
of violent extremism using Google search data, and how social networks influence political
polarization on Twitter.
Sponsors Triangle Institute for Security Studies
October 26-27, 2017 K-12 World View Symposium: Human Rights and Social Justice
Time October 26, 2017 | 8:00 am - October 27, 2017 | 5:00 pm
Location Friday Center, UNC Chapel Hill
UNC Chapel Hill
Categories Education Symposium
Description
This global education symposium for K-12 educators will feature short plenary talks and sessions
on human rights issues to increase awareness of human rights and social justice issues, and to
provide pedagogical strategies and resources for integrating human rights and social justice
issues into teaching. Omid Safi will give a keynote presentation, “Need for Social Justice and
Finding Peace.” Omid Safi is a professor of Asian and Middle Eastern studies at Duke University,
where he is the director of the Duke Islamic Studies Center. He is the current chair for Islamic
Mysticism Group at the American Academy of Religion, and he blogs at On Being.
Sponsors UNC World View
October 26, 2017“50 Years of Occupation, 1967-2017: Israel/Palestine, Histories and Futures” | Posting While
Palestinian: Shifting Bounds for Expression in the West Bank and Israel, Amahl Bishara
Time 11:45 am - 1:45 pm
Location 011 Old Chem
Duke University
Categories Presentation/Discussion
Description
The Internet and social media once seemed to hold the promise of liberation and free
expression for all those who accessed it. For Palestinians in Israel and the West Bank, the
Internet is a critical field of expression and organizing, especially because Palestinians are
geographically fragmented, largely due to Israeli policies. However, the Internet is by no means
free of dangers. This talk looks at what recent campaigns against Palestinian expression online
can tell us about publics, politics, and borders today. A light lunch wil be served.
SponsorsForum for Scholars and Publics, the Franklin Humanities Institute, and the Duke University
Middle East Studies Center
October 26, 2017Book Talk by Larry Wolff (NYU): “The Singing Turk – Ottoman Power and Operatic Emotions on
the European Stage from the Siege of Vienna to the Age of Napoleon”
Time 5:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Location Biddle 1, Biddle Music Building
Duke University
Categories Book discussion
Description
This talk takes place in the Music Library Seminar Room, Biddle Music Building, East Campus.
Prof. Wolff discusses his new book “The Singing Turk” (Stanford UP, 2016) about the image of
the Turks in 18th century operas. Larry Wolff is Professor of History and Director of the Center
for European and Mediterranean Studies at New York University. He is the author of “Paolina’s
Innocence: Child Abuse in Casanova’s Venice,” “The Idea of Galicia: History and Fantasy in
Habsburg Political Culture,” “Venice and the Slavs: The Discovery of Dalmatia in the Age of
Enlightenment,” and “Inventing Eastern Europe: The Map of Civilization on the Mind of the
Enlightenment” -all published by Stanford University Press.
SponsorsDepartment of History; Archives of Asia, Africa, and the Mediterranean program; and DUCIGS
October 26, 2017 Refugees: A Global Crisis: Film Screening, Salam Neighbor
Time 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Location Friday Center
UNC Chapel Hill
Categories Film Screening
Description
Join us for a film screening of Salam Neighbor, a 2016 award-winning feature documentary that
shares stories of the heartbreak and hope of refugee life, as told through the experiences of two
American filmmakers. Zach Ingrasci and Chris Temple were the first allowed by the United
Nations to set up a tent and live among 85,000 Syrians in Jordan’s refugee camp. The session
will include a discussion led by Dilshad Jaff, MD, MPH, UNC Gillings School of Global Public
Health. Dr. Jaff (himself a refugee now living here) will share his experience from the field
working in refugee and Internally Displaced Peoples’ (IDPs) camps, and will provide updates,
current challenges and issues related to the refugee crisis.
Sponsors Friday Center
October 26, 2017 Film Screening: “Broken: A Work in Progress”
Time 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Location Richard White Auditorium (Duke East Campus)
Duke University
Categories Film screening
Description
Mohammed Alatar’s documentary about the Wall, “Broken: A Work in Progress,” will be at the
Richard White Auditorium, also at 7 pm. The Q&A will be led by Professor Amahl Bishara of Tufts
University. When the International Court of Justice elevated the Israeli-Palestine conflict to a
new level of visibility in 2004, many saw it as turning point in the history both of Palestine and of
International Law. But will history turn? BROKEN is a filmmaker’s journey across three
continents, attempting to find answers.
Sponsors
Presented with the Duke University Middle Eastern Studies Center (DUMESC).Our series is
coordinated with See / Think / Act, which examines how visual culture interacts with human
rights.Co-sponsored by the Program in Arts of the Moving Image, Duke Screen Society,
Humanities Futures, the Human Rights Archive, the Center for Jewish Studies, and the Trent
Foundation, AMES Present.
October 27, 2017 Banquet Presentation | MSA Live: Ibithaj Muhammad
Time 6:30 pm - 9:30 pm
Location Great Hall, Frank Porter Graham Student Union
UNC Chapel Hill
Categories Presentation
Description
Join the UNC Muslim Students Association for the second annual MSA Live Banquet. With us for
the night is the first Muslim American woman to wear a hijab while competing for the United
States in the Olympics and the first female Muslim American athlete to win a medal, Ibtihaj
Muhammad. Also joining us for the event is award-winning journalist Sean Maroney, who
served as the Voice of America’s correspondent in Pakistan and Afghanistan before returning to
Raleigh to serve as a news anchor.
Sponsors UNC Muslim Students Association
October 28, 2017 Festival of New Student Films from Palestine
Time 11:00 am - 12:00 pm
Location Center for Documentary Studies Auditorium
Duke University
Categories Film screening
Description
Join us for a Festival of New Student Films from Palestine, presented by AMES 204FS. This
screening of 18 films will be in two blocks, at 11 am and 1 pm. Lunch will be served in between
the screening blocks. The event is at the Center for Documentary Studies auditorium, 1317 W.
Pettigrew St, Durham.
Sponsors Sponsored by the Duke Center for Documentary Studies.
October 28, 2017 Cultural Event: Urdu Majlis
Time 2:30 pm - 3:30 pm
Location Room 219, New West, 175 E. Cameron Ave
UNC Chapel Hill
Categories Cultural event
Description
Please join us Saturday, October 28, 2017 for the next monthly meeting of Urdu Majlis, the
Triangle’s Urdu Literary Forum. This Urdu Majlis will concentrate on the life and works of Iftikhar
Arif (b. 1943), an Urdu poet, scholar and littérateur from Pakistan. Please plan to arrive
promptly at 2:30 PM as a courtesy to the other participants who arrive on time. Participants are
invited to bring refreshments to share.
Sponsors Carolina Asia Center and the South Asia Section of the UNC Dept. of Asian Studies
November 1, 2017 -
March 12, 2018Exhibit: Yasak/Banned: Political Cartoons from Late Ottoman and Republican Turkey
Time November 1, 2017 | 8:00 am - March 12, 2018 | 5:00 pm
Location Mary Duke Biddle Room, Perkins Library
Duke University
Categories Exhibit
Description
“Yasak/Banned: Political Cartoons from Late Ottoman and Republican Turkey” details the
extensive collections held by Duke University Library. The Library’s Turkish satirical journals and
cartoons span from the late 19th century to the present. The exhibition highlights three themes:
Historical change, Political Satire, and Gender. Each of these themes is detailed by the different
cartoonists and satirists interpretations of events current to their time. Each epoch or simply
decade provides an array of differing opinions, voices, dissent and contestation. Exploring these
subtle differences during the over 100 year history, one gets a detailed overview and taste of
the changes taking shape and the differing opinions of the effects of modernity.
Sponsors Duke University Libraries, Duke University Middle East Studies Center
November 1-2, 2017 Film Screening: HUMAN FLOW: WHEN THERE IS NOWHERE TO GO, NOWHERE IS HOME.
Time November 1, 2017 | 4:00 pm - November 2, 2017 | 9:00 pm
Location The Carolina Theater of Durham
309 West Morgan Street, Durham NC 27701
Categories Film screening
Description
Over 65 million people around the world have been forced from their homes to escape famine,
climate change and war in the greatest human displacement since World War II. Human Flow ,
an epic film journey led by the internationally renowned artist Ai Weiwei, gives a powerful
visual expression to this massive human migration. The documentary elucidates both the
staggering scale of the refugee crisis and its profoundly personal human impact. Captured over
the course of an eventful year in 23 countries, the film follows a chain of urgent human stories
that stretches across the globe in countries including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, France, Greece,
Germany, Iraq, Israel, Italy, Kenya, Mexico, and Turkey. Human Flow is a witness to its subjects
and their desperate search for safety, shelter and justice: from teeming refugee camps to
perilous ocean crossings to barbed-wire borders; from dislocation and disillusionment to
courage, endurance and adaptation; from the haunting lure of lives left behind to the unknown
potential of the future. Human Flow comes at a crucial time when tolerance, compassion and
trust are needed more than ever. This visceral work of cinema is a testament to the
unassailable human spirit and poses one of the questions that will define this century: Will our
global society emerge from fear, isolation, and self-interest and choose a path of openness,
freedom, and respect for humanity?
Sponsors Carolina Theater of Durham
November 1, 2017 Film Screening: Docunight #43 [Durham]: Boys With Broken Ears
Time 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Location 1304 Campus Dr, Durham, NC, Room 209
Duke University
Categories Film screening
Description
BOYS WITH BROKEN EARS is an intimate look at the hopes and struggles of a handful of young
Iranian wrestlers as they prepare for the biggest event of their lives; the world championship in
Europe. It’s a social tale set against the qualms of committing one’s life to a dream at a young
age. With unprecedented access to the national youth team, the film follows five characters
from impoverished background as they journey through the most challenging year of the lives,
examining their beliefs and aspirations along the way.
Sponsors Graduate Student Association of Iranians at Duke
November 2-3, 2017Turkey Today | Duke-UNC Consortium for Middle East Studies Annual Conference:
Yasak/Banned: Print Media and Cultural Spaces from Abdülhamit to Erdoğan
Time November 2, 2017 | 9:00 am - November 3, 2017 | 5:00 pm
Location Holtsi-Anderson Room, Rubenstein Library, Room 153 (West Duke)
Duke University
Categories Conference
Description
The Yasak /Banned Duke-UNC Middle East Studies Consortium Conference examines socio-
political transformation and cultural representation in late Ottoman and Republican Turkey with
an interdisciplinary focus on print media and cultural spaces. The conference begins Thursday,
Nov. 2 at 5:30 PM with a Vernissage of the related Duke libraries exhibit: Yasak/Banned: Political
Cartoons from late Ottoman and Republican Turkey (The Mary Duke Biddle Room). At 6:30 PM,
Professor Edhem Eldem (Boğaziçi University, History) will present a Keynote entitled, Sultan
Abdülhamid II: Founding Father of the Turkish State? in the Bostock Library Holsti-Anderson
Room. On Friday, Nov. 3 we will host three conference panels in Holsti-Anderson with local and
guest experts: Gender and Media (9 AM), Cultural Spaces from Empire to Republic (11 AM) and
Censorship and Political Satire (2:30 PM). The conference will conclude with a Roundtable (4:30
PM).
Sponsors Duke-UNC Consortium for Middle East Studies
November 2, 2017 Duke-UNC Consortium for Middle East Studies Conference Keynote Speaker: Edhem Eldem
Time 6:30 pm - 7:30 pm
Location Holsti-Anderson Room, Rubenstein Library, Room 153 (West Campus)
Duke University
Categories Conference
Description
Edhem Eldem teaches at the Department of History of Boğaziçi University and holds the
international chair of Turkish and Ottoman History at the Collège de France. He has taught as
visiting professor at Berkeley, Harvard, Columbia, at the EHESS, EPHE, ENS, and has been a
fellow at the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin. Among his fields of interest are the Levant trade,
Ottoman funerary epigraphy, the development of Istanbul, the Imperial Ottoman Bank, the
history of archaeology and of photography in the Ottoman Empire, and late-nineteenth-century
Ottoman first-person narratives and biographies.
Sponsors Duke-UNC Consortium for Middle East Studies
November 2, 2017Refugees: A Global Crisis: In Our Backyard: The Realities of Post-Resettlement Life and
Community-Based Approaches to Rebuilding Home
Time 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
Location Friday Center
UNC Chapel Hill
Categories Presentation
Description
Real-life stories – beyond the facts/figures, de-bugging some of the myths. What are the
realities of daily life as a refugee? What are the barriers to refugee support efforts, how do we
make them sustainable, what are the benefits and challenges of academic/community
partnerships, and what solutions can we provide within the local community, to integrate
refugees and respond to the need? Join us as we engage with refugee community leaders, share
their stories, celebrate successes, and learn ways the community can get involved.
Sponsors Friday Center
November 2, 2017 Presentation: Beyond Borders: Environmental Cooperation in Israel
Time 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Location FedEx Global Education Center, room 3024
UNC Chapel Hill
Categories Presentation
Description
Join us for a presentation by The Arava Institute, a leading environmental and academic
institution in the Middle East that tries to advance cross-border environmental cooperation in
the face of political conflict. Their program brings students from Israel, Palestine, Jordan and
around the world to collaborate on environmental studies. Two speakers (Israeli and Jordanian
program alums) will present their stories, speak about their interest in the institute work, and
how joint environmental projects can help solving conflicts in the Middle East.
SponsorsUNC Hillel, Carolina Center for the Study of the Middle East and Muslim Civilizations, Hebrew
program at UNC, JStreet U, and OneVoice at UNC
November 2, 2017 Rights!Camera!Action! Film Screening: Fire at Sea
Time 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Location Ahmadieh Family Lecture Hall, Smith Warehouse Bay 4 (map)
Duke Univeristy
Categories Film screening
Description
Gianfranco Rosi is an Italian documentarian whose previous work has taken him to the Ganges
River, the California desert and inside the Mexican drug trade. Fire at Sea is the fruit of an
extended sojourn on Lampedusa, an island that, while part of Italy, is closer to Tunisia than to
Sicily. Recently, it has become the landing spot for boatloads of refugees and other migrants
from Africa, Asia and the Middle East. This is a hard, empathetic look at reality, which contains
wonders as well as horrors.
SponsorsDuke Human Rights Center at the Franklin Humanities Institute with the Duke University Middle
Eastern Studies Center
November 4, 2017 The Balfour Declaration Forum
Time 10:00 am - 1:00 pm
Location Fellowship Hall, Binkley Baptist Church
1712 Willow Drive, Chapel Hill
Categories Presentation
DescriptionLearn the story of this fateful historical decision made in 1917, the consequences we have
witnessed, and future implications.
SponsorsAbrahamic Initiative on the Middle East, Coalition for Peace with Justice and Triangle NC, and
Jewish Voice for Peace
Novermber 5, 2017 Persian Art Center in Carolina: Dr. Erami
Time 4:00 pm - 7:30 pm
Location 400 Oak Tree Drive (The Club House)
Chapel Hill, NC 27517
Categories Presentation
Description
Join the Persian Art Center in Carolina for a presentation by Dr. Erami. The program will begin
with a welcome and introduction by Dr. Amir Rezvani, 4:30-4:45pm. From 4:45-6:00pm, there
will be a presentation by Dr. Erami. From 6:45-7:30pm, there will be live Persian music and
poetry readings by the audience.
Sponsors Persian Art Center in Carolina
Novermber 7, 2017 Public Lecture | David Schanzer, “Counterterrorism in the Age of Trump”
Time 4:30 pm - 6:00 pm
Location Flyleaf Books, 752 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd
Chapel Hill, NC 27514
Categories Lecture
Description
Join David Schanzer, Director of the Triangle Center on Terrorism and Homeland Security, on
November 7th at 4:30 pm at Flyleaf Books for a lecture on Counterterrorism in the Age of
Trump. Presidential administrations may change, but many of the national security concerns
facing the United States and its allies remain. Chief among these is the threat of terrorist attacks
from ISIS and their affiliates and other groups intent on disrupting the global order. The lecture
will analyze continuities and challenges particular to the Trump administration as it attempts to
keep America and the world safe from terrorism.
Sponsors Carolina Public Humanities
Novermber 7, 2017 Public Talk: The Palestine Exception to Free Speech: A Movement Under Attack
Time 7:00 PM
Location Gardner Hall, 105
UNC Chapel Hill
Categories Presentation
Description
Join UNC Students for Justice in Palestine in welcoming attorney Rahul Saksena from Palestine
Legal, an independent organization dedicated to protecting the rights of those who speak out
for Palestinian freedom. Mr. Saksena will discuss the legal challenges as they pertain to recent
bills proposed and passed by a number of states (including North Carolina) and the federal
government forbidding state-contracted companies from boycotting Israel.
Sponsors UNC-CH Students for Justice in Palestine
Novermber 8, 2017Wednesdays at the Center: “Law, Dynasty, and Islam in Arab Monarchies, 1860s-1930s” (Dr.
Adam Mestyan)
Time 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
Location Ahmadieh Family Conference Hall, Room 240 John Hope Franklin Center
Duke University
Categories Lecture
Description
This talk focuses on the legal codification of dynasties in Arab monarchies between the 1860s
and 1930s. In a sweeping survey, it compares how the succession order and the members of the
ruling family were defined in laws, decrees, and constitutions in the new national kingdoms of
Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia with comparisons to older monarchies, equally impacted
by European imperialism, such as Morocco and Oman. The argument I would advance is that
constitutionalism prompted dynastic codification which rulers hastened to achieve before and
within the writing of basic laws. This feature also meant that certain re-invented Islamic
principles of power, such as the preference for male and sane Muslim rulers, were also codified.
Thus the new and old dynasties themselves embodied a fictional core of Muslim
constitutionalism in the early twentieth century.
SponsorsJohn Hope Franklin Center and Duke University’s International and Global Studies Center
Novermber 8, 2017 Public Talk by Professor Céline Regnard: Marseille and Arab Immigration (1890-1910)
Time 4:00 pm - 5:30 pm
Location Room 331, Withers Hall
North Carolina State University
Categories Lecture
DescriptionJoin the Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies for a talk by Professor Céline Regnard,
Aix-Marseille Université on “Marseille and Arab Immigration (1890-1910).
Sponsors Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
Novermber 9, 2017“50 Years of Occupation, 1967-2017: Israel/Palestine, Histories and Futures” | Human Rights
on Camera in the Palestinian West Bank, Helen Yanovsky
Time 11:45 am - 1:45 pm
Location 011 Old Chem
Duke University
Categories Presentation
Description
In 2007, the Israeli NGO B’Tselem (The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the
Occupied Territories) launched its camera project, distributing video cameras and providing
camera training to Palestinians living in areas of the West Bank, where tensions run high and
clashes are commonplace. Israeli filmmaker Helen Yanovosky, a core member of the B’Tselem
video project, will discuss the history of the project and the importance of cameras and
filmmaking to Palestinians living under occupation. A light lunch will be served.
SponsorsDuke Center for Jewish Studies, the Forum for Scholars and Publics, the Franklin Humanities
Institute, and the Duke University Middle East Studies Center
Novermber 9, 2017 Rights!Camera!Action! Film Screening: The Boy from H2
Time 11:45 am - 1:15 pm
Location Old Chem 011, Duke West Campus
Duke University
Categories Film screening
Description
The Boy from H2 follows 12-year-old Muhammad Burqan, who lives in Area H2 of Hebron, a
section of the city under full Israeli control. Israel imposes severe restrictions on the movement
– by pedestrians and by car – of some 43,000 Palestinians living there. In Area H2, soldiers
routinely detain children on suspicion of stone-throwing. Muhammad, who has nine siblings, is
one of those children. His life revolves around his crowded home and the street, where he must
deal with the constant presence of Israeli security forces and settlers. Panelist Helen Yanovsky is
a film-maker and works for human rights organization B’Tselem. This film was created in
collaboration with B’Tselem’s field researchers and Camera Project volunteers in Hebron, and
produced by B’Tselem’s video department
Sponsors
Presented by the Duke Human Rights Center at the Franklin Humanities Institute. Our series is
coordinated with See/Think/Act which examines how visual culture intersects with human
rights. Co-sponsored by the Program in the Arts and the Moving Image, Duke Screen Society,
Humanities Futures, the Human Rights Archive, The Center for Jewish Studies, and the Trent
Foundation, AMES Present.
November 9-10, 2017International Conference: TRANSNATIONAL TERRORISM TODAY: How do the Transatlantic
Allies deal with Terrorism?
Time November 9, 2017 | 4:30 pm - November 10, 2017 | 7:30 pm
Location Global FedEx Center, Room 4003
UNC Chapel Hill
Categories Conference
Description
This conference considers the manifold challenges involved when dealing with transnational
terrorism. It will commence with a keynote address by distinguished terrorism expert Prof.
Bruce Hoffman of Georgetown University on Thursday, November 9th, at 4:30 pm (UNC Chapel
Hill, Wilson Library, Pleasants Family Assembly Room). The conference takes place on Friday,
November 10th from 8:30am to 7:30pm, consisting of 3 panels with 12 talks in total, followed
by a concluding panel discussion.
Sponsors UNC Center for European Studies
November 9, 2017 Cultural Event: “1001 Nights”
Time 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm
Location Great Hall, Student Union
UNC Chapel Hill
Categories Cultural event
Description
This annual event will give UNC students the opportunity to immerse themselves within Middle
Eastern culture, music, poetry, and food. The event will feature an array of student dance and
musical performances as well as cultural booths with cultural tokens, light food, and
refreshments. The PCS cultural booth will have Persian cultural items and a Persian calligrapher
to demonstrate Persian calligraphy to attendees.
SponsorsPersian Cultural Society, the Arab Student Organization, Hillel, the Association of Iranian at Duke
and the Iranian Association of NC State
November 9, 2017 Film Screening: Letters from Baghdad
Time 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Location Richard White Auditorium, East Campus
Duke University
Categories Film screening
Description
Letters from Baghdad is the story of a true original—Gertrude Bell—sometimes called the
“female” Lawrence of Arabia. Voiced and executive produced by Academy award winning actor
Tilda Swinton, the documentary tells the dramatic story of this British spy, explorer and political
powerhouse. Bell traveled widely in Arabia before being recruited by British military intelligence
to help draw the borders of Iraq after WWI. Using never-seen-before footage of the region, the
film chronicles Bell’s extraordinary journey into both the uncharted Arabian desert and the inner
sanctum of British male colonial power. With unique access to documents from the Iraq
National Library and Archive and Gertrude Bell’s own 1600 letters, the story is told entirely in
the words of the players of the day, excerpted verbatim from intimate letters, private diaries
and secret communiqués. It is a unique look at both a remarkable woman and the tangled
history of Iraq. The film takes us into a past that is eerily current.
SponsorsProgram in Arts of the Moving Image (AMI), Asian & Middle Eastern Studies (AMES), Duke
University Middle East Studies Center, and Focus Program
November 13, 2017 Lecture: Sebastian Gorka on US-Israel relations and Middle Eastern affairs
Time 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Location Genome, room 100
UNC Chapel Hill
Categories Lecture
Description
Sebastian Gorka, former Deputy Assistant to President Trump, will be speaking at UNC on
Monday, November 13th. Join us for a riveting conversation on US-Israel relations and Middle
Eastern affairs under the Trump administration.
SponsorsChristians United for Israel, UNC College Republicans, Turning Point USA & the Carolina Review
November 14, 2017 Industry Night: International Careers
Time 5:30 pm - 7:30 pm
Location Atrium, Fed Ex Global Education Center
UNC Chapel Hill
Categories Career night
Description
Connect with professionals that have experience working internationally. Learn about
international career opportunities. Gain information to help with your career decision-making
journey.
Sponsors University Career Services
November 14, 2017 Documentary Screening: Open Bethlehem
Time 6:30 pm - 7:30 pm
Location Dey Hall, room 307
UNC Chapel Hill
Categories Film screening
Description
Join One Voice at UNC as we screen Open Bethlehem, a documentary by Leila Sansour. In the
words of the filmmakers: “Open Bethlehem is a story of a homecoming to the world’s most
famous little town. The film spans seven momentous years in the life of Bethlehem, revealing a
city of astonishing beauty and political strife under occupation. While telling a personal story,
the film charts the creation of a campaign to compel international action to bring peace to the
Middle East.”
Sponsors One Voice at UNC
November 16, 2017“50 Years of Occupation, 1967-2017: Israel/Palestine, Histories and Futures” | Jerusalem Fifty
Years On: United or Occupied?, Daniel Seidemann
Time 11:45 am - 1:45 pm
Location 011 Old Chem
Duke University
Categories Presentation
Description
Fifty years since 1967, and the dissonance between official Israel and much of the rest of the
world is stark. With the former celebrating the jubilee of “a united Jerusalem,” other
stakeholders are commemorating fifty years of the occupation of East Jerusalem. What is the
state of play in Jerusalem? Is it undivided, occupied – or perhaps both? What is the current
trajectory of the conflict in the city, and how does it interface with the broader geopolitical
dynamics between Israelis and Palestinians? A light lunch will be served.
SponsorsDuke Center for Jewish Studies, the Forum for Scholars and Publics, the Franklin Humanities
Institute, and the Duke University Middle East Studies Center
November 18, 2017 Urdu Majlis: The Life and Works of Akhlaq Mohammad Khan ‘Shahryar’ (1936-2012)
Time 2:30 pm - 3:30 pm
Location Room 219, New West
UNC Chapel Hill
Categories Presentation
Description
Please join us on Saturday November 18, 2017 for the next monthly meeting of Urdu Majlis, the
Triangle’s Literary Forum. This Urdu Majlis will concentrate on the life and works of Akhlaq
Mohammad Khan ‘Shahryar’ (1936-2012) the famous poet who penned the ghazals in the
1981 film “Umrao Jaan”. Khan was an Indian academician, and a leader of Urdu poetry in India.
Participants are invited to bring refreshments to share.
Sponsors Carolina Asia Center and the South Asia Section of the UNC Dept. of Asian Studies
November 20-21, 2017Urban Topography and Political Economy in the Middle East: A Digital Humanities Workshop
Comparing Istanbul and Cairo
Time November 20, 2017 | 5:00 pm - November 21, 2017 | 3:00 pm
Location Rubenstein 249, Carpenter Conference Room, West Campus
Duke University
Categories Workshop
Description
This innovative workshop brings together leading historians and scholars of the modern Middle
East with experts in visualization technology. The main focus is visualizing urban development of
Istanbul and Cairo in a comparative angle. The workshop consists of four parts: 1) An
introductory keynote address 2) a panel on topographical data, 3) a panel on visualization
technologies, and 4) a concluding discussion comparing methodologies explored for historical
Istanbul and the digital tools for similar projects on Cairo. Please click here for the detailed
program.
Sponsors
Archives of Asia, Africa, and the Mediterranean program at the History Department, Duke
University, in cooperation with InVisu-CNRS (Paris) and IFAO (Cairo), and the Duke Project on
the Political Economy of Ottoman Istanbul. Co-sponsored by Archives of Asia, Africa, and the
Mediterranean, Department of Economics, History Department, Duke University Center for
International and Global Studies, Duke Libraries, Political Science Department, Digital
Humanities Initiative and PhD Lab in Digital Knowledge, Information Science and Studies, Center
for French & Francophone Studies, and Duke University Middle East Center
December 1, 2017 Conference: Documentary and Palestine
Time 10:00 am - 2:30 pm
Location Center for Documentary Studies
1317 West Pettigrew Street, Durham, NC
Categories Film screening
Description Join AMES 204FS for a conference at the Center for Documentary Studies!
Sponsors
David L. Paletz Course Innovation Fund, the Center for Documentary Studies, the Duke Focus
Program, Duke Asian & Middle Eastern Studies, and the Duke University Middle East Studies
Center
December 1, 2017Lecture: Sound, Architecture, and Islamic Reform: The Attenuation of Ritual Resonance in the
Built Environment of Cairene Saint Veneration, Dr. Michael Frishkopf
Time 2:30 pm - 3:30 pm
Location Person Recital Hall, Person Hall
Categories Lecture
Description
Dr. Michael Frishkopf’s latest edited volume brings together the perspectives of
ethnomusicology, Islamic studies, art history, and architecture to investigate how sound
production in built environments is central to Muslim religious and cultural expression. Join us
for a discussion about this exciting new book as well as Dr. Frishkopf’s own work on
participatory music culture.
Sponsors
Carolina Asia Center, Carolina Center for the Study of the Middle East and Muslim Civilizations,
Duke-UNC Consortium for Middle East Studies, UNC Graduate and Professional Student
Federation, Department of Religious Studies, Department of History, Department of Music, UNC
Persian Studies
December 2, 2017 K-12 Workshop: Turkey: From the Ottoman Empire to Contemporary History and Politics
Time 9:00 am - 5:00 pm
Location John Hope Franklin Center, room 240
Duke University
Categories Workshop
Description
The Ottoman Empire was a vast and diverse entity that spanned centuries and across Anatolia,
the Middle East, North Africa, and southern Europe. In this day-long workshop, teachers will
explore the historical, political, and cultural aspects of the Ottoman Empire as well as its legacies
and Turkey today (recommended for secondary educators). Teachers will learn about Ottoman
history, architecture, art, and cuisine , engage with scholars from Duke Univeristy and UNC
Chapel Hill, visit an exhibit of political cartoons from late Ottoman and Republican Turkey,
and may earn up to .9 CEUs by participating in the workshop and completing preparatory
readings.
SponsorsDuke Islamic Studies Center with support from Qatar Foundation International and the Duke-
UNC Consortium for Middle East Studies
December 2, 2017 Persian Art Center in Carolina: A new look at Shahnameh
Time 4:00 pm - 7:30 pm
Location 400 Oak Tree Drive (The Club House)
Chapel Hill, NC 27517
Categories Presentation, Cultural event
Description
Join the Persian Art Center in Carolina for a presentation by Loghman Zaiim. The program will
begin with a welcome and introduction by Dr. Amir Rezvani, 4:30-4:45pm. From 4:45-6:00pm,
there will be a presentation by Loghman Zaiim. From 6:45-7:30pm, there will be live Persian
music and poetry readings by the audience.
Sponsors Persian Art Center in Carolina
December 2, 2017 Concert: Echoes of the Silk Road
Time 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Location Duke Energy Hall, Hunt Library
NC State University
Categories Cultural event, concert
Description
A night of live Turkish and Iranian music presented by the American Turkish Association of North
Carolina, the Iranian Cultural Society of NC, the Aziz & Gwen Sancar Foundation, and the NC
State Turkish Student Association. Our lineup features local and international talent, including
ney (Turkish reed flute) player Burcu Karadağ and qanun (Middle Eastern zither) player Serkan
Mesut Halili, both joining us from Istanbul. Triangle-based artists Anatoly Larkin (piano) and Alex
Gordez (guitar) will join our guests from Istanbul on stage. Tickets available here.
SponsorsAmerican Turkish Association of North Carolina, the Iranian Cultural Society of NC, the Aziz &
Gwen Sancar Foundation, and the NC State Turkish Student Association
December 4, 2017 Summer FLAS Fellowship Info Session
Time 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
Location John Hope Franklin Center Rm, 130-132
Duke University
Categories Information session
Description
The purpose of the Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) fellowship is to permit students to
study one of the less- or least-commonly-taught languages of the Americas or of the Middle East
on an intensive basis. Undergraduate students must place at the intermediate level or above of
language study. The fellowship provides a stipend of $2,500 to cover living expenses, plus up to
$5,000 to cover tuition and fees for one summer session. Graduate, Professional School, and
Undergraduate students enrolled full-time at Duke in the regular academic years preceding and
following this award who are U.S. citizens or permanent residents are eligible. Each center will
conduct its own competition to award fellowships for the study of the following languages:
Brazilian Portuguese, K’iché Maya, Haitian Creole, Modern Hebrew, Modern Standard Arabic,
Persian, Turkish, or Yucatec Maya.
Sponsors Foreign Language and Area Studies fellowship
December 5, 2017“50 Years of Occupation, 1967-2017: Israel/Palestine, Histories and Futures” | Enabler or
Peacemaker? U.S. Policy and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, Lara Friedman
Time 11:45 am - 1:15 pm
Location 011 Old Chem
Duke University
Categories Presentation
Description
Irrespective of intentions, U.S. leadership has done more to enable the entrenchment and
expansion of occupation than to end it. Looking to the future, can the United States act as an
effective leader or steward of a political process that can end the occupation, regardless of the
political outlook of the person occupying the Oval Office? And absent U.S. leadership, what
options are available to change the status quo on the ground? A light lunch will be served.
SponsorsDuke Center for Jewish Studies, the Forum for Scholars and Publics, the Franklin Humanities
Institute, and the Duke University Middle East Studies Center
December 5, 2017 Public Student Film Showings: Inspired by Iranian Cinema
Time 12:30 pm - 1:30 pm
Location New West 219
UNC Chapel Hill
Categories Film screening
Description
As part of the EE course requirement and grade, Dr. Claudia Yaghoobi’s “ASIA 124: Iranian Post-
1979 Cinema” students made 8-minute films related to the themes of the class with an original
idea of theirs. Students received guidance from both Dr. Yaghoobi and the course GRC, Che
Sokol. The campus and public community are invited on Nov. 30 and Dec. 5, 2017, at 12:30 pm
to a public screening and Q&A of the student films.
Sponsors UNC Persian Studies
December 6, 2017 Film Screening: Docunight #44 [Durham]: Scorpio & Javad (2 films)
Time 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Location 1304 Campus Dr, Durham, NC, Room 209
Duke University
Categories Film screening
Description
In 1971 three young musicians set out to perform the euphoric rock’n roll and Latin hits of their
time on the stages of Tehran. Bahram Amin Salmasi (bass guitar), Baram Saidi (guitar) and Eini
Keivanshokooh (drums), along with Eric Arconte (percussions) and Andranik Asatourian (piano)
formed the band ‘Scorpio’. Through their covers, they soon became very popular amongst
enthusiasts of popular western music. They covered almost every big rock hit and brought them
live to their fans in the nightclubs and discos of Tehran. Forty years later, their memories give us
a taste of the early days of the rock music movement in Iran. Javad Yassari’s songs are
emotional roller-coasters of love, loss, and loneliness. His songs have become the voice of a very
old but overlooked part of Iranian culture: that of its hard working, hard drinking, tough, rough
and devout downtown men and women. He rose to fame in the late 70’s in Lalezar, Tehran’s
club strip where he sang in smoky theatres and cabarets. The revolution of 1979 turned the
lights out on Lalezar and Javad’s music went to dingy venues in Dubai and small European
towns, and the occasional Tehran wedding, though his music lived on through bootleg cassettes
and CDs.
Sponsors Graduate Student Association of Iranians at Duke
December 8, 2017 Research presentations by Mideast Center Carnegie Fellows
Time 12:00 pm - 2:00 pm
Location FedEx Global Education Center, room 4003
UNC Chapel Hill
Categories Presentation
Description
Please join the Mideast Center for two talks by our visiting Carnegie Fellows, Mariam Alkazemi
and Shimaa Hatab. The event will take place in the FedEx Global Education Center, room 4003.
Lunch will be provided.
SponsorsCarolina Center for the Study of the Middle East and Muslim Civilizations and the Carnegie
Fellowships in Support of Arab Region Social Science
December 9, 2017 Literary Forum: Urdu Majlis
Time 3:30 pm - 6:00 pm
Location Room 219, New West
UNC Chapel Hill
Categories Presentation
Description
Please join us for the next monthly meeting of Urdu Majlis, the Triangle’s Literary Forum.
This Urdu Majlis will concentrate on the life and works of Makhmoor Saeedi (1938-2010), an
Urdu poet, writer, translator and journalist from Tonk, Rajasthan, India. Participants are invited
to bring refreshments to share.
Sponsors Carolina Asia Center and the South Asia Section of the UNC Dept. of Asian Studies
December 9, 2017 Benefit Event: Sounds of Palestine
Time 5:45 pm - 9:00 pm
Location Global Breath Studio
119 W. Main St, Suite 300, Durham, NC 27701
Categories Cultural event
Description
Please join us for an evening to celebrate and support an amazing organization Sounds of
Palestine, a program using music education to improve the lives of disadvantaged Palestinian
children, many of whom live in surrounding refugee camps. The event will kick off with a yoga
class led by 200hr Certified Kunga Yoga Teacher Jackie Cook. Following class, doors will open for
guests to enjoy light refreshments, drinks, enter a raffle, and settle in to experience local
Palestinian musical performances. Guests are welcome to participate in any or all of the
activities. The evening schedule:
Sponsors Jewish Voices for Peace of the Triangle and Coalition for Peace and Justice
December 13, 2017 Learning through Languages High School Research Symposium
Time
Location FedEx Global Education Center Atrium
UNC Chapel Hill
Categories Symposium
Description
NC world language high school students will have the opportunity to showcase their language,
research, and presentation skills in a scholarly environment. Participating students are
encouraged to be at Level III or higher, including heritage speakers, in Arabic, Chinese, French,
German, Japanese, Russian or Spanish. They will choose a topic relevant to four research tracks
with regional focuses: Contemporary Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, or the
Middle East and North Africa. Teams will write a research paper and present it at the
symposium in their respective language. This program is designed to promote student learning
in the areas of research methodology, technology literacy, and critical thinking and to encourage
the learning of new academic vocabulary. The symposium will take place Wednesday, December
13.
Sponsors
Carolina Center for the Study of the Middle East and Muslim Civilizations
Carolina Asia Center, Duke Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies, Duke Cultures and
Languages Across the Curriculum, Duke Middle East Studies Center, UNC Center for European
Studies, UNC Center for Global Initiatives, UNC Center for Slavic, Eurasian, and East European
Studies, UNC Department of Asian Studies, UNC Department of Germanic and Slavic Languages
and Literatures, UNC College of Arts and Sciences, UNC Global Relations, UNC Institute for the
Study of the Americas, UNC-Duke Consortium in Latin American and Caribbean Studies
January 1, 2018Lecture: “Muslim Spaces, Jewish Pasts: Genealogies of the Split Arab/Jew Figure” with Ella
Shohat, NYU
Time 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Location UNC Friday Center for Continuing Education
UNC Chapel Hill
Categories Lecture
Description Community lecture with Ella Shohat of New York university.
Sponsors Carolina Center for Jewish Studies
January 13, 2018 Literary Forum: Urdu Majlis
Time 3:00 pm - 4:00 pm
Location Room 219, New West
UNC Chapel Hill
Categories Presentation
Description
Please join us for the next monthly meeting of Urdu Majlis, the Triangle’s Literary
Forum. This Urdu Majlis will concentrate on the life and works of Mehshar Badayuni (1922-
1994), one of the leading Urdu poets of the late nineteenth and early twentieth
centuries. Participants are invited to bring refreshments to share.
Sponsors Carolina Asia Center and the South Asia Section of the UNC Dept. of Asian Studies
January 14, 2018 Persian Art Center in Carolina: A new look at Shahnameh (Part Two)
Time 4:00 pm - 7:30 pm
Location 400 Oak Tree Drive (The Club House)
Chapel Hill, NC 27517
Categories Presentation
Description
Join the Persian Art Center in Carolina for a presentation by Loghman Zaiim on Shahnameh, a
long epic poem written by the Persian poet Ferdowsi between c. 977 and 1010 CE. The program
will begin with a welcome and introduction by Dr. Amir Rezvani, 4:30-4:45pm. From 4:45-
6:00pm, there will be a presentation by Loghman Zaiim. From 6:45-7:30pm, there will be live
Persian music and poetry readings by the audience.
Sponsors Persian Art Center in Carolina
January 20, 2018 Community Event: Community Conversations with Foreign-born Residents of Chapel Hill
Time 11:00 am - 12:30 pm
Location Chapel Hill Public Library
100 Library Dr, Chapel Hill, 27514
Categories
Description
This is an opportunity for members of the community to share their experiences and
recommendations for local government and services with conversations in Arabic, Burmese,
English, and Russian Languages.
Sponsors Building Integrated Communities and the Chapel Hill Public Library
January 22, 2018 Public Talk: “The Emergence of Terrorism: A New Paradigm” with Dr. Marc Sageman
Time 5:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Location Gross Hall 270
Duke University
Categories Lecture
Description
Dr. Marc Sageman will give a public talk based on his most recent book, “Turning to Political
Violence: The Emergence of Terrorism” (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2017). The book
discusses various campaigns of political violence spanning two centuries and four continents. Dr.
Marc Sageman is currently a Senior Fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute’s Center for
the Study of Terrorism.
Sponsors Duke University Center for International and Global Studies
January 24, 2018 Public Talk: “Arabs in America’s Fairs, 1876-1896” with Dr. Linda Jacobs
Time 4:00 pm - 5:30 pm
Location Withers Hall, Room 331
NC State University
Categories Lecture
Description
The Khayrallah Center invites you to attend a talk and conversation with Dr. Linda Jacobs, titled:
“Creating Illusions: Arabs in America’s Fairs, 1876-189.” This talk explores Arab participation in
world exhibition and fairs (attended by nearly 50 million Americans) and the effects these
experiences had on early Arab immigration and immigrants in nineteenth century America.
Sponsors Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
January 25, 2018 Book Talk and Signing: Escape from Hell: Based on the True Story of a Syrian Political Prisoner
Time 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm
Location FedEx Global Education Center, room 1005
UNC Chapel Hill
Categories Book talk and signing
Description
Join co-authors Zubair Rushk and Daniel Romm as they discuss their new book, Escape from
Hell: Based on the True Story of a Syrian Political Prisoner. Escape from Hell is a powerful and
enlightening historical political thriller that chronicles Rushk’s motivations for leaving Syria, the
horrors he faced, and his journey to the United States. Co-authors Rushk and Romm will discuss
the main arguments presented in the book including: the US administration’s travel ban, torture
in political prison, war effects on the health of children, and discrimination. The talk will be
followed by a book signing.
SponsorsCarolina Seminars program and the Carolina Center for the Study of the Middle East and Muslim
Civilizations
January 26, 2018Book Talk by Didem Havlioğlu: “Mîhrî Hatun: Performance, Gender-bending and Subversion in
Ottoman Intellectual History
Time 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
Location Franklin Center Ahmadieh Family Conference Hall
Duke University
Categories Book talk
Description
The early modern Ottoman poet Mihrî Hatun (1460–1515) succeeded in drawing an admiring
audience and considerable renown during a time when few women were accepted into the
male-dominated intellectual circles. Her poetry collection is among the earliest bodies of
women’s writing in the Middle East and Islamicate literature, providing an exceptional vantage
point on intellectual history. Havlioglu’s astute and nuanced portrait will give audience members
a fascinating glimpse into the life of a woman poet in a highly gendered society and suggests
that women have been part of intellectual history long before the modern period.
Sponsors AMES Presents and Duke University Middle East Studies Center
January 26, 2018 Persian Lecture Series: Treatise of Three Principles of Mulla Sadra
Time 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm
Location Room 1005, FedEx Global Education Center
UNC Chapel Hill
Categories Lecture
Description
Join us for a Persian Lecture Series focusing on the philosopher Mulla Sadra presented by Dr.
Mohsen Kadivar. Dr. Kadivar is an Iranian philosopher and research professor of Islamic Studies
at Duke University. Free and open to the public. Lectures will be in Persian.
SponsorsUNC Persian Studies and the Carolina Center for the Study of the Middle East and Muslim
Civilizations
January 27, 2018 Talk with Amir Muhammad: “African Muslims in the Carolinas”
Time 11:45 am - 12:15 pm
Location Dogwood Classroom, SECU Education Center, Level R
Categories Presentation
Description
This event will take place as part of the broader “17th Annual African American Cultural
Celebration” at the North Carolina Museum of History. Amir Muhammad, owner, Collections
and Stories of American Muslims Inc. (CSAM), will give a talk as part of the CELEBRATE Education
and Heritage program, 11:45am-4:00pm. Mr. Muhammad, author of eight books, has had
several exhibitions hosted at various venues throughout the United States and abroad. He and
his wife, Dr. Habeebah Muhammad, have dedicated themselves to documenting untold stories
of Muslim life in America.
Sponsors North Carolina Museum of History
January 28, 2018 Talk with Amir Muhammad: “Muslims’ Contributions in the Making of America”
Time 11:00 am - 1:00 pm
Location The Vital Link Event Center
1214 E. Lenoir, Raleigh, NC 27610
Categories Presentation
Description
Please join author, historian, and co-founder of America’s Islamic Heritage Museum and Cultural
Center as he discusses “Muslims’ contributions in the making of America”. Mr. Muhammad,
author of eight books, has had several exhibitions hosted at various venues throughout the
United States and abroad. He and his wife, Dr. Habeebah Muhammad, have dedicated
themselves to documenting untold stories of Muslim life in America.
Sponsors As Salaam Islamic Center and Cultural Enrichment Services
January 29, 2018Book talk by Dr. Claudia Yaghoobi: “Intertwined Histories and Perspectives: Contrapuntal
Reading of ʿAṭṭār”
Time 6:00 am - 7:30 pm
Location Room 1009, FedEx Global Education Center
UNC Chapel Hill
Categories Book talk
Description
Can modern concepts such as transgression, inclusion/exclusion, self/the other help us to better
understand medieval subjectivity? Can medieval works shed light on our understanding of
modern subjectivity? By looking at ʿAṭṭār’s poetry contrapuntally with medieval European
literature and modern theory, this talk will map out the ways ʿAṭṭār’s poetry interacts with itself
within the Persian cultural and historical framework as well as with medieval European culture
and modern Western theoretical perspectives in regard to the concepts of transgression and the
breaking of taboos, and the construction of subjectivity. Traversing linguistic, national, and
disciplinary boundaries, this talks calls into question the presumed differences between
Medieval Islam and the West and makes possible a rich dialogue between civilizations that have
historically been pitted against one another.
SponsorsCarolina Seminars program, UNC Persian Studies, and the Carolina Center for the Study of the
Middle East and Muslim Civilizations
January 30, 2018Public Talk: “Muslims Beyond the Arab World: Language, Arts and Music in Senegal” by Dr.
Fallou Ngom
Time 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
Location 011 Old Chem, West Campus
Duke University
Categories Lecture
Description
Join us for a conversation with Dr. Fallou Ngom, Director of the African Studies Center at Boston
College, about Islam in contemporary Senegal. We will explore the ways in which Islam is lived in
the country and its connections to language, the arts, and social life. The conversation will be
moderated by Dr. Mbaye Lo, Interim Director of the Duke Islamic Studies Center. A light lunch
will be served.
Sponsors Duke Islamic Studies Center and the Forum for Scholars and Publics
January 30, 2018 Talk with Julia Ebner, Author of “The Rage”
Time 2:00 pm - 3:30 pm
Location Hamilton Hall, room 569
UNC Chapel Hill
Categories Lecture
Description
The Rage: The Vicious Circle of Islamist and Far Right Extremism explores the interaction
between the “new” far right and Islamist extremists and considers the consequences for the
global terror threat. Based on first-hand interviews, this book introduces readers to the world of
reciprocal radicalization and the hotbeds of extremism that have developed – with potentially
disastrous consequences – in the UK, Europe and the U.S. The author will be available to sign
copies of the book after her talk (books available for purchase at event.)
Sponsors Department of Communication and the Curriculum in Peace, War, and Defense
January 30, 2018Jennifer Bryson & Ismail Royer, “Insights into Extremism: Experiences of a former
Guantanamo Bay interrogator & a convicted jihadist”
Time 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Location Sanford School, Room 04
Duke University
Categories Lecture
Description
Fourteen years ago, he was a convicted jihadist. Ismail Royer was part of the “Virginia Jihad
Network” and was indicted on terrorism-related charges in January 2004 with other members of
the group. Now he’s fighting radical Islam steps from the White House. Join Jennifer Bryson,
director of operations at the Center for Islam and Religious Freedom, and Ismail Royer as they
share their insights into current extremism issues.
Sponsors Duke University Program in American Grand Strategy
January 30, 2018 Religious Studies Department McLester Colloquium: Dr Shahla Talebi
Time 3:30-5:30pm
Location FedEx Global Education Center, room 4003
UNC Chapel Hill
Categories Lecture
DescriptionDr. Shahla Talebi, Associate Professor of Religious Studies, Arizona State University
Title: Traversing Religiopolitical Metaphors in Contemporary Iran
SponsorsUNC Department of Religious Studies, Carolina Center for the Study of the Middle East and
Muslim Civilizations
February 1-2, 2018 Workshop: inTransit, Arts & Migration around Europe
Time February 1, 2018 | 5:00 pm - February 2, 2018 | 4:00 pm
Location The Nasher Museum of Art
Duke University
Categories Workshop
Description
How does the history of migration around Europe change when we consider early modern
Muslims? When we consider other dispossessed peoples across French and Flemish territories
in premodern times? Migrants from the South to the North, and from the Mediterranean across
the British Channel or immigrants from west and north Africa? What are the artistic expressions
and engagements accounting for their uprooting experiences? How are we to interpret them
when we listen to the past to understand the present, while looking into the present to imagine
the past? The inTransit workshop starts to address these questions by bringing together cultural
and art historians, artists, and a curator to explore the cases of expulsions and forced movement
of peoples in early modern Spain and France, today’s Maghreb, Middle East, and West Africa.
The inTransit research group (Romance Studies, Art, Art History and Visual Studies, and the
Nasher Museum) welcomes all those interested in the question of migration.
Sponsors
Center for French and Francophone Studies at Duke University, Department of Romance Studies
at Duke University, Art, Art History & Visual Studies at Duke University, Duke University Center
for International & Global Studies (DUCIGS) – Observatory on Europe, inTransit at Duke
University, Franklin Humanities Institute at Duke University- Social Practice Lab, Nasher Museum
of Art at Duke University
February 5, 2018Public Talk: “The “Military-Civilian Divide:” On War, Citizenship, and Obligation” by Nadia Abu
El-Haj
Time 1:30 pm - 2:30 pm
Location Friedl Building, Room 225
Duke University
Categories Lecture
Description
Nadia Abu El-Haj is Professor of Anthropology at Barnard College, Columbia University and Co-
Director of the Center for Palestine Studies at Columbia. Her publications include Facts on the
Ground: Archaeological Practice and Territorial Self-Fashioning in Israeli Society, and The
Genealogical Science. The Search for Jewish Origins and the Politics of Epistemology. Her current
work focuses on the field of psychiatry, exploring the complex ethical and political implications
of shifting psychiatric and public understandings of the trauma of soldiers.
Sponsors Duke Program in Literature
February 5, 2018Duke History Department Colloquium: “The City and the Wilderness: Indo-Persian Travel
Writing and the Edge of the Mughal World” by Arash Khazeni, Pomona College
Time 3:30 pm - 5:00 pm
Location 229 Carr
Duke University
Categories Presentation
Description
This paper explores the travels of Mir ’Abd al-Latif Khan, an itinerant scholar and merchant from
Iran, across the Indian Ocean from Basra in the Persian Gulf to Calcutta in the Bay of Bengal in
1788 during the waning of the Mughal Empire and the onset of East India Company rule in India.
In his book of travels Tuhfat al-’Alam (Rarity of the World), written in Hyderabad in 1802, ’Abd al-
Latif draws upon longstanding Mughal views of the wondrous nature of Southeast Asia, tinged
by colonial notions of the sublime, to cast the Burmese Empire and its forest landscapes as the
edges of the Mughal world. Through the narrative of a journey to the realm of a universal
sovereign and ideal Persianate king, a padishah and a rajah, reigning over the city and the
wilderness, ’Abd al-Latif surveyed the Burmese Empire as a vast forest kingdom, a land of dense
jungles of teak, herds of wild elephants, and rich mines of precious stones, a mythical littoral
region of exotics and strange customs, a distant half-known world on the frontiers of Islam.
Sponsors Duke History Department Colloquium
February 7, 2018Public Talk: “Realistic & Principled: An Argument for American Support of Democracy and
Human Rights in the Middle East,” a conversation with Elliott Abrams
Time 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Location Sanford 04
Duke University
Categories Lecture
Description
Join the American Grand Strategy for “Realistic & Principled: An Argument for American Support
of Democracy and Human Rights in the Middle East,” a conversation with Elliott Abrams.
Abrams is CFR Senior Fellow, Former Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy National
Security Advisor.
SponsorsDuke Program in American Grand Strategy, Duke Department of Political Science, Duke Sanford
School of Public Policy
February 8, 2018Book Talk and Signing: Crusade and Jihad: The Thousand-Year War Between the Muslim World
and the Global North
Time 5:30 pm - 6:30 pm
Location Perkins Library 217
Duke University, West Campus
Categories Book talk, book signing
Description
Drawing on more than half a century of experience as a historian, policy planner, diplomat,
peace negotiator, and businessman, Dr. Polk’s new book, Crusade and Jihad, explains centuries
of hostilities between the Muslim world and Global North and the impact on current conflicts.
Book signing to follow.
Sponsors Center for Slavic, Eurasian and East European Studies (CSEEES)
February 9-10, 201815th Annual Duke-UNC Graduate Middle East and Islamic Studies Conference: “Map, Territory,
Boundary”
Time
Location Sanford Rubenstein Hall, room 200
Duke University
Categories Conference
Description
Geography and territoriality are not only the subjects of ongoing contestation, but also
compelling paradigms to engage with broader interrelated questions pertaining to the modern
makeup of the Middle East. This conference seeks to spark a discussion on the myriad of ways
the themes of map, territory, and boundary open up new possibilities of insight in the contexts
of the Middle East, Muslim communities, and their connected geographies.
Sponsors
Duke-UNC Consortium for Middle East Studies, Carolina Center for the Study of the Middle East
and Muslim Civilizations, Duke Islamic Studies Center, Duke Department of Asian and Middle
Eastern Studies, UNC Religious Studies, Duke Religion Department, UNC History, Duke Political
Science Department, UNC Center for Global Initiatives, Duke Center for Jewish Studies, UNC
History, Duke Literature Program, UNC Geography, Duke Cultural Anthropology Department +
International Comparative Studies, UNC Carolina Asia Center, Duke University Middle East
Studies Center
February 9, 2018 Persian Lecture Series Part II: Treatise of Three Principles of Mulla Sadra
Time 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm
Location Room 1005, FedEx Global Education Center
UNC Chapel Hill
Categories Lecture
Description
Join us for Part II of a Persian Lecture Series focusing on the philosopher Mulla Sadra presented
by Dr. Mohsen Kadivar. Dr. Kadivar is an Iranian philosopher and research professor of Islamic
Studies at Duke University. Free and open to the public. Lectures will be in Persian.
SponsorsNC Persian Studies and the Carolina Center for the Study of the Middle East and Muslim
Civilizations
February 9, 2018 Performance: Shattered Glass – Three Years Later
Time 6:30 pm - 7:30 pm
Location Sheafer Lab Theater
Duke University
Categories Performance, poetry
Description
Shattered Glass is a 45-minute multimedia spoken word performance about the tragic shootings
in Chapel Hill, North Carolina that fuses together poetry, images, and videos. On February 10th,
2015, Deah Barakat, his wife Yusor Abu-Salha, and her sister Razan Abu-Salha were murdered in
their home. In the aftermath, people around the world are left with many questions. Who were
Deah, Yusor, and Razan? What does it mean to lose your child, your sibling, or your friend?
What do we do in the wake of disaster? And after our nightmares come alive, how do we
remember how to dream? In this piece, the audience goes through a journey of loss, emptiness,
comfort, and growth as they try to find answers. Shattered Glass is written and performed by
Mohammad Moussa, a friend of Deah Barakat. He is a spoken word poet whose work has been
featured on National Public Radio, American Public Media, and SwitchPoint. He has also spoken
and performed at various universities and institutions, including TEDxUNC, The Process Series,
and The Visualizing Human Rights Conference.
SponsorsThe Light House Project, Duke Office of Civic Engagement, Duke Islamic Studies Center, and the
Duke Middle East Studies Center
February 10, 2018 Literary Forum: Urdu Majlis
Time 3:00 pm - 5:30 pm
Location Room 219, New West, 175 E. Cameron Ave
UNC Chapel Hill
Categories Presentation
Description
Please join us on Saturday, February 10, for the next monthly meeting of Urdu Majlis, the
Triangle’s Literary Forum. This Urdu Majlis will concentrate on the life and works of Iqbal
Azeem (1913-2000), Urdu poet and scholar of Urdu language. Participants are invited to bring
refreshments to share.
Sponsors Carolina Asia Center and the South Asia Section of the UNC Dept. of Asian Studies
February 11, 2018 Persian Art Center in Carolina: A new look at Shahnameh (Part Three)
Time 4:00 pm - 7:30 pm
Location 400 Oak Tree Drive (The Club House)
Chapel Hill, NC 27517
Categories Presentation, cultural event
Description Join the Persian Art Center in Carolina for a third presentation by Loghman Zaiim on
Shahnameh, a long epic poem written by the Persian poet Ferdowsi between c. 977 and 1010 CE.
Sponsors Persian Art Center in Carolina
February 12, 2018Furst Forum: “Modifying Language, Modifying Space: Multilingualism in Arab-American
Literature and Film”
Time 3:30 pm - 5:00 pm
Location Dey Hall 305
UNC Chapel Hill
Categories Presentation
Description
Join Rachel Norman for the annual Furst Forum in Comparative Literature. A PhD candidate in
Comparative Literature, Rachel Norman researches multilingualism in Latina/o literature and
Arab North American literature in Canada, the United States, and Mexico.
Sponsors UNC Department of English and Comparative Literature
February 12, 2018Lecture: “Bridges, Not Walls: The Life and Legacy of Forugh Farrokhzad” with Dr. Farzaneh
Milani (University of Virginia)
Time 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm
Location FedEx Global Education Center, room 1005
UNC Chapel Hill
Categories Lecture
Description
“What would happen if one woman told the truth about her life?” Muriel Rukeyser asked. Her
response was short: “The world would split open.” And Adrienne Rich, who believed “Lying is
done with words, and also with silences,” argued, “When a woman tells the truth, she is creating
the possibility of more truth around her.” The Iranian poet, Forugh Farrokhzad (1934-1967)
made a rope out of words and pulled herself up from segregated spaces and the burrows in
which women’s voices were held prisoner. She told the truth about her life, trespassed
sacrosanct boundaries, rejected ancestral silences, and split open the world of Iranian art and
culture. Bridges, Not Walls: The Life and Legacy of Forugh Farrokhzad, which draws from
Milani’s recently published literary biography of Farrokhzad (in Persian), is a story relevant to
our times—a personal narrative and a history of twentieth-century Iran.
Sponsors
UNC Persian Studies, Department of Asian Studies, Carolina Center for the Study of the Middle
East and Muslim Civilizations, Duke-UNC Consortium for Middle East Studies, Institute for the
Arts and Humanities, Department of Women’s and Gender Studies
February 14, 2018 Wednesdays at the Center: Duke Undergraduate Working Group on MENA
Time 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
Location John Hope Franklin Center, Ahmadieh Family Conference Hall, Rm 240
Duke University
Categories Presentation
Description
More than 35 Duke undergraduate students spent their 2017 summer vacation studying or
volunteering in the Middle East and North African (MENA). Josh Curtis (Duke junior) and Bryan
Rusch (Duke sophomore) will lead a roundtable discussion with six students who participated in
DukeEngage in Lebanon, and Duke in the Arab World (Morocco) in the summer of 2017.
Moderated discussion will include topics such as: classroom study vs. real-life experience, the
people of MENA, cultural encounters, food, and lessons upon returning home. These rich and
diverse experiences make Duke a unique hub of learning and engagement in the affairs of the
MENA region.
Sponsors John Hope Franklin Center and the Duke University Middle East Studies Center
February 16-17, 2018 Middle East and African Cultures Teacher Fellows Program Orientation
Time
Location FedEx Global Education Center, room 4003
UNC Chapel Hill
Categories Program
Description
This intensive year-long professional development opportunity will explore Middle Eastern and
African heritage through structured site-visits across the state, from visiting a refugee
resettlement agency in Greensboro, to dining at a Middle Eastern restaurant in Charlotte, to
attending a performance in Durham by Alsarah & The Nubatones, this program aims to enhance
expertise in Middle Eastern and African cultures and communities, explore the growing diversity
of North Carolina, and develop culturally competent pedagogy.
Sponsors Carolna Center for the Study of the Middle East and Muslim Civilizations
February 16, 2018 Discussion: The Grey Wolf & Bear – Turkish-Russian Relations
Time 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
Location 011 Old Chem, West Campus
Duke University
Categories Presentation
Description
The Grey Wolf & Bear: Turkish-Russian Relations will be held at the Forum for Scholars and
Publics. Speakers will include: former ambassadors Jack Matlock (Russian perspective), Robert
Pearson (Turkish perspective) as well as Dimitar Bechev (visiting scholar) who will be giving the
IR perspective.
Sponsors
Co-sponsored by the Duke University Middle Eastern Studies Center (DUMESC), the Center for
Slavic, Eurasion, and East European Studies, the Center for International & Global Studies, the
Department of Political Science, and the Forum for Scholars and Publics.
February 16, 2018 Visualizing Suffering: Tracking Photojournalism and the Syrian Refugee Crisis
Time 5:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Location Smith Warehouse Garage
Duke University
Categories Presentation
Description
On 2/16, Professor Astrid Giugni’s and graduate student Jessica Hines’s Data+ students from
Duke University will be presenting a project tracking photojournalism of the Syrian refugee
crisis, followed by a discussion on undergraduate research in digital humanities.Robbie Ha
(Computer Science, Statistics), Peilin Lai (Computer Science, Mathematics), and Alejandro
Ortega (Mathematics) spent ten weeks analyzing the content and dissemination of images of
the Syrian refugee crisis, as part of a general data-driven investigation of Western
photojournalism and how it has contributed to our understanding of this crisis.
Sponsors Professor Astrid Giugni and Jessica Hines
February 19, 2018Lecture: Malachi Hacohen (Duke University), “Jacob and Esau, Isaac and Ishmael : The Future
of Jewish-Christian and Jewish-Muslim Relations”
Time 5:30 pm - 7:00 pm
Location Dey Hall
UNC Chapel Hill
Categories Lecture
Description
The Holocaust and the State of Israel transformed the traditional paradigms of Jews’ Relations
with non-Jews. Jacob & Esau, typologically Jews and Christians and traditionally enemies, have
reconciled. Isaac & Yishmael, typologically Jews and Muslims and traditionally less hostile, have
grown apart. This talk provides a panoramic overview of the changing dynamics of inclusion and
inter-faith relations, viewed from a Jewish perspective.
Sponsors Carolina Center for Jewish Studies
February 20, 2018 Global Open House + Global Career Night
Time 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Location FedEx Global Education Center, Atrium
UNC Chapel Hill
Categories Presentation
Description
Join students, staff and faculty from the Global Education Center and affiliated programs to
discover where global experiences and intercultural competence can lead. The reception will
feature an art opening and showcase the global opportunities available to students, followed by
a panel at 6:00pm in the Nelson Mandela Auditorium.
Sponsors
Carolina Asia Center, Carolina Center for the Study of the Middle East and Muslim Civilizations,
African Studies Center, Center for European Studies, Center for Slavic, Eurasian and East
European Studies, and Institute for the Study of the Americas
February 20, 2018 Public Talk: “Visual Qur’an: A Conversation with Sandow Birk”
Time 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Location Perkins Library Room 217
Duke University
Categories Presentation
Description
At a time when the United States was involved in two wars against Islamic nations and declared
itself to be in a cultural and philosophical struggle against Islamic extremists, American artist
Sandow Birk’s latest project considers the Qur’an as it was intended – as a universal message to
humankind. If the Qur’an is indeed a divine message to all peoples, he ponders, what does it
mean to an individual American in the 21st Century? How does the message of the Qur’an relate
to us, as Americans, in this life, in this time? What is this message that we have spent so much
blood and treasure fighting against, and how can the message of the Qur’an be applied to a
contemporary American life? In short, what might the Qur’an mean to contemporary
Americans?
Sponsors Duke Islamic Studies Center, and Duke University Middle East Studies Center
February 21, 2018 Wednesdays at the Center: American Qur’an with Sandow Birk
Time 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
Location John Hope Franklin Center, Ahmadieh Family Conference Hall, Rm 240
Duke University
Categories Presentation
Description
This presentation will outline Birk’s project of hand-transcribing the entire Qur’an according to
historic Islamic traditions and illuminating the text with relevant scenes from American life. Nine
years in the making, the project was inspired by a decade of extended travel in Islamic regions of
the world.
Sponsors John Hope Franklin Center, and the Duke Islamic Studies Center
February 21, 2018 Film Screening and Panel: The Other Side of Hope
Time 5:30 pm - 6:30 pm
Location FedEx Global Education Center, Auditorium
UNC Chapel Hill
Categories Film screening
Description
Released in 2017, The Other Side of Hope depicts the fictional story of a traveling salesman’s
friendship with a recently arrived Syrian asylum seeker. The panel will include Professor Banu
Gökarıksel (Geography), Professor Priscilla Layne (Germanic and Slavic Languages and
Literatures), and Dr. Niklaus Steiner (Director, Center for Global Initiatives). Professor John
Stephens (Political Science and Director, Center for European Studies) will moderate the
conversation.
Sponsors
Carolina Asia Center, Carolina Center for the Study of the Middle East and Muslim Civilizations,
African Studies Center, Center for European Studies, Center for Slavic, Eurasian and East
European Studies, and Institute for the Study of the Americas
February 22, 2018Public Talk: “Muslim Cosmopolitanism: Shattering Myths about Islam in South East Asia” by
Dr. Khairudin Aljunied (Georgetown University)
Time 4:30 pm - 5:30 pm
Location Perkins Library Room 217
Duke University
Categories Lecture
Description
This talk seeks to deconstruct present-day images and stereotypes embedded in the works of
“media pundits” and “terrorist experts” that Muslims in Southeast Asia are prone to conflict and
violence. Based on my recent book Muslim Cosmopolitanism: Southeast Asian Islam in
Comparative Perspective (2017), I will show that cosmopolitan ideals and pluralist tendencies
have been employed creatively and adapted carefully by Muslim and non-Muslim individuals,
societies and institutions in Southeast Asia to produce the necessary contexts for mutual
tolerance and shared respect between and within different groups in society.
Sponsors Duke Islamic Studies Center
February 22, 2018 Documentary Screening: Budrus
Time 5:00 pm - 6:30 pm
Location Union Room 3411
UNC Chapel Hill
Categories Film screening
Description
Join OneVoice UNC, Feminist Students United (FSU), and Carolina Advocates for Gender Equity
(CAGE) as we screen Budrus , an award-winning feature documentary film about Palestinian
community organizer, Ayed Morrar, who unites Palestinian political factions and invites Israeli
supporters to join them in an unarmed movement to save his village from destruction by the
separation barrier.
SponsorsOneVoice UNC, Feminist Students United (FSU), and Carolina Advocates for Gender Equity
(CAGE)
February 22, 2018 Cultural Event: Arabic Calligraphy Workshop
Time 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Location New West 219
UNC Chapel Hill
Categories Cultural event
Description
The UNC Arabic Program is pleased to announce an amazing Workshop about Arabic Calligraphy,
with usthath Lahcen Omar. Students will learn about the different calligraphy styles and have an
opportunity to practice. The workshop is open to students from all Arabic sections as well as
others who are interested in this subject.
Sponsors UNC Arabic Program
February 23, 2018 Public Talk: “Situating Cosmopolitanism” with Amy Mills, University of South Carolina
Time 10:30 am - 12:00 pm
Location East Duke, 204D
Duke University
Categories Lecture
Description
Since the turn of the millennium, rapid globalization has generated debates about whether a
universal “cosmopolitan ethic” is possible, compelling us to examine the extent to which
globalized relations are conditioned by locality. Yet, cosmopolitanist debates originate in the
Global North, and the concept of cosmopolitanism itself does not travel across contexts without
friction. This talk situates local understandings of “cosmopolitanism” in Istanbul, a city whose
geographic location, and Byzantine and Ottoman imperial histories, ground common
imaginations of the city as a multicultural bridge between the East and West. It demonstrates
how the act of situating cosmopolitanism demands we shift the framing of cosmopolitanist
theory.
SponsorsDuke International Comparative Studies and the Duke University Middle East Studies Center
February 24, 2018 Hip-hop and Peacebuilding in the Middle East: A Workshop for Educators
Time
Location FedEx Global Education Center, room 1009
UNC Chapel Hill
Categories Workshop
Description
K-12 teachers are invited to join the Duke UNC Consortium for Middle East Studies and Carolina
K-12 on February 24 at UNC Chapel Hill to explore poetry, hip-hop, and peacebuilding in the
Middle East. During this creative one-day workshop, teachers will deepen understanding of a
complex and diverse region by exploring history, geography, religion, and more. Teachers will
participate in an interactive performance/lecture with world-renowned hip-hop artist Omar
Offendum to learn about major sociopolitical shifts in Syria and uprisings in the Middle East.
Teachers will then explore how music and the arts can be an avenue to engage students in cross-
cultural learning with Pierce Freelon, Durham-based professor, musician and social
entrepreneur. Teachers will also learn about resources offered by Carolina K-12 and the Duke-
UNC Consortium for Middle East Studies related to these themes and more. The workshop will
end with teachers attending a performance by Omar Offendum at UNC Chapel Hill. His poetry
and music build on American hip-hop and compel diverse audiences to consider issues of
identity, belonging, and diaspora.
Sponsors Duke UNC Consortium for Middle East Studies and Carolina K-12
February 24, 2018 Global Spotlight Week: Omar Offendum in Concert
Time 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Location The Sonja Haynes Stone Center for Black Culture and History
UNC Chapel Hill
Categories Concert
Description
Omar Offendum is a Los Angeles-based Syrian-American hip-hop artist, activist and architect. His
music and poetry, which he performs in both Arabic and English, are infused with historical,
geographical and religious references and intermixed with personal accounts of faith, politics,
and growing up in Washington, D.C. Omar Offendum’s focus on Syria and uprisings in the Middle
East expose American audiences to a little-understood region. His poetry and music build on
American Hip-Hop and compel diverse audiences to consider issues of identity, belonging, and
diaspora. Offendum will perform a concert at the Sonja Haynes Stone Center for Black Culture
and History theater on February 24, 2018 with special guests Pierce Freelon, Naji Hilal (oud) &
Mahmoud Alqhumri (tabla) and UNC Cypher.
Sponsors
Arts Everywhere, Carolina Center for the Study of the Middle East and Muslim Civilizations,
Carolina Summer Reading Program, College of Arts & Sciences, Curriculum in Religious Studies,
Duke-UNC Consortium for Middle East Studies, First Year Seminars Program, Institute for the
Arts and Humanities, Sonja Haynes Stone Center for Black Culture and History, UNC Center for
Global Initiatives, with support from the Chancellor’s Global Education Fund.
February 26, 2018 International Legal Conference: Emergency Legal Cultures and Imperial Legacies
Time 10:30 am - 3:00 pm
Location Kenan Institute for Ethics
Duke University
Categories Conference
Description
In recent years, “The State of Emergency” as a philosophical, critical and meta-legal concept, has
received much attention, particularly through the work of Giorgio Agamben and a revived
interest in the German jurist Carl Schmitt. In turn, legal scholars have turned their attention to
emergency legislation as a concrete legal practice, particularly in Imperial and post-Imperial
contexts. They have often neglected, however, to interrogate the impact of emergency
legislation over cultural production. At the same time, cultural critics examining the notion of
emergency have paid too little attention to the particular legal structures that interpreted and
embodied the state of emergency. This conference brings together legal and literary scholars to
discuss the practice of emergency legislation, its particular form, and ways to think of cultural
production in this context. The five speakers will address the linkages between emergency
legislation in the British Empire and its offshoot nation states, focusing on Israel/Palestine and
India/Pakistan.
Sponsors
Duke Center for Jewish Studies, Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, Franklin Humanities Institute,
Duke Human Rights Center at the Kenan Institute for Ethics, Duke University Middle East Studies
Center (DUMESC), Duke India Initiative, The Global South After 2010: Epistemologies of
Militarization
February 26, 2018 Public Talk: “Following the Prophet’s footsteps: The creation of a holy land” by Dr. Harry Munt
Time 12:30 pm - 1:30 pm
Location Breedlove Conference Room – Rubenstein Library Room 349
Duke University
Categories Lecture
Description
The Hijaz in modern Saudi Arabia is today widely recognized as the home of the two holiest
cities in the Islamic world, Mecca and Medina, which are a destination for pilgrims from across
the globe. This paper will discuss the emergence of this region as the Islamic world’s holy land,
with particular discussion of the case of Medina during the early Islamic centuries. It will show
that Medina’s emergence as a holy city alongside Mecca and the development of many of the
doctrines associated with its sanctity were the result of gradual and contested processes which
were closely linked to questions of political and religious authority in the early Islamic world.
Sponsors Duke Islamic Studies Center
February 26, 2018Lecture: “Achaemenids, Royal Power and Persian Ethnicity” with Dr. Jennifer Gates-Foster
(UNC-Chapel Hill)
Time 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm
Location FedEx Global Education Center, room 1005
UNC Chapel Hill
Categories Lecture
Description
This lecture explores the way that the Achaemenid concept of cosmic, kingly rule engaged with
the ethnic and cultural identity of the diverse peoples subject to their imperial control. These
ideas worked at both the metaphorical and practical level, as the imperial administration was
faced with the task of governing an almost infinitely varied landscape in its far-reaching
satrapies. Using examples from Persepolis and the Achaemenid heartland, as well as from the
provinces, this lecture considers the diversity of peoples subject to the Great King, while
analyzing the response of local elites to these ideas of universal rule.
SponsorsUNC Persian Studies and the Carolina Center for the Study of the Middle East and Muslim
Civilizations
February 27, 2018 Discussion with Alsarah: The New Princess of Nubian Pop and Sudanese Retro
Time 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Location Rhodes Conference Room, Sanford 223
Duke University
Categories Lecture
Description
Please join us for a lecture by Alsarah, Artist-in-Residence at Duke University, as she discusses
her approach to crafting lyrics and relationship to the Arabic language, as well as more general
musical and cultural issues, followed by a Q & A session. Alsarah is a singer, songwriter,
bandleader and a somewhat reluctant ethnomusicologist. Born in Khartoum, Sudan, she
relocated to Yemen with her family before abruptly moving to the USA, finally feeling most at
home in Brooklyn, NY where she has been residing since 2004. She is a self-proclaimed
practitioner of East-African Retro-Pop music. Working on various projects, she has toured both
nationally and internationally.
SponsorsDuke Islamic Studies Center, the Duke University Middle East Studies Center, Duke Asian and
Middle Eastern Studies, and the Duke Africa Initiative
February 28, 2018 Public Conversation: Alsarah & Saba Taj at Beyù Caffè
Time 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm
Location Beyu Caffe
341 W Main St, Durham, North Carolina 27701
Categories Lecture
Description
In this evening talk at Beyù Caffè in downtown Durham, Sudanese-born singer Alsarah discusses
her artistic process and journey, which began as a double refugee — first from conflict in Sudan,
then from civil war in neighboring Yemen. Moderated by Durham-based artist and activist Saba
Taj.
Sponsors
Duke Islamic Studies Center, the Duke University Middle East Studies Center, the Duke Africa
Initiative, the Forum for Scholars and Publics at Duke University, and Be Connected, hosted by
Beyù Caffè
March 1, 2018 Panel Discussion: Global Political Perspectives: Crash Course on Egyptian Politics
Time 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm
Location Sanford 223, Rhodes Conference Room
Duke University
Categories Panel / Presentation
Description
You may know about U.S. politics, what about the rest of the world? Have a slice of pizza and
launch into international political discussion with “Global Political Perspectives: A Crash Course
on Egyptian Politics and Their Upcoming Election,” a panel discussion moderated by Dr.
Giovanni Zanalda, Director of Duke’s Center for International & Global Studies.
SponsorsCenter for International and Global Studies, the Duke Middle East Studies Center, and the Duke
University International House (iHouse)
March 1, 2018Public Talk: “Right to Representation: Consent, Distrust and Leadership in our Current Political
Climate” with Dr. Alaa Murabit
Time 5:00 pm - 6:30 pm
Location Perkins Library Room 217
Duke University
Categories Lecture
Description
The Duke Islamic Studies Center, along with the Duke Human Rights Center at the Kenan
Institute for Ethics, will host its keynote event on March 1st, as part of the “American Muslims,
Civil and Human Rights” series, which examines the current human rights crisis for Muslims in
the U.S.
SponsorsDuke Islamic Studies Center, along with the Duke Human Rights Center at the Kenan Institute for
Ethics
March 1, 2018 Concert: Alsarah and the Nubatones
Time 5:00 pm - 6:30 pm
Location Motorco Music Hall
Durham
Categories Concert
Description
Alsarah’s circuitous journey toward stardom began as a double refugee — first from conflict in
her native Sudan, then from civil war in neighboring Yemen. After arriving in New York in the
mid-1990s, Alsarah turned to music as a living link to her homeland, both as an
ethnomusicologist and as a singer with a velvety voice and socially conscious lyrics. Alongside
percussionist Rami El-Aasser, bassist Mawuena Kodjovi, oud player Brandon Terzic, and
background vocalist Nahid, Alsarah has given the traditional music of Sudan a contemporary
pulse and finish. She is a new breed of pop star, countering the turmoil of troubled times with
her effervescent music.
SponsorsDuke Islamic Studies Center, the Duke University Middle East Studies Center & the Duke Africa
Initiative
March 1, 2018Public Talk: “On Orientalist Genealogies: The Split Arab/Jew Figure Revisited” by Ella Shohat,
NYU
Time 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Location Friday Center
UNC Chapel Hill
Categories Lecture
Description
This lecture will offer a genealogical reading of the gradual splitting of the once-linked Semitic
figure into “Arab” and “Jew” and its ramifications for contemporary discourses about Jews and
Muslims. Examining the shifting Orientalist imaginary in the wake of the Enlightenment and
colonialism, the lecture traces contemporary assumptions about a longstanding Arab / Jewish
divide — and the ambiguous position of the Arab-Jew within it — back to crucial shifts in 19th
century representation, thus providing an historical lens which can help illuminate
contemporary postcolonial tensions.
Sponsors Carolina Center for Jewish Studies
March 2, 2018Public Lecture by Visiting Scholar Dr. Geetanjali Joshi, “Bauls, Bhakti, Beats and Bob: Tracing
the Indian Oral tradition in the poetry and songs of Ginsberg and Dylan”
Time 3:30 pm - 5:00 pm
Location Room 1005, FedEx Global Education Center
UNC Chapel Hill
Categories Lecture
Description
Dr. Geetanjali Joshi is from Lucknow, India and is currently a Fulbright Fellow at Portland State
University in Oregon. His presentation, “Bauls, Bhakti, Beats and Bob: Tracing the Indian Oral
tradition in the poetry and songs of Ginsberg and Dylan” will address a group of mystic singers.
Bauls constitute both a syncretic religious sect and a musical tradition.
SponsorsSouth Asia Faculty Working Group, the Carolina Asia Center, and the Center for Global
Initiatives, as well as the South Asia Section of the Department of Asian Studies
March 3, 2018 Islamic Association of Raleigh Annual Open House
Time 11:00 am - 3:00 pm
Location 808 Atwater Street, Raleigh, NC 27607
Islamic Association of Raleigh
Categories Cultural event
Description
The Islamic Association of Raleigh (IAR) is hosting its annual Open House event Saturday March
3rd from 11 am to 3 pm, featuring American Islamic Heritage, lunch, guest appearance by Sean
Maroney (Evening Anchor WNCN) and Q&A with Imam AbuTaleb. Come learn about Islam,
Muslims’ contributions, and sample culinary treats from around the world.
Sponsors Islamic Association of Raleigh
March 3, 2018 Cultural Event: Celebration of the Persian New Year (Nowruz)
Time 4:00 pm - 8:30 pm
Location Divinity School, Goodson Chapel
Duke University
Categories Cultural event
Description
The program will begin with a social from 4:00-4:30pm. At 4:30pm, Dr. Amir Rezvani will provide
an introduction and welcoming remarks, followed by live Persian music, poetry, and dance
performances from 4:45-8:30pm. Please note that doors will be closed upon the start of the
program; please be on time.
Sponsors Persian Art Center in Carolina & Persian Students Association at Duke University
March 6, 2018Conference: 2018 RTI-UNC Peace War and Defense Conference: Academia, Non-Governmental
Organization, and Military Perspectives on Countering Violent Extremism
Time 9:00 am - 1:00 pm
Location Student Union Room 3408
UNC Chapel Hill
Categories Conference
Description
This conference will showcase work done by academia, a non-governmental organization, and
the military to Counter Violent Extremism (CVE). Each sector offers different capabilities and
unique perspectives, experiences, and ideas that will not only be mutually educational, but may
also generate opportunities for future collaboration and cooperation. The target audience for
this event is RTI employees, UNC students, and military personnel who want to learn about
current research, ongoing development initiatives, and military lessons learned in the CVE
space. This conference will consist of two distinct panels on two important Countering Violent
Extremism (CVE) topics.
Sponsors RTI International and UNC Peace, War and Defense.
March 7, 2018Roundtable Discussion: ‘Clickbait with Footnotes’: Decolonizing the Academy and the
Commodification of Scholarships
Time 5:00 pm - 6:30 pm
Location Ahmadieh Family Conference Room, West Duke 101
Duke University
Categories Presentation
Description
This roundtable will discuss the perverse incentives of ‘impact’ in academia; the ethics of
authorship, board membership and publication; and practicing freedom of speech in our
contemporary political climate. We will draw from the example of a recent publication by the
journal Third World Quarterly of a ‘Viewpoint’ in September 2017 arguing for the merits of
colonialism. This piece follows in the footsteps of several Western intellectuals who have tried
to reopen debates over the balance sheet of colonialism’s impact. In the context of Trumpism
and vocal white supremacy in the US and increasing xenophobia in Europe and parts of Africa,
this now deeply controversial essay led to considerable outcry, including nearly half of the
Editorial Board of the journal resigning in protest.
Sponsors
March 7, 2018Public Talk: AAHVS Visiting Artist Talk with Saba Taj: “Hybridities, the Evil Eye, and the
Apocalypse”
Time 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm
Location Smith Warehouse – Bay 9, Room A290
Duke University
Categories Presentation
Description
The Art, Art History and Visual Studies Visiting Artist Series welcomes Durham based artist Saba
Taj, who will be giving a lecture titled “Hybridities, the Evil Eye, and the Apocalypse” on
Wednesday, March 7th at 6:30pm in classroom A290 on the second floor of Smith Warehouse.
Free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be served.
Sponsors Art, Art History & Visual Studies at Duke
March 8, 2018Public Talk: “Modernizing in early modern times: Women and innovation among the
Ottomans” with Prof Leslie Peirce (NYU)
Time 5:00 pm - 6:30 pm
Location Pink Parlor – East Duke Campus
Duke University
Categories Presentation
Description
In the six centuries of their rule, the Ottomans arguably never viewed “progress” as a
desideratum. American readers apparently do, however, for I was urged to demonstrate in a
recently published book that its subject—Hurrem, the concubine and then queen of the sultan
Suleyman I “the magnificent”—was a notable modernizer. The lecture reflects briefly on how
Ottomans of the 16th and 17th centuries thought about change. It then focuses on the ways in
which women were drafted into making change and at the same time established new channels
of influence. This event is open to the public.
Sponsors Duke Department of History and the Program in Gender, Sexuality and Feminist Studies
March 9, 2018 Lecture: “Nezami and his Five Treasures” with Maryam Tabibzadeh
Time 6:30 pm - 7:30 pm
Location Center for Multicultural Affairs
Duke University
Categories Book discussion
Description
Maryam Tabibzadeh will give a lecture on her new book, a translation of beautiful Epic verses
written by Nezami, a famous Persian poet in the 12th century, based on a true love story.
Tabibzadeh will also sign her new book at this event.
SponsorsIranian Cultural Society of North Carolina and the Graduate Student Association of Iranians at
Duke University.
March 11, 2018 Literary Forum: Urdu Majlis
Time 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Location Room 219, New West, 175 E. Cameron Ave
UNC Chapel Hill
Categories Presentation
Description
The next monthly meeting of Urdu Majlis, the Triangle’s Literary Forum. This Urdu Majlis will
concentrate on the life and works of Asghar Gondvi (1884-1936). Participants are invited to
bring refreshments to share.
Sponsors Carolina Asia Center and the South Asia Section of the UNC Dept. of Asian Studies
March 16, 2018 Poetry Festival: Mushaira (Urdu-Hindi Poetry Symposium)
Time 7:30 pm - 8:30 pm
Location McKimmon Center
1101 Gorman St, Raleigh 27606
Categories Cultural event
Description
This festival features some of the leading poets of India and Pakistan, and proceeds benefit
education for orphans in Pakistan. Dr. Altaf Husain, Executive Assistant for Academic Affairs in
the Office of the Provost at Howard University will provide remarks. Mushaira Program poets
include: Waseem Barelvi, Iqbal Ashar, Nausha Asrar.
Sponsors
March 17, 2018 Documentary Screening: Istanbul Notes
Time 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm
Location The Cary Theater
122 E. Chatham St., Cary, NC 27511
Categories Film screening
Description
‘Istanbul Makami’ is a cinematographic improvisation with 5 musicians from abroad who fall in
love with the Maqam Music and decide to live in Turkey believing that music might best be
learned in the lands it was born and performed. Each has different stories but the desire to find
their own path despite modern times’ obligations intersects their roads. Constructing three
layers -music, Istanbul and combination of both in the filmic platform- the film is a modern
times fairytale in praise of Istanbul and its classical music; a film about obstinacy, desire, looking
for one’s own raison d’etre, travelling, being a world citizen and the power of music to
understand the other and express oneself in the pursuit of intertwining stories following
passion. It tells unique stories about the common dreams we are afraid to approach, and thus,
tries to give inspiration to us to free ourselves. Leaving home and making music around the
world. From Montreal, Sofia, New York, Salives and Palermo, five stories hit the road, travel the
world and meet in İstanbul, by Istanbul Notes. The film is in Turkish with English subtitles.
Sponsors American Turkish Association of North Carolina
March 18, 2018 Forum by the US India Policy Institute: Muslims in India
Time 1:30 pm - 2:30 pm
Location 1076 W Chatham St, Cary, NC 27513
Cary Mosque
Categories Presentation
DescriptionUS INDIA POLICY INSTITUTE (USIPI) presents a special forum and presentation on the situation of
Muslims in India.
Sponsors US India Policy Institute
March 18, 2018 Concert: Sima Bina Live in Raleigh
Time 6:30 pm - 9:30 pm
Location Stewart Theater, Talley Center
NC State University
Categories Concert
Description
Last November, a devastating earthquake with a magnitude 7.3 on the Richter scale struck the
mountainous regions of Western Iran in Kermanshah and Kurdistan provinces. More than 800
people died and another 8000 were injured. The earthquake left about 70,000 people homeless,
destroying approximately 12,000 homes and damaging another 15,000. The Iranian government
announced that the disaster has caused at least $5 billion of damage. Most of casualties are
from the rural villages of western Kermanshah Province and the town of Sarpol-e-Zahab. People
are in desperate need for all basic items as well as medicine. All benefits of this concert will be
used to help the victims of the earthquake.
SponsorsIranian Cultural Society of NC (ICSNC), Graduate Student Association of Iranians at Duke
University (GSAID), Iranian Student Association at NCSU, Persian Studies Program at UNC Chapel
Hill, Duke Islamic Studies Center, and the Persian Cultural Society at UNC Chapel Hill
March 19, 2018Ancient Magic in a New Key: Refining an Exotic Discipline in the History of Religions” by David
Frankfurter
Time 3:30 pm - 5:30 pm
Location FedEx Global Education Center, Room 3009
UNC Chapel Hill
Categories Seminar
Description
This lecture reconsiders the ways that "magic" has been embraced and treated in the study of
Early Christianity, and subsequently advocates both a more rigorous approach to indigenous
evaluations ambiguous ritual and a more confident "etic" or descriptive use of the category of
magic. Dr. David Frankfurter is William Goodwin Aurelio Chair of the Appreciation of Scripture,
Boston University.
SponsorsUNC Department of Classics, Center for Late Ancient Studies, Duke Department of Classical
Studies, Duke Department of Religious Studies, Carolina Center for the Study of the Middle East
and Muslim Civilizations, Duke-UNC Consortium for Middle East Studies
March 19, 2018Public Talk: Training the Imam: Locating American Sites of Religious Authority with Nancy
Khalil
Time 1:30 pm - 3:00 pm
Location 225 Friedl Building
Duke University
Categories Presentation
Description
Owing to a common absence of a central religious body to authorize religious clerics, combined
with the U.S. secular conception of separation of church and state, Muslim authority in the
United States contends with a regulatory vacuum. The concept of clergy that drives much of
how religion encounters our bureaucratic structures in the U.S. liberal-secular context does not
sufficiently transpose in the context of Muslim religious authority and service. In this talk, I offer
an introduction to Islamic higher education for religious-leader training in the United States and
argue that the institutionalization of Islamic seminaries can begin to fill the regulatory void in
the imam profession. Such institutionalization and professionalization, however, can both
simultaneously preserve and conflict with articulated objectives to sanctify traditional values of
Islamic learning when bureaucracy emerges as a formative component of religion. Nancy A.
Khalil is currently a post-doctoral fellow at Yale University’s Center for the Study of Race,
Indigeneity and Transnational Migration.
Sponsors Cultural Anthropology at Duke
March 19, 2018Public Talk: “When Clerics Become Kings: A Twenty-first-century Mahdi and the Anatomy of a
Messianic Movement” with Serkan Yolaçan, National University of Singapore
Time 3:30 pm - 5:00 pm
Location East Duke 204A
Duke University
Categories Presentation
Description
Yolaçan’s talk addresses the relationship between religious authority and political sovereignty. It
offers a conceptual model for analyzing how transnational religious movements transform
states, take over them, or produce new ones. By juxtaposing a wide range of cases from past
and present, it identifies a recurring historical pattern of a messianic kind. He conceptualizes this
form of sovereignty as diasporic kingship, in which saints act like kings although they don’t
possess a state of their own. He uses this broad messianic lens to analyze Turkey’s Gülen
community to argue that Gülen’s messianic endeavor – and failure – to transform a religious
diaspora into a state played a central role in Turkey’s cultural, political, and economic
transformations since the Cold War’s end. Serkan Yolaçan is a research fellow at the National
University of Singapore’s’ Middle East Studies Institute.
Sponsors Duke International Comparative Studies
March 20-21, 2018UNC World View Seminar for K-12 and Community College Educators: “Building Stronger
Bridges: Cultural Respect and Equity in the Classroom”
Time N/A
Location The Friday Conference Center
UNC Chapel Hill
Categories Seminar
Description
How can North Carolina educators build stronger bridges in their classrooms and communities
to support diverse populations of learners? Through plenary talks and small group breakout
sessions, K-12 and community college educators at World View’s spring seminar will explore
issues of cultural respect and equity, learning what barriers need to be removed and what
strategies can be implemented to recognize the potential for all learners. Participants will have
the opportunity to consider their backgrounds, how their individual experiences have forged
their beliefs and how these beliefs transpire into their everyday world, specifically the classroom
or learning environment. The program will include a session on “Faith Practices in Schools with a
Spotlight on Muslims and Islam.”
Sponsors
UNC World View, Carolina Center for the Study of the Middle East and Muslim Civilizations,
Carolina Asia Center, African Studies Center, Institute for the Study of the Americas, Center for
European Studies, CEESS
March 21, 2018Wednesdays at the Center: “Everyday Conversations: Islam, Domestic Work and South Asian
Migrant Women in Kuwait”
Time 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
Location John Hope Franklin Center, Ahmadieh Family Conference Hall, room 240
Duke University
Categories Presentation
Description
Dr. Attiya Ahmad is an Associate Professor of Anthropology and International Affairs at The
George Washington University. Broadly conceived, her research focuses on the gendered
interrelation of Islamic reform movements and political economic processes spanning the
Middle East and South Asia, in particular, the greater Arabian Peninsula/Persian Gulf and Indian
Ocean regions. Dr. Ahmad is a Ph.D. from Duke University and recently published her first book,
“Everyday Conversions: Islam, Domestic Work and South Asian Migrant Women in Kuwait”
(Duke University Press, 2017). Dr. Ahmad is currently examining the development of global halal
tourism networks.
Sponsors John Hope Franklin Center and the Duke University Middle East Studies Center
March 22, 2018 Discussion: “Why is the Holy Land Holy?”
Time 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm
Location Garner 105
UNC Chapel Hill
Categories Presentation
Description
Join OneVoice on Campus for a panel discussion dealing with the importance of Jerusalem to the
different Abrahamic religions. Background on Jerusalem historical and modern context will be
provided, followed by a conversation between faith leaders from the Christian, Muslim, and
Jewish communities in the area to discuss Jerusalem in regards to their own faith communities.
Featuring Faisal Khan, Rabbi Melissa B. Simon, Pastor Jay Thomas, and moderated by Madison
Perry.
Sponsors OneVoice Campus
March 23-25, 2018 Censored Women’s Film Festival
Time March 23, 2018 | 4:00 pm - March 25, 2018 | 3:30 pm
Location Theater Room, Rubenstein Arts Center
Duke University
Categories Film Festival
Description
The Censored Women’s Film Festival is an annual, not-for-profit, traveling film festival and
summit organized to raise consciousness and women’s rights issues through film and dialogue.
Issues of women’s rights and gender equality are too often silenced and kept from mainstream
cinema and discourse. The Censored Women’s Film Festival provides a space for filmmakers,
activists, practitioners and students to use films as a lens through which to discuss the fight for
women’s rights all over the world. Priority is given to films with a special emphasis on topics that
have been censored or stifled, particularly as they relate to cultural and/or religious taboos. The
Censored Women’s Film Festival seeks to amplify the stories that most need telling. Several of
the films in the festival are by filmmakers from the Middle East including Iran, Pakistan, Egypt,
and Afghanistan.
Sponsors Duke University Honor Council
March 25, 2018 Cultural Event: Nowruz
Time 5:30 pm - 9:30 pm
Location Great Hall, UNC Student Union
UNC Chapel Hill
Categories Cultural event
Description
Please join the UNC Persian Cultural Society in celebrating Nowruz, Persian New Year 1397! The
event will take place on Sunday, March 25th from 5:30-9:30 P.M. in the Great Hall of the UNC
Student Union. Enjoy a diverse program of performances, a delicious Iranian dinner, and dancing
at the end of the night. There will be a DJ! Come support our performers and engage in our
vibrant, long-lasting traditions!
Sponsors UNC Persian Cultural Society
March 25, 2018 Reception: Visiting delegation from Makassed Philanthropic Islamic Association of Beirut
Time 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Location Hunt Library, Duke Energy Hall A&B
NC State University
Categories Reception
Description
The Khayrallah Center is pleased to host a visiting delegation from Makassed Philanthropic
Islamic Association of Beirut, the oldest NGO in Lebanon and the Middle East. Among the
delegates are: Mr. Amine Daouk (President of Makassed Association), MrFaysal Sinno (Vice
President), Minister Mohamed Machnouk.
Sponsors Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
March 26, 2018“Férydoun Rahnéma’s Inappropriable Specters: Critique of Self-Identity and the Emergence of
Iranian New Wave Cinema” – A paper by Maziyar Faridi
Time 3:30 pm - 5:00 pm
Location Room 504, Wilson Library
UNC Chapel Hill
Categories Presentation
Description
Maziyar Faridi presents his award-winning paper, “Férydoun Rahnéma’s Inappropriable
Specters: Critique of Self-Identity and the Emergence of Iranian New Wave Cinema.” Faridi is the
winner of the inaugural Ferdowsi Tusi Award, presented by the University Libraries and the
Persian Studies program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Faridi’s scholarly
paper examines national identity and history in the cinema of Férydoun Rahnéma (1930-1975),
who played a foundational role in the emergence of Iranian New Wave cinema and New Wave
Persian poetry [Mowj-e No] in the 1960s and 1970s. Maziyar Faridi is a doctoral candidate in
comparative literary studies at Northwestern University. He received his B.A. in English and M.A.
in translation studies and English from Ferdowsi University of Mashhad in Iran.
Sponsors University Libraries and the Persian Studies program
March 26, 2018 Re-membering Torture: A Conversation with Shahla Talebi and Diana Coleman
Time 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Location FHI Conference Room C107
Duke University
Categories Workshop
Description
In this workshop, we will be discussing the work of Darius Rejali (“Torture and Democracy”) as
well as some of the testimony culled from the North Carolina Commission of Inquiry on Torture
(NCCIT). Professor Talebi, herself a former detainee under two separate regimes in Iran, will be
discussing some of her writings, and her student, Diana Coleman, will discuss her work on
Guantanamo.
Sponsors D-SIGN working group on the Global South at Duke University
March 27, 2018Lecture: “The Makassed Schools Experience Teaching Science and Mathematics in the Native
Arabic Language” by Minister Mohamed Al-Machnouk
Time 12:00 pm - 1:30 pm
Location Peabody 02
UNC Chapel Hill
Categories Lecture
Description
In several nations around the world, debates rage on whether school science and mathematics
ought to be taught in native tongues versus English or some other ‘dominant, global’ language.
Passionate arguments have been advanced to articulate the benefits and burdens for student
learning and outcomes as a result of using one approach or the other. In Lebanon, native Arabic
speaking children mostly learn science and mathematics in English or French starting in the
primary grades. In this talk, Minister Mohamed Al-Machnouk, will share the experience of using
Arabic to teach school science and mathematics across the Makassed Philanthropic Islamic
Association’s network of schools in Lebanon. Al-Machnouk will provide a historical overview of
this ‘experiment,’ discuss the resulting student outcomes, and explicate the circumstances and
reasoning that shaped the eventual end of this incredibly interesting case study.
Sponsors UNC School of Education
March 29, 2018Public Talk: “Constitutionalizing the Muslim State: Issues, Agreements, and Disagreements” –
Professor Malika Zeghal, Harvard University
Time 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
Location Carpenter Conference Room – 249 Rubenstein Library
Duke University
Categories Presentation
Description
This talk will deal with how Constitutions have most often affirmed the Muslim character of the
state in the modern Middle East (19th-21st c). Professor Zeghal will more particularly focus on
modern Tunisia and on the 2012-2014 constitutional episode. In drafting their constitution
between 2012 and 2014, Tunisians debated how they could continue to have a state “whose
religion is Islam” while shaping a democracy for the first time in their history. Malika Zeghal
examines how they constitutionalized these two imperatives without introducing sharia law in
the 2014 Constitution. She details the terms of the constitutional debates about religion and
explains how they shaped the political cleavages in post-Ben Ali Tunisia. These debates revealed
the notable absence of secularists and a broad agreement on the imperative of a Muslim state
—whose meaning was nonetheless an object of strong disagreements. This should interest in
particular scholars in political science, religion, Islamic studies, constitutional law, and Middle
Eastern Studies. A light lunch will be provided.
SponsorsDuke Graduate Program in Religion, Duke ICS, Duke AMES, Duke Department of Religious
Studies, Duke Cultural Anthropology, and Sanford School of Public Policy
March 31, 2018 Cultural Event: Turkish Music & Dance Night
Time 6:00 pm - 11:30 pm
Location Talley Student Union, BR- Mountains Ballroom
NC State University
Categories Cultural event
Description
Turkish Student Association at NC State organized “Turkish Music and Dance Night”, with live
music bands, belly dancers, a dance group, DJ, authentic dinner, refreshments, competitions,
and raffles.
Sponsors NC State University Turkish Student Association
April 2, 2018Public Talk: “From Palestine to America: A Militarization of Police” with Eran Efrati and Maya
Wind
Time 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Location Perkins, room 217
Duke University
Categories Presentation
DescriptionHear from Maya Wind and Eran Efrati on their research as the explain the police exchange
between Durham Police and the Israeli Army/Police.
SponsorsStudent Organization Finance Committee, Amnesty International, and Students for Justice in
Palestine
April 2, 2018Lecture: “A Picture of Health: Visualizing Care in Late Ottoman Istanbul” with Zeynep Devrim
Gürsel
Time 5:30 pm - 6:30 pm
Location 310 Trent Drive, Basement 037A
Duke University
Categories Lecture
Description
Professor Gürsel examines formal portraits of late 19th century female patients of the Haseki
Women’s Hospital from Ottoman Sultan Abdülhamit’s palace archive to ask how this album
requires us to rethink agency in photography as well as the traditional differences between
medical and political imaging technologies. In this thoughtful dive into an unusual archive,
Gürsel makes us confront how care is visualized and to what political end.
SponsorsInternational Comparative Studies, Duke University Middle East Studies Center, Health
Humanities Lab, and Duke Cultural Anthropology
April 2, 2018 Discussion: “The American Muslim Identity: Patriot or Insurgent” with Zuhdi Jasser
Time 6:30 pm - 7:30 pm
Location Gross Hall 103
Duke University
Categories Presentation
Description
Join Duke College Republicans, the Alexander Hamilton Society, and Young Americans for Liberty
for a moderated conversation and Q&A with Zuhdi Jasser. Dr. Jasser is an American Muslim and
son of Syrian immigrants who fled Ba’athist oppression in 1966. Zuhdi is a physician, a former US
Navy officer, and president of American Islamic Forum for Democracy (AIFD) founded in
2003.His calls for reform inspired his co-founding of the Muslim Reform Movement in 2015.
Zuhdi is a former commissioner and Vice-Chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious
Freedom (USCIRF) appointed by the U.S. Senate serving from 2012-2016. He will discuss the
process of radicalization, the nature of Islamic extremism, and the unique responsibility of
American Muslims. An internationally recognized expert on Islamism, he regularly testifies to
the U.S. Congress on the threat of global Islamism and domestic and foreign counter-ideology
strategy.
SponsorsDuke College Republicans, the Alexander Hamilton Society, and Young Americans for Liberty
April 3, 2018 Public Talk: “Afro-Arab Relationships in the Age of Militant Islam” with Dr. Hamdy Hassan
Time 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Location Carpenter Conference Room – 249 Rubenstein Library
Duke University
Categories Presentation
Description
The goal of this talk is to study the Afro Arab relations within the context of dominant jihadist
narratives and the nature of their appeal in the African space. All these Islamist ideologies are
based on a peculiar Salafi Radicalism that aimed to transform the state and society by methods
of preaching and violence. Therefore, studying and analyzing the principles of the Salafist
discourse as a political project helps us to understand its points strengths and weaknesses. In
addition, we can be better look at the future trends and prospects of afro Arab cooperation.
Sponsors Duke Islamic Studies Center
April 3, 2018 Public Talk: “Palestine is Here” with Eran Efrati and Maya Wind
Time 6:45 pm - 8:00 pm
Location Bingham 103
UNC Chapel Hill
Categories Presentation
Description
Since 2002, US law enforcement have been training with the Israeli military in the context of the
“War on Terror” as Black Lives Matter and other movements seek accountability and an end of
police violence. Join us for a talk with investigative researcher Eran Efrati and feminist activist
Maya Wind for a conversation about how Palestine comes home to Durham.
Sponsors Students for Justice in Palestine
April 4, 2018 Wednesdays at the Center: Virtual Reality in the Arabic Classroom
Time 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
Location Ahmadieh Family Conference Hall – Franklin Center 240
Duke University
Categories Presentation
Description
This panel will describe what 360 video is and how it’s recorded, including some of the cameras
you can use to capture an immersive experience to share a vacation memory or a family event.
You will also learn about a project funded by the Duke Digital Initiative (DDI) and executed with
the support of AMES, CIT and OIT and Duke Engage in Lebanon and Jordan exploring the use of
360 video in teaching and learning Arabic at Duke. 360 video captures scenery and action from
all sides and, in some cases, from above and below, too!
Sponsors John Hope Franklin Center
April 4, 2018 Lecture: “Modernity, Subjectivity and Sexual Violence: Stories From Iran” by Dr. Shahla Talebi
Time 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm
Location FedEx Global Education Center, room 1005
UNC Chapel Hill
Categories Lecture
Description
What is the relationship between our sense of the self and sexual violence that for many
individuals it appears so radically different from other forms of violence? Why do we so often
attribute such significance to sexuality that makes it possible for sexual violence to become
profound means of asserting power for its perpetrators? What is behind the visceral experience
of this kind of violence that the theoretical renditions on power or torture do not seem to
adequately capture? What kind of connection is there between our subjectivity and sexuality
and modernity? This presentation seeks to engage these questions through an ethnographic
reading of various forms of sexual violence in the stories of three former women Iranian political
prisoners.
SponsorsUNC Persian Studies and the Carolina Center for the Study of the Middle East and Muslim
Civilizations
April 4, 2018 Film Screening: Middle East Film Festival: “Omar”
Time 6:30 pm - 9:00 pm
Location D. H. Hill Library, West Wing Auditorium
NC State University
Categories Film screening
Description
“Omar,” a film by Hany Abu-Assad: A tense, gripping thriller about betrayal, suspected and real,
in the Occupied Territories. Omar (Adam Bakri) is a Palestinian baker who routinely climbs over
the separation wall to meet up with his girl Nadja (Leem Lubany). By night, he’s either a freedom
fighter or a terrorist-you decide-ready to risk his life to strike at the Israeli military with his
childhood friends Tarek (Eyad Hourani) and Amjad (Samer Bisharat). Arrested after the killing of
an Israeli soldier and tricked into an admission of guilt by association, he agrees to work as an
informant. So begins a dangerous game-is he playing his Israeli handler (Waleed F. Zuaiter) or
will he really betray his cause? And who can he trust on either side? Palestinian filmmaker Hany
Abu-Assad (Paradise Now) has made a dynamic, action-packed drama about the insoluable
moral dilemmas and tough choices facing those on the frontlines of a conflict that shows no sign
of letting up. (c) Adopt Films
Sponsors Middle East Studies Program at NC State University
April 5-7, 2018 Conference: “Mjaddarah” to “Fatti de Luxe”: Food and Middle Eastern Diasporas
Time N/A
Location 1911 Building Room 129
NC State University
Categories Conference
Description
Middle Eastern cuisines seems to have been suspended outside time in popular imagination and
culture. The reality is quite the opposite. Since the earliest days of Middle Eastern diasporas to
the Americas (1880s-1940s), cuisines that originated in the cities and villages of the Eastern
Mediterranean have undergone spectacular transformations in their evolution both within the
Middle East and beyond: in Argentina, Australia, Canada, Mexico and the U.S. At the same time,
distance, new social and natural ecologies, nostalgia, longing and post-traumatic stress have
reshuffled the role of food in Middle Eastern identity(ies). The social contexts of these cuisines
— in many terms of their significance in memory, oral histories, intergenerational transmission
of cultural identities and tourist promotion — have also shifted or diversified over the decades.
These issues are in ways similar for every refugee and immigrant group, but they are especially
poignant during the centennial anniversary of Middle Eastern diasporas that shaped the
“home”: region and world. Yet the way in which these issues have shaped the experience of
Middle Eastern food has increased to the point of rendering it into a globalized cuisine, and at a
time when concomitant scholarly research is growing around this topic, there is a compelling
need to delve deeper into the meanings and transformations of Middle Eastern food. This
conference seeks to facilitate and advance this emerging conversation in two ways. First, we
seek to unpack the power dynamics embedded in, and generated by, cultural and religious
productions, economic relations and political negotiations centered on discourses about food
and culinary culture. We also aim to investigate the ways that food and associated cultural
expressions have morphed and diversified around Middle Eastern diaspora across time and
space.
SponsorsDr. Akram Khater (North Carolina State University-Khayrallah Center) and Dr. Gary Nabhan
(University of Arizona-Center for Regional Food Studies
April 5-8, 2018 Full Frame Documentary Film Festival
Time
Location Durham, NC
Categories Film festival
Description
Each spring, Full Frame welcomes filmmakers and film lovers from around the world to historic
downtown Durham, North Carolina, for a four-day, morning-to-midnight array of nearly 100
films, as well as discussions, panels, and Southern hospitality. Mideast-related films: Thursday,
April 5
*The Judge: Devoted to the law and unwilling to mince words, Kholoud Al-Faqih is the first
female judge in the family court system of the West Bank, navigating its bureaucracy and
providing a rare glimpse into Islamic courts and gendered justice.
*On Her Shoulders: When ISIS devastates her Yazidi community, survivor Nadia Murad becomes
the predominant voice for her people. Following Murad as she recounts her harrowing
experience time and again, this film intimately details the burden of imploring the world to
intervene.
Friday, April 6
*Rebuilding in Miniature: In this short, miniaturist Ali Alamedy, an Iraqi refugee, painstakingly
creates exquisitely detailed dioramas of places he’s never been in an attempt to heal his
disrupted relationship to home.
*Of Fathers and Sons: With rare and chilling insights, this film takes us into the lives of a Syrian
family, led by an Al-Nusra fighter, where we observe how swiftly the innocence of childhood can
fade.
*The Mauritania Railway: Backbone of the Sahara: In this expansive, gorgeously composed
short, ride atop the railway car that serves as a 704-kilometer-long lifeline that supplies goods
and iron ore to people in different cities in the Sahara Desert. World Premiere
*I Am Bisha (انا بشة ): As an act of pure creative resilience, Ganja and his friends film a humorous
and satirical web series, Bisha TV, starring puppets to combat the violent, genocidal regime of
Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir. World Premiere
*This Is Home: The story of four Syrian families on the path to self-sufficiency, and success, in a
resettlement program in Baltimore, Maryland.
*The Square (Director: Jehane Noujaim): After the 2011 Egyptian revolution in Tahrir Square,
citizens realize that former president Mubarak’s corrupt regime is still in power; they return to
the streets to bring an end to the government, combatting controlled international media
coverage, enduring violence, and navigating fragile relationships.
*Control Room (Director: Jehane Noujaim), Friday, April 6 — 7:40pm, dac: It’s 2003, and the
United States is on the brink of war with Iraq. Control Room follows journalists of the Al Jazeera
satellite channel—broadcasting news to some 40 million Arab viewers—as they try to cut
through American rhetoric and awaken the viewers to the realities on the ground.
Saturday, April 7
*Sky and Ground (Directors: Talya Tibbon, Joshua Bennett), Saturday, April 7 — 10:10am,
cinema 4: Incorporating a refugee family’s own footage, Sky and Ground follows a Syrian-
Kurdish refugee family as they flee from a holding camp at the Greece-Macedonia border and
take their chances at reaching asylum by foot on a perilous one-way trip to Berlin.
*The Deminer (Director: Hogir Hirori; Co-director: Shinwar Kamal), Saturday, April 7 — 4:40pm,
dac: After the fall of Saddam Hussein, Colonel Fakhir of the Iraqi army devotes his life to
disarming landmines, with only a pocket knife and wire cutters, in this deeply suspenseful film
that makes use of Fakhir’s own extensive video footage. North American Premiere
*The Good Struggle (Director: Celia Peterson), Saturday, April 7 — 7:40pm, dac: Although few
words are spoken between themselves, monks at a Greek Orthodox monastery in Lebanon
provide voiceovers to their daily routines—their devout thoughts echo the beauty of their
solitude. World Premiere
Sponsors Duke Center for Documentary Studies
April 5, 2018 Cultural Event: Moroccan Night
Time 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Location New West, room 219
UNC Chapel Hill
Categories Cultural event
Description
Join the Arabic Program at UNC for Moroccan night! Students will be sharing their study abroad
experiences in Morocco, there will be songs by Moroccan singer Abul-Bishr Kasmi, and
Moroccan tea and cookies will be served! Don’t miss it!
Sponsors UNC Arabic Program
April 6, 2018UNC Geography Colloquium Series: Refugee Political Subjectivities, Dr. Kirsi Pauliina Kallio and
Dr. Jouni Hakli, University of Tampere, Finland
Time 12:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Location UNC Chapel Hill
FedEx Global Education Center, Carolina Hall
Categories Conference
Description
In these events Drs. Kallio and Hakli will present the findings of their research project that
includes in-depth interviews with asylum seekers in Cairo, Egypt and Tampere, Finland. This
project aims to gain a better understanding about the mundane political agencies of refugees
and thereby intervene in the dominant representation of refugees as victims defined by their
vulnerability. The 'ordinary refugee' who seeks to adjust to the available living conditions,
struggles from day to day to meet the everyday needs, and waits for years for status
determination and possible relocation, may seem to be living a non-political life. Yet they ask
what this living takes, what it requires from people as individuals and groups, and how it
contributes to the formation of political agency.
SponsorsInstitute for the Arts & Humanities, UNC College of Arts & Sciences, Center for European
Studies, Duke-UNC Consortium for Middle East Studies, Carolina Center for the Study of the
Middle East and Muslim Civilizations, Center for Global Initiatives
April 6, 2018 Symposium: The Struggle for Equality in Women’s Soccer
Time 12:00 pm - 3:00 pm
Location Old Chem, Rm 011
Duke University, West Campus
Categories Conference
DescriptionJoin us for The Struggle for Equality in Women’s Soccer, a one-day symposium to be held on
April 6, 2018, at the Forum for Scholars and Publics
SponsorsForum for Scholars and Publics and the Duke Human Rights Center @ the Franklin Humanities
Institute
April 6, 2018Lecture: “Vicissitudes of Care: Humanitarian-Military Entanglements in Occupied Kashmir”
with Dr. Saiba Varma
Time 3:35 pm - 5:35 pm
Location Alumni Building, Room 308
UNC Chapel Hill
Categories Lecture
Description
Saiba Varma’s research focuses on health and medicine, as well as politics, inequalities, and
violence and has conducted long-term ethnographic fieldwork in psychiatric and military
settings. Her work examines the global military-humanitarian complex from the prism of South
Asia, specifically Indian-occupied Kashmir, the site of an ongoing conflict between an
independence movement and the Indian military. In this talk, Dr. Varma will be discussing
material from her book manuscript, Life in Pieces: Military and Humanitarian Care in Kashmir ,
which shows how both humanitarian and militaristic practices are both performed in the name
of care.
Sponsors
The South Asia faculty working group, the Department of Anthropology, The Moral Economies
of Medicine Working Group, Carolina Seminar: The Decolonization of the Global South, Carolina
Asia Center
April 6, 2018 Dinner and Conversation with Author Diana Abu Jaber
Time 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Location Sitti Restaurant
137 S Wilmington St, Raleigh, NC 27601
Categories Dinner, Presentation
Description
As part of the conference on Food and Middle Eastern Diaspora, the Khayrallah Center for
Lebanese Diaspora Studies is co-hosting with Sitti Restaurant a dinner, reading and conversation
with renowned Arab American author Diana Abu Jaber. Diana will read short selections from her
writing and talk about how food fits into her literary work and identity as an Arab-American.
SponsorsSitti Restaurant, Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies, Center for Regional
Food Studies, and Empire Eats.
April 7, 2018 Dinner and Conversation with Barbara Massad
Time 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm
Location Neomonde Restaurant
3817 Beryl Rd, Raleigh, NC 27607
Categories Dinner, Presentation
Description
As part of the conference on Food and Middle Eastern Diaspora, the Khayrallah Center for
Lebanese Diaspora Studies is co-hosting with Neo Monde Restaurant a dinner, reading and
conversation with renowned Lebanese American food writer, Barbara Massaad.
SponsorsNeomonde Restaurant, Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies, Center for
Regional Food Studies, and Empire Eats
April 8, 2018 Nâzim Hikmet Poetry Festival
Time 1:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Location Page-Walker Arts & History Center
119 Ambassador Loop, Cary, NC
Categories Cultural event
Description
Nâzim Hikmet was a Turkish poet, playwright and novelist. He was recognized as the first and
foremost modern Turkish poet, and regarded throughout the world as one of the greatest poets
of the twentieth century for the “lyrical flow of his statements.” Described as a “romantic
revolutionary,” his humanistic views are universal. His poetry has been translated into more
than fifty languages. He received the World Peace Prize (the USSR’s equivalent of the Nobel) in
1950. Although he faced many challenges in his life, he always remained optimistic about the
future. Celebrate poetry at this annual festival with poets, scholars, and lovers of poetry. Meet
the Nâzım Hikmet Poetry Competition winners, listen to poetry readings and keynote speakers
then enjoy a reception and hang out with poets from around the world.
SponsorsAmerican-Turkish Association (ATA) and co-sponsored by the Duke University Middle East
Studies Center (DUMESC)
April 8, 2018 Cultural Event: “Near & Far: A Local Celebration of Global Cultures”
Time 2:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Location 140 W Franklin St. Chapel Hill, NC
Categories Cultural event
Description
Celebrate global culture within Chapel Hill at this fun and funky street party! Community and
campus cultural groups share their heritage through crafts, activities and interactive
experiences. Music, dance, and spontaneous arts performances will fill the stage and street.
The flavors of the world will be on offer at food trucks and in our tasting tent, featuring
downtown’s diverse restaurants. Bring the whole family for this unforgettable afternoon of
education, appreciation, and celebration of global cultures.
Sponsors Town of Chapel Hill
April 8, 2018 Sufi Plug-Ins v. 2 with Ashwini Ramaswamy and the Ragamala Dance Company
Time 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm
Location CURRENT 123 W Franklin St. Building C
Chapel Hill, NC
Categories Cultural event
Description N/A
April 8, 2018Persian Art Center in Carolina: “Five treasures of Ganjavi – “Shirin and Farhad” with Mrs.
Maryam Tabibzadeh
Time 4:00 pm - 7:30 pm
Location 400 Oak Tree Drive (The Club House)
Chapel Hill, NC 27517
Categories Cultural event
Description
Join the Persian Art Center in Carolina for a presentation by Mrs. Maryam Tabibzadeh. The
program will begin with a social from 4:00-4:30pm. There will be a welcome and introduction by
Dr. Amir Rezvani, 4:30-4:45pm. From 4:45-6:00pm, there will be a presentation by Mrs. Maryam
Tabibzadeh on a famous Persian tragic romance by the poet Nizami Ganjavi (1141–1209)
followed by discussion. From 6:45-7:30pm, there will be live Persian music and poetry readings
by the audience. Parking is available in any space that is not marked Reserved and is not
numbered.
Sponsors Persian Art Center in Carolina
April 9, 2018Talk: “Every Campus a Refuge: A Small College’s Civic and Curricular Engagement with Refugee
Resettlement” with founder Diya Abdo
Time 6:00 pm - 7:15 pm
Location Phillips Hall, Room 328
UNC Chapel Hill
Categories Lecture
Description
Inspired by Pope Francis’ call on every European parish to host one refugee family, Guilford
College’s Every Campus a Refuge (ECAR) initiative advocates for mobilizing campus resources to
temporarily house refugees on campus grounds and assist them in resettlement in the local
area. Thus far, Guilford has hosted and assisted in resettling 33 refugees from the Middle East
and Africa, 18 of them children. This presentation and conversation will outline the project’s
work – including challenges and lessons learned – and allow attendees to explore adapting this
flexible initiative to their campus. A first-generation Palestinian born and raised in Jordan, Dr.
Diya Abdo is Associate Professor of English at Guilford College in Greensboro, NC. Her teaching,
research and scholarship focus on Arab women writers and Arab and Islamic feminisms.
SponsorsFirst-Year Service Corps, APPLES Service-Learning and UNC Refugee Community Partnership
April 10, 2018Public Lecture: “Beyond Al Jazeera and the ‘Arab Spring’: Media, Politics and the Struggle Over
Modernity in the Arab World Today” with Jaafar Aksikas (Columbia College Chicago)
Time 5:30 pm - 7:30 pm
Location University Room, Hyde Hall
UNC Chapel Hill
Categories Lecture
Description
Most recent conventional accounts of dominant Arab media, both in the Arab world and in the
West (including the United States), tend to focus almost exclusively on Al Jazeera or, in the wake
of the “Arab Spring” of 2011 and the following political upheavals across the region, on the new
and emergent media forms. In these accounts, new Arab media are seen as modernizing,
democratizing and liberatory. Aksikas places these media in a broader context, looking
especially at consumer and corporate culture. He considers how new forms of media, especially
new TV genres, namely reality TV, appropriate and use specific elements of modernity, including
such ideals as citizenship, democracy, freedom, and equality. This instrumentalization of the
ideals of modernity enables corporate culture to present itself to young audiences as their ally
and champion, which renders the concept of popular modernity -often used around the various
Arab “revolutions” – problematic. Aksikas considers how commercial media increasingly
replaces and displaces state, public and even traditional institutions in the intensity and
dedication of its address to young men and women. Holding on to the specificity of
contemporary Arab societies and cultures, he identifies the contradictions of these media
developments, articulated both to the energies and strengths of emerging Arab modernities and
to the production of global neoliberal Arab subjectivities and rationalities at the same time.
Jaafar Aksikas is a Moroccan-born American academic, whose work focuses on media, culture,
law and politics in the Middle East and North Africa. He is currently Associate Professor of
Humanities and Cultural Studies at Columbia College Chicago. His books and edited volumes
include Cultural Studies and the ‘Juridical Turn’: Culture, Law, and Legitimacy in the Era of
Neoliberal Capitalism (2016), Arab Modernities: Islamism, Nationalism and Liberalism in the
Post-Colonial Arab World (2009) and The Sirah [Epic] of Antar: An Islamic Interpretation of Arab
and Islamic History (2002). He also frequently serves as consultant and expert witness on
Middle Eastern and North African societies, cultures and politics.
SponsorsUNC Department of Communication and the Carolina Center for the Study of the Middle East
and Muslim Civilizations
April 11, 2018 Book Talk & Signing with Professor Nadia Yaqub: Bad Girls of the Arab World
Time 12:00 pm - 1:30 pm
Location FedEX Global Education Center, Room 4003
UNC Chapel Hill
Categories Book discussion, book signing
Description
Join Professor Nadia Yaqub (Department of Asian Studies, UNC-Chapel Hill) for a book talk on
“Bad Girls of the Arab World.” This interdisciplinary collection of writings by and about Arab
women is the first that focuses explicitly on Arab women’s often-fraught engagement with the
boundaries that shape their lives in the twenty-first century. A light lunch will be served.
SponsorsCarolina Seminars program, the Carolina Center for the Study of the Middle East and Muslim
Civilizations, and the Department of Women’s and Gender Studies
April 11, 2018Public Lecture: “Now that you are here, I am confused with joy!”: Saʻdi’s Cosmopolitanism,
Worldly Love, and Laughter, by Dr. Fatemeh Keshavarz
Time 5:30 pm - 8:00 pm
Location Wilson Library, Pleasants Family Assembly Room
UNC Chapel Hill
Categories Lecture
Description
Fatemeh Keshavarz is the inaugural speaker of the Horner Jarrahi Persian Studies Speaker Series,
presented by the University Libraries and the Persian Studies program at the University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill. Keshavarz will examine the poetry of Saʻdi (1210-1291), one of the
funniest and most influential figures in classical Persian poetry. His accessible language, practical
ethics, and lively humor continue to influence Persian literature today. Fatemeh Keshavarz holds
the Roshan Institute Chair in Persian Studies and directs the School of Languages, Literatures,
and Cultures at the University of Maryland, College Park.
Sponsors University Libraries and the Persian Studies program
April 11, 2018Public Event: “Crossing the Geopolitical Divide” with Steven David (Johns Hopkins) and miriam
cooke (Duke)
Time 6:30 pm - 7:30 pm
Location Social Psychology 130
Duke University
Categories Lecture
Description
Join the Alexander Hamilton Society for its final event of the year, “Crossing the Geopolitical
Divide: Routes for Foreign Intervention in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict”. The Israeli-Palestinian
conflict has endured since the mid-20th century. Steeped in cultural and religious ties to the
Holy Land, both nations have sought land claims to the West Bank and Gaza Strip. While Israel
has occupied the area for 51 years, borders wars continue. Both the Israeli Government and the
Palestine Liberation Organization have engaged in negotiations under the leadership of
Benjamin Netanyahu and Mahmoud Abbas respectively. But what is the role of foreign actors?
While unable to provide lasting peace solutions in the past, can other nations play a benign role?
How does the recent declaration of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel affect Middle East policy?
Steven David, Professor of International Relations at Johns Hopkins University and miriam
cooke, Braxton Craven Professor of Arab Cultures at Duke University will share their insights.
Free food and drink provided.
Sponsors Alexander Hamilton Society at Duke
April 12 & 16, 2018 “Watch the Med” Events: Migrant Struggles on the EU’s Maritime Frontier
Time April 12, 1:00-2:00 pm - April 16 12:00-1:00 pm
Location Social Movements Lab, Smith Warehouse, Bay 5
Duke University
Categories Lecture
Description
Collaborating together since 2011, Charles Heller and Lorenzo Pezzani have sought to develop
new methodologies to contest the violence of borders and enable more freedom of movement
across the maritime frontier. In 2011, Heller and Pezzani co-founded Forensic Oceanography, a
collaborative project that has developed innovative methodologies to document the conditions
that lead to migrants’ deaths at sea. Their reports have contributed to strategic litigations and
intervened in ongoing debates concerning the effects of EU migration policies. In 2012, they also
launched the WatchTheMed platform, a tool enabling nongovernmental actors to exercise a
critical right to look at the EU’s maritime frontier, and contributed to initiate in 2014 the
WatchTheMed Alarmphone project, a 24/7 emergency line supporting migrants crossing the sea.
Sponsors Social Movements Lab and Franklin Humanities Institute at Duke University
April 13, 2018Symposium: Monarchy and Sovereignty in Twentieth-Century Asia | Organized by Dr.
Prasenjit Duara & Dr. Adam Mestyan
Time 8:30 am - 5:30 pm
Location Ahmadieh Family Conference Hall, Room 240
Duke University
Categories Conference
Description
This workshop explores the changing roles of monarchies in twentieth-century Asia in the
evolving international system. The subject is comparative and transnational, looking particularly
at the convergences and differences between monarchies in West Asia and East, South and
Southeast Asia. Participants explore monarchies both as legal systems of external and internal
sovereignty and as embodiments of symbolic power. The main areas of enquiry are the legal
codification of monarchical power in new constitutions; nationalism and monarchism; the
perception and management of rulers and internal legitimacies. The emphasis is on the
interaction of nationalism and religion within monarchical polities in the twentieth century
particularly under colonial rule and the Cold War.
SponsorsGlobal Asia Initiative at Duke University and Archives of Africa, Asia, and the Mediterranean at
Duke University
April 14, 2018 Conference: The 2003 Iraq War: Key Intelligence Failures and Fixes
Time 8:00 am - 5:15 pm
Location North Carolina Central University
Categories Conference
Description
Join us for a day long symposium reflecting on intelligence issues surrounding the 2003 Iraq
War. Did we get the intelligence that led us to war wrong? If so, why? Were our intelligence
reforms effective? What are the implications of these reforms for our current intelligence
estimates in the region?
Sponsors Triangle Institute for Security Studies and ICCAE
April 14, 2018 GO! Global Orientation on Culture + Ethics 2018
Time 9:30 am - 3:30 pm
Location FedEx Global Education Center
UNC Chapel Hill
Categories Conference
Description
GO! Global Orientation on Culture + Ethics is designed to help students evaluate expectations,
anticipate potential cultural and ethical challenges, prepare for engagement in communities,
and develop intercultural competencies. First-time travelers and experienced globetrotters alike
can benefit from session topics like Global Entrepreneurship, “Voluntourism,” Providing
Healthcare Abroad and Decoding Culture in Education.
Sponsors Center for Global Initatives
April 14, 2018 Cultural Event: 20th Annual Lebanese Festival
Time 11:00 am - 7:00 pm
Location Raleigh City Plaza
400 block Fayetteville Street, Raleigh, NC 27601
Categories Cultural event
Description
Want a taste of Lebanon right here in the Triangle? Join the Triangle Lebanese American Center
for a day filled with delicious Lebanese food, dancing + musical performances, and fun activities!
Event Highlights include: Authentic Lebanese food & desserts, belly dancing, traditional
Lebanese Dabke Performances, Lebanese Wine, Cooking demonstrations, Children's activities,
and more!
Sponsors Triangle Lebanese American Center
April 15, 2018 Literary Forum: Urdu Majlis on Humorous/Satirical poetry
Time 5:00 pm -7:00 pm
Location New West, Room 219
UNC Chapel Hill
Categories Cultural event
Description
Please join us on Sunday, April 15, for the next monthly meeting of Urdu Majlis, the
Triangle’s Literary Forum. This Urdu Majlis will concentrate on Mazahiya Shairi (Humorous and
Satirical Poetry). You can read your original poems or works of your favorite authors.
Participants are invited to bring refreshments to share.
Sponsors Carolina Asia Center and the South Asia Section of the UNC Dept. of Asian Studies
April 15, 2018 Film Screening: The Insult
Time 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm
Location Hunt Library Auditorium
NC State University
Categories Film screening
Description
The Kahyrallah Center is pleased to announce that it will be sponsoring the screening the
Lebanese film The Insult, directed by Ziad Doueiri and nominated for best foreign film in the
2018 Academy Awards.
Sponsors Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
April 15-18, 2018 Confeence: Nexus 2018: Water, Food, Energy, and Climate
Time N/A
Location Friday Conference Center
UNC Chapel Hill
Categories Conference
Description
The “Nexus” approach is the one that focuses on overlaps across sectors while respecting
sectoral expertise in order to make better plans by understanding interactions (Stockholm
Environment Institute, 2017). The Water Institute at the University of North Carolina at Chapel
Hill is pleased to reconvene our Nexus conference addressing Water-Energy-Food and Climate in
spring of 2018. The conference will facilitate space for the development of collaborative
work and focus on the science-policy interface, partnerships, solutions, review of Sustainable
Development Goal commitments (2018 and for the Heads of State review in 2019), sharing of
tools, indicators and methodologies, and the identification of gaps. Click here for more
information and the agenda, including sessions focused on the Middle East.
Sponsors Water Institute at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
April 16, 2018 Panel Discussion: Trump’s Jerusalem Decision: History, Legality, Theology
Time 6:45 pm - 8:00pm
Location Bingham Hall 103
UNC Chapel Hill
Categories Lecture
Description
Students for Justice in Palestine is hosting a panel to understand the historical, religious, and
legal significance of the United States’ recent decision declaring Jerusalem as the undivided
capital of Israel. Panelists will discuss the historical events leading up to this decision, the legality
of the move, and the theological justifications.
Sponsors Students for Justice in Palestine
April 17, 2018 Hallaj: A book talk with Dr. Carl Ernst (UNC-Chapel Hill)
Time 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm
Location Carpenter Conference Room, Rubenstein Library Rm 249
Duke University
Categories Book talk, book signing
Description
Join DISC in welcoming Dr. Carl Ernst to campus as he speaks on his latest work, Hallaj: Poems of
a Sufi Martyr in Rubenstein Library. “Hallaj is the first authoritative translation of the Arabic
poetry of Husayn ibn Mansur al-Hallaj, an early Sufi mystic. Despite his execution in Baghdad in
922 and the subsequent suppression of his work, Hallaj left an enduring literary and spiritual
legacy that continues to inspire readers around the world. In Hallaj, Carl W. Ernst offers a
definitive collection of 117 of Hallaj’s poems expertly translated for contemporary readers
interested in Middle Eastern and Sufi poetry and spirituality. Ernst’s fresh and direct translations
reveal Hallaj’s wide range of themes and genres, from courtly love poems to metaphysical
reflections on union with God. In a fascinating introduction, Ernst traces Hallaj’s dramatic story
within classical Islamic civilization and early Arabic Sufi poetry. Setting himself apart by revealing
Sufi secrets to the world, Hallaj was both celebrated and condemned for declaring: ‘I am the
Truth.’”
Sponsors Duke Islamic Studies Center
April 17, 2018 TISS Fourteenth Annual Undergraduate Honor Student Dinner Presentations
Time 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Location Friday Conference Center
UNC Chapel Hill
Categories Presentation
Description N/A
Sponsors N/A
April 19, 2018 Public Talk: "The Road to Peace" with Nadav Tamir
Time 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
Location The Sonja Haynes Stone Center for Black Culture and History, Room 103
UNC Chapel Hill
Categories Lecture
Description
Join UNC-Chapel Hill Hillel on Thursday, April 19 at the Stone Center, at 7 PM, for a lecture by
the Israeli diplomat and Policy Expert Nadav Tamir, the Director of International Affairs at Peres
Institute for Peace. He will share with us his vision on a peaceful resolution in the Middle East
and current initiatives by organizations working to achieve this goal. The event is free and
everyone is welcome.
Sponsors UNC Hillel
April 20-21, 2018 Adventures in Ideas Weekend Seminar: Whatever Happened to Global Diplomacy?
Time 4:30 pm - 8:30 pm April 20 & 9:00 am - 1:00 pm April 21
Location UNC Chapel Hill
Categories Conference
Description
Older systems and methods of international diplomacy are giving way to a growing populist
disdain for careful diplomatic negotiations. Complex problems are often reduced to superficial
statements in the mass media or to simple tweets that ignore the history of past events. What
has happened to the traditions of global diplomacy? This seminar will examine this question
through the perspectives of leading historians and public policy scholars who will analyze past
diplomatic strategies as well as recent changes in transnational exchanges. Does the decline of
diplomacy create new international dangers? Presentations will include: “Middle East Diplomacy
in the 20th Century–A Global Prequel to Contemporary Problems” by Sarah Shields, UNC
Professor of History.
Sponsors Carolina Public Humanities, General Alumni Association
April 20, 2018 Exhibit Opening: Building Bridges through Good Faith
Time 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Location Museum of Durham History
500 W. Main St., Durham, NC
Categories Cultural event
Description
Please join the Museum of Durham History on Friday, April 20 from 6:00PM-8:00PM for the
opening event for our newest exhibit, Building Bridges through Good Faith, highlighting the
growth and development of one of the oldest Muslim communities in North Carolina. This event
is FREE and open to the public, featuring complimentary homemade food samplings including
fish sausage, bean pies, bean soup, and carrot cake. Children’s activities and live music will
round out the event, which coincides with Durham’s Third Friday festivities. The Ar-Razzaq
Islamic Center (formerly Muhammad’s Mosque #34) was founded in Durham in the 1950s under
the local leadership of Imam Kenneth Muhammad, and has been an anchor of the West End
neighborhood since the 1970s. The exhibition focuses on the contributions of the Ar-Razzaq
Islamic Center to the West End neighborhood and to all of Durham through first person
accounts, photos and artifacts. In telling the stories of people in the Ar-Razzaq community, the
exhibit will illuminate its economic, political and cultural impact on Durham. The exhibition,
which runs through August 2018, will feature monthly programs that touch on the impact of Ar-
Razzaq. A lecture series, ongoing programming and celebrations throughout the summer will be
capped off by a closing event at the Museum in August.
SponsorsMuseum of Durham History, Building Bridges 2016-17 Grants Program of the Doris Duke
Foundation for Islamic Art (DDFIA)
April 20, 2018 Mona Eltahawy at Duke StoryCon
Time 8:00 pm - 10:00 pm
Location Bay 4 of Smith Warehouse
Duke University
Categories
Description
Join Duke Story Lab on Friday, April 20th for STORYCON, a 12-hour overnight storytelling
festival! Starting at 8PM on Friday, StoryCon has film screenings, art installations, games,
performances, workshops, cosplay contests, and more! Kick off the festivities by hearing award-
winning journalist and activist Mona Eltahawy discuss how to use storytelling to advocate for a
cause. Mona is the author of “Headscarves and Hymens: Why the Middle East Needs a Sexual
Revolution” and frequently contributes as a guest commentator and op-ed writer in national
news outlets on issues related to the Middle East, Islam, and feminism. Then grab a quick bite
from one of our on-site food trucks before checking out local artist Chris Vitiello‘s reprisal of his
2017 ArtPrize installation “The Language Is Asleep.” Other things you can do at StoryCon include:
• Try your hand at tabletop roleplaying games!
• Enter our hallway cosplay contest for a chance to win prizes!
• Catch up on anime in the early morning with our 5-hour long anime marathon!
• Revisit a favorite YA novel by joining our A Wrinkle in Time read-along!
SponsorsHear at Duke, Story Lab at Duke, Third Friday Durham, UNC Wordsmiths and the Franklin
Humanities Institute
April 21, 2018 Workshop for Educators: Environmental Issues in Latin America & the Middle East
Time 9:00 am - 5:00 pm
Location FedEx Global Education Center, Room 1009
UNC Chapel Hill
Categories Conference
Description
Teachers are invited to join the Duke-UNC Consortia in Middle East and Latin American and
Caribbean Studies for a day-long interdisciplinary workshop to explore environmental issues in
Latin America and the Middle East. During this interactive one-day workshop, teachers will
explore pressing global environmental concerns including issues related to water, climate
change, mining, and environmental activism. Through various learning activities, teachers will
deepen understanding of environmental issues specific to each world region as well as
comparative ways to examine these issues across regions. Participants will also gain resources
and teaching strategies related to these themes and more. Sessions will include a keynote
lecture, panel discussions, film screening, and interactive art activity with environmental
artist Bryant Holsenbeck.
SponsorsDuke-UNC Consortium for Middle East Studies and the Duke-UNC Consortium in Latin American
and Caribbean Studies
April 21, 2018 Cultural Event: Open House hosted by the Ar-Razzaq Islamic Center
Time 1:00 - 3:00 pm
Location 1009 West Chapel Hill Street
Durham, NC 27701
Categories Cultural event
Description
Ar-Razzaq Islamic Center, located on Chapel Hill Street in Durham across from InGold Tire, will
host an Open House, Saturday, April 21, 2018, 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM. There will be a short
presentation regarding the history of ArRazzaq as part of the Durham Museum of History
project underway highlighting the long history of ArRazzaq Islamic Center in the Durham
Community. There will also be an opportunity to observe the Islamic Prayer followed by
questions and answers. No question is off limit. Refreshments will be served. Started in the
1950s, the Ar-Razzaq Islamic Center, formally Mohammed’s Mosque #34, is the oldest Islamic
Community in the State of North Carolina. You can learn more about the history of the ArRazzaq
Islamic Center by visiting the Durham Museum of History, located downtown Durham.
Sponsors Ar-Razzaq Islamic Center
April 23, 2018 Public Talk: Human Rights in Myanmar: The Way Forward
Time 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Location Rubenstein Library 153, Holst-Anderson Family Assembly Room
Duke University, West Campus
Categories Lecture
Description
The Myanmar military’s campaign against the Rohingya population is set in a tenuous backdrop
of ethnic armed conflict, a stagnant national peace and reconciliation process, and a fledgling
democracy led by a now-controversial Nobel Peace Prize laureate. In a special to Duke
undergraduates, Yee Htun, a clinical instructor at Harvard Law School with over a decade of
experience in international advocacy and a refugee from Myanmar herself, will unpack the
multidimensional human rights situation in Myanmar and discuss opportunities forward for both
domestic and international actors. Yee has over a decade of international advocacy experience
working on behalf of refugee and migrant communities. Most recently, she was a clinical fellow
with Harvard Law School’s International Human Rights Clinic and the Director of the Myanmar
Program for Justice Trust, a human rights research and advocacy organization that works closely
with local lawyers and activists in Myanmar to support communities fighting for justice. In 2011,
Yee was selected by the Nobel Women’s Initiative to coordinate and lead the first-ever
international campaign to stop rape and sexual violence in conflict.Yee was born in Myanmar
and left the country after the pro-democratic uprising in 1988, immigrating to Canada as a
government-sponsored refugee. She holds a B.A. from Simon Fraser University and J.D. from
Dalhousie University.
Sponsors Asian/Pacific Studies Institute at Duke University and Duke East Asia Nexus
April 24, 2018 The Not Your Habibti Typewriter Project
Time 11:00 am - 2:00 pm
Location The Pit
UNC Chapel Hill
Categories Presentation
Description
BabyFist is a clothing brand based in Palestine that seeks to end street and sexual harassment
and start a discussion on gender issues in the Middle East and beyond. Yasmeen Mjalli,
Palestinian-American social activist and owner of the brand, is coming to UNC’s campus as part
of her US tour to begin this conversation. Not Your Habibti is an ongoing series created to
illuminate the issue of street harassment on urban Palestinian streets and to open an honest
and uncensored dialogue amongst women affected by said harassment. This project is making
its way to the United States in order to highlight that gender discrimination and sexual
harassment is not exclusive to the Middle East — discrimination occurs in the West as well.
Yasmeen will be at the Pit where students are invited to share their personal stories about
harassment and gender-based societal oppression in order to allow a personal journey of
emotional relief and challenge social taboos like women’s ability to speak about their
experiences in a public space.
Sponsors Students for Justice in Palestine and BabyFist
April 24, 2018Public Lecture: “Being Muslim: A Cultural History of Women of Color in American Islam” by Dr.
Sylvia Chan-Malik
Time 5:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Location FedEx Global Education Center, Room 1009
UNC Chapel Hill
Categories Lecture
Description
Dr. Sylvia Chan-Malik (Rutgers University) will be speaking at UNC on April 24th at 5 PM at the
Global Education Center (room 1009) on her soon to be published book, Being Muslim: A
Cultural History of Women of Color in American Islam. This work explores twentieth and twenty-
first century U.S. Muslim womanhood by centering the lived experiences of women of color,
mapping how communities of American Islam became sites of safety, support, spirituality, and
social activism, and how women of color were central to their formation. Dr. Chan-Malik’s
lecture will focus on the diversity and similarities of Black, Arab, South Asian, Latina, and
multiracial Muslim women, and how American understandings of Islam have shifted against the
evolution of U.S. white nationalism over the past century. Please email Samah Choudhury
([email protected]) with any questions.
Sponsors
Islamicate Graduate Students Association, Duke-UNC Consortium for Middle East Studies,
Carolina Women's Center, UNC Sociology, Carolina Center for the Study of the Middle East and
Muslim Civilizations, UNC Cultural Studies, UNC History, UNC Religious Studies, and the Carolina
Seminar on Transnational and Global Modern History.
April 24, 2018Lecture: “Macabre Social Capital: The Families of Pakistan’s Lashkar-e-Taiba” with C. Christine
Fair
Time 5:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Location Ahmadieh Family Grand Hall, Gross Hall 330
Duke University, West Campus
Categories Lecture
Description
Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT, also known as Jamaat ud Dawa among other aliases) is the most
competent, lethal and loyal proxy of the Pakistani state. LeT operates in India, Afghanistan and
elsewhere in South Asia and beyond. This presentation draws from a narrative analysis of a ten
percent random sample of nearly 1,000 biographies of slain LeT fighters as a part of a larger
study into the battlefield motivation of the fighters. My review of these documents reveals a
dark role of the families who derive various forms of social capital from male family member’s
participation in so-called “jihad.” Families draw maximum social capital when these young men
die in combat and attain the coveted title of “shaheed.” Whereas previous studies of terrorist
motivation have downplayed or even disregarded the roles of family, my work in Pakistan over
nearly fifteen years continually points to the deep significance that families play in a young
man’s decision to fight in Pakistani terrorist organizations.Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT, also known as
Jamaat ud Dawa among other aliases) is the most competent, lethal and loyal proxy of the
Pakistani state. LeT operates in India, Afghanistan and elsewhere in South Asia and beyond. This
presentation draws from a narrative analysis of a ten percent random sample of nearly 1,000
biographies of slain LeT fighters as a part of a larger study into the battlefield motivation of the
fighters. My review of these documents reveals a dark role of the families who derive various
forms of social capital from male family member’s participation in so-called “jihad.” Families
draw maximum social capital when these young men die in combat and attain the coveted title
of “shaheed.” Whereas previous studies of terrorist motivation have downplayed or even
disregarded the roles of family, my work in Pakistan over nearly fifteen years continually points
to the deep significance that families play in a young man’s decision to fight in Pakistani terrorist
organizations. C. Christine Fair is a Provost’s Distinguished Associate Professor in the Security
Studies Program within Georgetown University’s Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service.
SponsorsDuke Center for International and Global Studies, Bass Connections, the Department of Political
Science, and the Information Initiative at Duke
April 24, 2018 A Conversation with Yasmeen Mjalli
Time 5:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Location Gardner 008
UNC Chapel Hill
Categories Presentation
Description
Join us later that evening for a more intimate discussion on the intersection between Arab,
American, and Feminist identities and why these identities seem mutually exclusive. Yasmeen’s
discussion is meant to foster empathy, break down stereotypes, and provide tools for fighting
against such oppressive acts. Yasmeen Mjalli began Babyfist in Palestine to empower women to
use clothing to combat street harassment with the defiant phrase “Not Your Habibti”, which
translates to “Not Your Darling.” The clothing is made in the West Bank and Gaza by Palestinian
women in order to promote economic self-sufficiency. Additionally, 10% of proceeds goes to
Palestinian Working Woman Society for Development, which works towards “gender equality
and the eradication of all forms of discrimination against women.”
Sponsors Students for Justice in Palestine and BabyFist
April 24, 2018 Cultural Event: Arabic Night at Duke
Time 5:30 pm - 7:30 pm
Location Richard White Hall, Room 107
Duke University, East Campus
Categories Cultural event
DescriptionJoin the Duke Department of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies for Plays, Poetry Readings,
Music, Middle Eastern Dance, Arabic Oral Proficiency Activities and more.
Sponsors Asian and Middle Eastern Studies
April 25, 2018 Public Lecture: “Boko Haram in Nigeria: Issues in Ideological and Creedal (Mis)interpretations”
by Amidu O. Sanni, Vice Chancellor of Fountain University, Osogbo
Time 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
Location Rubenstein Library Carpenter Conference Room 249
Duke University
Categories Lecture
Description
Boko Haram (BH) portrays itself as a back-to-basics Islamic orthodoxy and orthopraxis
movement, but its rejection of Western democratic values and indeed its brutal reactions to
mainstream Muslim interpretations of Islamic texts and authors makes it one of the most
prominent militant and millenarian ‘religious’ terror movements in modern Africa. For the first
time, however, original texts, documentary and feature videos/audios, exhortation séances,
martial anthems (nash¿d) and documents in Arabic, Hausa, and Kanuri from Boko Haram’s
networks are being offered in an English translation, The Boko Haram Reader (A. Kassim and M.
Nwankpa, 2018), which brilliantly illustrates how Boko Haram was able to delegitimize
mainstream orthodoxy and/or opponents to reinforce and articulate its own legitimacy. This talk
will provide a critical review of this important work on Boko Haram, highlighting the volume’s
usefulness as well as some future avenues for research to establish accurate underpinnings of
the movement’s textual, physical, and ideological warfare in the religio-political cosmos of sub-
Saharan Africa.
Sponsors Duke Islamic Studies Center
April 26, 2018 Webinar: Balcony on the Moon: Coming of Age in Palestine by Ibtisam Barakat
Time 7:00 pm - 8:15 pm
Location Online
Categories Lecture
Description
The Middle East Book Award with support from the Duke-UNC Consortium for Middle East
Studies is pleased to present during National Arab American Heritage month a conversation with
award-winning author, Ibtisam Barakat on her book Balcony on the Moon: Coming of Age in
Palestine, an enlightening look at the not often depicted daily life in a politically tumultuous
area. Barakat will discuss a life full of challenges that inspired defiance and creative ways of
finding solutions. Join us as we discuss human rights, gender equality, and the power of words
to take us and our thoughts to faraway places. Register HERE today! In spring 2018, once a
month, the World Area Book Awards will sponsor a 60 minute webinar on a book recognized by
one of the awards and facilitate a discussion with the author on how to incorporate the book
into the classroom. The spring webinar series focuses on social justice. We encourage you to
read the books with your colleagues, students, and community, and then join us to hear more
from the author. The books are appropriate for students in grades 8-12. If participating in all
webinar sessions, participants will receive a certificate of completion. Be sure to join the
conversation with our webinar hashtag #2018ReadingAcrossCultures. All sessions are free and
open to the public. All times listed refer to Central Standard Time (CST).
SponsorsConsortium of Latin American Studies Programs, the South Asia National Outreach Consortium,
the Middle East Outreach Council, and Africa Access
April 27-28, 2018Workshop: “Academic Networking in Sub-Saharan and North Africa: From Accreditation to
Global Ethics”
Time N/A
Location 240 Ahmadieh Family Conference Hall
Duke University
Categories Conference
Description
Academic accreditation and scholarly networking are central features of the new kind of global
university system: a system that is increasingly concerned with the ideas of ensuring
accountability and expanding impact factors (competitive edge) of African countries’ academic
institutions. In addressing this concern, accreditation of universities matters. It is the pathway to
adopting competitive standards; one that would insure a culture of continuous accountability
and improvement at the delivery level and to help stakeholders to not only imagine but to also
enact how to collect reliable evidence to support a sustained future. There is also an ethical
dimension to this concern. The rapid population increase in Africa has led to a growing demand
for traditional “brick and mortar” universities, online course platforms, and global networking
opportunities. Delivering quality education at reasonable cost to such a large demographic
demands a high level of ethical decision-making by African educators. The consideration of
ethical questions surrounding 21st century higher education in Africa aligns well with many
global signature programs that encourage ethical attitude in decision-making and outcomes. As
scholars and students interact through global networking, they are challenged by issues of
quantity versus quality, value versus efficiency, transparency versus privacy, and the local versus
the global. One of the most daunting challenges of a academic network is how to ensure the
application of rigorous ethical standards in its functioning. This workshop provides a valuable
platform to unpack these issues.
Sponsors
Duke Islamic Studies Center, the Duke Center for International and Global Studies, Asian and
Middle Eastern Studies, Duke Africa Initiative, The Kenan Institute for Ethics, Duke Office of
Global Affairs & Research Africa
April 30, 2018 Panel Discussion: The Future of the JCPOA and Iran’s Nuclear Program
Time 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm
Location Park Shops 210
NC State University
Categories Presentation
Description
A panel of experts will discuss the future of the Iran nuclear deal – the Joint Comprehensive Plan
of Action (JCPOA) that was agreed between Iran and the P5+1 (the five permanent UN Security
Council members – the United States, the UK, France, China, and Russia – plus Germany).
President Trump has expressed a willingness to pull the United States out of the deal unless Iran
agrees to significant changes to its terms. The panel will consider the implications of the
administration’s position on the Iran deal, the future of the JCPOA, and the politics of Iran’s
nuclear program more broadly. Panelists include:
Ariane Tabatabai, Director of Curriculum, Security Studies Program, Georgetown University
Jon Wolfsthal, Director, Nuclear Crisis Group
Annie Tracy Samuel, Assistant Professor of History, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
Martin Malin, Executive Director, Project on Managing the Atom, Harvard Belfer Center
Sponsors Consortium for Nonproliferation Enabling Capabilities
May 4, 2018 Community Event: Heart of a River Concert
Time 5:30 pm - 9:00 pm
Location Reedy Creek Middle School
930 Reedy Creek Road, Cary, NC 27513
Categories Concert
Description
Join the Association for India’s Development – NC RTP Chapter for an evening of Mystical
Santoor, Sufi and Bollywood music to help rejuvenate Rivers & Streams in drought affected
Jharkand and West Bengal, India. Featuring: Pandit Tarun Bhattacharya – Santoor, Afroz Taj and
John Caldwell – Original Sufi Compositions, Cosmic Horizon – Band playing Sufi Songs,
Dharayen – An Adivasi musical on moods of a river, and Bollywood Melodies by the
Mayur Jharna Project. An Exhibition of Clothes and Jewelry from the region will be available for
sale at the show. Spice & Curry is sponsoring the event and will have a stall for snacks and
dinner for purchase. For more information and to purchase tickets, please visit here. AID is a
registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, all donations are tax-deductible.
Sponsors Association for India’s Development - NC RTP Chapter and Spice & Curry.
May 6, 2018Persian Art Center in Carolina: “Subjectivity and Transgression in ‘Attar’s Works” with Dr.
Claudia Yaghoobi
Time 5:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Location 400 Oak Tree Drive (The Club House)
Chapel Hill, NC 27517
Categories Presentation, cultural event, concert
Description
Join the Persian Art Center in Carolina for a presentation by Dr. Claudia Yaghoobi, Coordinator
of the UNC Persian program and Roshan Institute Assistant Professor in Persian Studies on
subjectivity and transgression in ‘Attar’s Works. The program will begin with a social from 5:00-
5:30pm. There will be a welcome and introduction by Dr. Amir Rezvani, 5:30-5:40pm. From 5:45-
6:45pm, there will be a presentation by Dr. Claudia Yaghoobi followed by discussion. From 7:30-
8:00pm, there will be live Persian music and poetry readings by the audience.
Sponsors Persian Art Center in Carolina
May 6, 2018 Literary Forum: Urdu Majlis on the life and works of Ahmad Nadeem Qasmi (1916-2006)
Time 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Location Room 219, New West
UNC Chapel Hill
Categories Lecture
Description
Please join us on Sunday, May 6, for the next monthly meeting of Urdu Majlis, the
Triangle’s Literary Forum. This Urdu Majlis will concentrate on the life and works of Ahmad
Nadeem Qasmi (1916-2006), Urdu and English language Pakistani poet, journalist, literary critic,
dramatist and short story author. Participants are invited to bring refreshments to share.
Sponsors Carolina Asia Center and the South Asia Section of the UNC Dept. of Asian Studies
May 8, 2018Public Talk: “The Politics of Rationalist Philosophy in Arab Andalus, and the Reception of Hayy
ibn Yaqdhanin Britain” by Samedin Kadic
Time 4:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Location FedEx Global Education Center, Room 4003
UNC Chapel Hill
Categories Presentation, lecture
Description
Join us for a presentation by Samedin Kadic, Visiting Fulbright Scholar from the Faculty of Islamic
Theology, University of Sarajevo. Kadic will discuss “The Politics of Rationalist Philosophy in Arab
Andalus, and the Reception of Hayy ibn Yaqdhan in Britain.” In 1671 a bilingual text in Arabic and
Latin was published at Oxford, entitled the Philosophus autodidactus. The translation was made
by Edwarde Pococke under the supervision of his father Dr. Edward Pococke. Philosophus
autodidactus became literally a best-seller within a short period of time. The text was Hayy b.
Yaqzan’s, a philosophical novel that was written in Arabic in a twelfth century by Abu Bakr
Muhammad ibn Tufayl. Historical impact of this book in world’s intellectual culture was massive.
We can find it all over Europe — in philosophy, science, and in educational doctrines. Samedin
Kadic is a visiting scholar at the Carolina Center for the Study of the Middle East and Muslim
Civilizations.
Sponsors Carolina Center for the Study of the Middle East and Muslim Civilizations
May 22, 2018 Cultural Event: Ramadan Dinner (Fast Breaking) at IITS/Divan Center
Time 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm (Recurring, May 23, May 30, June 6, June 9, June 12, June 13
Location 1391 SE Maynard Road
Cary, NC
Categories Cultural event
Description
The Institute of Islamic and Turkish Studies (www.iitsnc.org) and Divan Center are two non-
profit organizations located in Cary. One of our goals is to bring together different communities
in order to promote compassion, cooperation, partnership, and community service through
interfaith activities. We would like to invite you, members from your congregation and your
friends to break bread together with our Muslim community members in the lunar Islamic
month of Ramadan in an interfaith setting. We will gather around the same table to enjoy
delicious Turkish meals and to share a spiritual, interfaith atmosphere in this sacred month.
Please kindly let us know whether you could honor us with your presence in one of our
Ramadan dinners.
If so, please RSVP through this link by May 18th, Friday. The dinner will start with a short pre-
dinner presentation on various topics related to Islamic faith and also our organizational
background. This will be followed by a question and answer session. You will have a chance to
interact with our community members during the dinner at sunset (around 8:15 PM). Program:
7:30 pm: Presentation by IITS/Divan Center
8:00 pm: Question and Answer
8:15 pm: Iftar Dinner (Fast Breaking)
Sponsors Institute of Islamic and Turkish Studies and Divan Center
June 3, 2018 Persian Art Center in Carolina: “Hallaj: Poems of a Sufi Martyr” with Dr. Carl Ernst
Time 4:00 pm - 7:30 pm
Location 400 Oak Tree Drive (The Club House)
Chapel Hill, NC 27517
Categories Presentation, cultural event, concert
Description
Join the Persian Art Center in Carolina for a presentation by Dr. Carl Ernst, William R. Kenan, Jr.,
Distinguished Professor of Islamic Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and
co-director of the Carolina Center for the Study of the Middle East and Muslim Civilizations, on
the poetry of Husayn ibn Mansur al-Hallaj, an early Sufi mystic. The program will begin with a
social from 4:00-4:30pm. There will be a welcome and introduction by Dr. Amir Rezvani, 4:30-
4:45pm. From 4:45-6:00pm, there will be a presentation by Dr. Ersnt followed by discussion.
From 6:45-7:30pm, there will be live Persian music and poetry readings by the audience.
Sponsors Persian Art Center in Carolina
June 3, 2018 Ramadan Iftar: Serve Hope
Time 7:30 pm - 10:00 pm
Location Mediterranean Deli, Bakery & Catering
410 West Franklin Street Chapel Hill, NC 27516
Categories Cultural event, dinner
Description
Proceeds from this special Iftar will send food and relief to families in Palestine and Lebanon.
Come mingle and enjoy a meal with old and new friends. We are featuring Teen Vogue’s Abeer
Najjar, who will demonstrate and share a delicious dessert creation.
Sponsors ANERA and Mediterranean Deli
June 16, 2018 Cultural Event: "Eid al-Fitr Panel Discussion"
Time 4:00 pm - 5:30 pm
Location Museum of Durham History
500 W. Main St., Durham, NC
Categories Cultural event
Description
Please join us Saturday, June 16 from 4:00pm-5:30pm at the Museum of Durham History (500
W. Main St.) for a program to mark the end of Ramadan. The Museum, in collaboration with Ar-
Razzaq Islamic Center, will host a panel discussion focusing on the African-American Muslim
experience in the United States, particularly the South and North Carolina. This discussion is part
of the Museum’s ongoing programming surrounding our current exhibition Building Bridges
through Good Faith, which chronicles the Ar-Razzaq community and its contributions to
Durham. This FREE event is open to the public and will feature scholars, educators, and spiritual
leaders, sharing their thoughts and insights on a range of topics, from the roots of African-
American Muslims in America to addressing their concerns in today’s social climate. The event is
part of a greater community celebration of Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the fast of
Ramadan. Guest Speakers include:
Rashida James-Saadiya (Moderator), Rhonda Murray Muhammad, PhD (Panelist), Imam Abdul
hafeez Waheed (Panelist), Youssef Carter (Panelist), and Imam Greg Rashad (Panelist).
Sponsors Museum of Durham History, supported by the Building Bridges 2016-17 Grants Program of the
Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art (DDFIA), and the North Carolina Arts Council
June 30, 2018 Cultural Event: Eid Around the World
Time 11:00 am - 3:00 pm
Location Islamic Association of Raleigh
808 Atwater St., Raleigh, NC 27607
Categories Cultural event
Description
The Islamic Association of Raleigh invites you to the celebration of Eid Al-Fitr – the celebration
marking the end of the fasting month of Ramadan. Come with your family and friends to learn
about how Muslims celebrate Eid Al-Fitr, the most joyous time of the Islamic year. As diverse as
the Muslim world is, the celebrations for Eid are also full of variety and traditions. Join us for an
afternoon of culture, colorful costumes, festive displays, delicious food samples, and a chance to
connect with our diverse Muslim population from around the globe.
Sponsors Islamic Association of Raleigh