A Series of Lectures, Films, and Readings

March 5 - April 25, 2012

Organized By:
Montclair State University’s Global Education Center, College of the Arts, College of Humanities and Social Sciences, College of Education and Human Services

Departments of:
Art and Design, Broadcasting, Communication Studies, Educational Foundations, English, History, Modern Languages and Literatures, Philosophy and Religion, Political Science and Law, Theater and Dance

The aim of the series is to encourage cross-cultural understanding of the Muslim world.  One of the many false assumptions associated with the Muslim world is a long-held view that the Muslim world
is by nature resistant to change and democracy. This series of events challenges such essentialist views by bringing attention to the grassroots efforts that have been made by civil society actors to instigate change and attain a sense of justice in the Muslim world.  The growing protest movements and uprisings in some countries have made this subject matter particularly topical.
We hope that this program will serve to dispel existing stereotypes and serve to create a better understanding of the complexity and diversity that exist in most Muslim societies. All events are open
to the public and free of charge.

Schedule Of Events

Monday
March 5
6:00 p.m
Cohen Lounge Dickson Hall

Deborah Amos

Lecture:

The Arab Spring: The Changing Political Landscape

Journalist Deborah Amos will discuss recent
developments in the region. Her reports can be heard on NPR’s awardwinning Morning Edition, All Things Considered, and Weekend Edition. She has reported for television news, including ABC’s Nightline and World News Tonight and the PBS programs NOW with Bill Moyers and
Frontline. Amos has won many awards, including the Edward Weintal Prize for Diplomatic Reporting in 2009, and spent 1991–1992 as a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University.

Panel:

Civil Society and the Women’s Movements in the Middle East

This panel will examine the role that civil society and women’s movements have played in the recent protests and uprisings in several Middle Eastern countries. The panel will feature Dr. Samah Selim (Middle Eastern Languages and Literature, Rutgers University) who will discuss civil society and revolution in Egypt; and Dr. Firoozeh Kashani-Sabet (History Department, University of Pennsylvania) who will consider the role women have played in the protest movement in Iran. Dr. Negin Nabavi (History Department, Montclair State University) will serve as moderator.

Film Screening and Discussion:

A Jihad for Love (2007)

Director Parvez Sharma will screen and discuss his award-winning documentary focusing on gay, lesbian, and trans gender Muslims living in the Muslim and Western world.

Lecture:

Tina Lesher (Journalism Department, William Paterson University) will discuss the lives of female business and political leaders in the United Arab Emirates. As a Fulbright scholar in U.A.E., Lesher interviewed women about their changing country as it was radically transformed from a desert community to one of the wealthiest nations in the world.

APRIL

Film Screening and Discussion:

Just Like Us (2011)

Director and renowned comedian Ahmed Ahmed will screen and discuss his film Just Like Us. Utilizing contemporary standup comedy as an international language, Ahmed Ahmed, in his directorial debut, joined a host of international stand-up comedians to introduce socially relevant issues in Dubai, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt.

Panel:

Human Rights in Afghanistan- Student Perspectives

Montclair State University’s undergraduate Initiative to Educate Afghan Women scholarship students Makia Azizi, Shakila Haidari, Mursal Hamdam and Ruqia Karimiand Applied Linguistics graduate Fulbright scholarship student Gul Rasool will discuss their own perspectives on human rights, freedom of speech, and women’s rights in Afghanistan. Beth Calamia Scheckel (International Student Advisor, Montclair State University) will serve as moderator.

Panel:

Dr. Khaled Abu-Asbah (Education and Sociology, Beit Berl Academic College, and head of Van Leer Jerusalem Institute’s Strategy for the Advancement of Arab-Israeli Citizens, Israel), Dr. Awni El Faouri (Dean, International Institute for Teaching Arabic to Speakers of Other Languages, University of Jordan) and Dr. Riad Nasser (Sociology Department, Fairleigh Dickinson University) will discuss the educational system in the Middle East from the vantage point of their own experience and provide insight into the construction of a civil society for the 21st century. Mazooz Tawfiq Sehwail (Modern Languages and Literatures Department, Montclair State University) will serve as moderator.

Panel:

Teaching History, Cultural Narratives and Democratic Citizenship in the Israeli-Palestinian Context

Dr. Khaled Abu-Asbah (Education and Sociology, Beit Berl Academic College, and head of Van Leer Jerusalem Institute’s Strategy for the Advancement of Arab-Israeli Citizens, Israel) and Dr. Eyal Naveh (History Department, Tel Aviv University and Kibbutzim College of Education, Israel) and will discuss the teaching of history and the joint Palestinian-Israeli project of writing a high school history textbook that includes parallel narratives. They will consider the role that educators can play in bringing about reconciliation in the context of conflicts. Dr. Nimrod Aloni, (Philosophy of Education, Kibbutzim College of Education, Israel, and Visiting Scholar, Montclair State University) will serve as moderator.

Panel:

Dr. Irina Kuznetsova-Morenko (Institute of Comparative Studies of Modernity, Kazan Federal University, Russia), Dr. Ali Mirsepassi (Middle Eastern Studies and Sociology, New York University) Dr. Bruce Rutherford (Political Science and Middle Eastern and Islamic Civilization Studies, Colgate University) and Yuksel Sezgin (John Jay College of Criminal Justice, City University of New York) will address the contributions of secular and religious groups to the debates since the spring 2011 uprisings regarding what constitutes “justice.” The panel will focus on relevant groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, Tunisia, and Libya. Dr. Yasir Ibrahim (Philosophy and Religion Department, Montclair State University) will serve as a moderator.

Panel:

The free press in the Middle East has been experiencing a revolution during the past 20 years, as seen in their role in the recent revolutions throughout the Muslim world. Dr. Hamid Siyam. The free press in the Middle East has been experiencing a revolution during the past 20 years, as seen in their role in the recent revolutions throughout the Muslim world. Dr. Hamid Siyam Abdeljaber (Center for Middle Eastern Studies, Rutgers University), Steve McCarthy (Communications Studies Department, Montclair State University and news producer and documentary film maker), Nihal Saad (Egyptian journalist) and Dr. Kamel Taha (former Senior Executive Producer, United Nations Television, New York), and will address the role of the press and social media. Mazooz Tawfiq Sehwail (Modern Languages and Literatures Department, Montclair State University) will serve as moderator.

Panel:

Dr. William Burke-White (Deputy Dean and Professor of Law, University of Pennsylvania), Dr. Hossein Hafezian (Visiting Scholar, Political Science and Law Department, Montclair State University) and Hans Wechsel (U.S. Department of State and Former Director of Middle East Partnership Initiative, Abu Dhabi Regional Office) will explore the interactions between the international organizations and NGOs in Muslim countries, and how Muslim countries view these connections. Dr. Thomas Keenan (Comparative Literature and Human Rights Project, Bard College) will serve as moderator.

POETRY READING AND DISCUSSION:

Poetry is Dangerous

Kazim Ali (Professor, Creative Writing, Oberlin College), will present some of his poems and discuss the importance of poetry in the Muslim world.

LECTURE:

My Stolen Face: The Story of a Dramatic Mix-Up

Neda Soltani (former faculty member, Islamic Azad University, Tehran and visiting scholar, Montclair State University) will discuss her book, a memoir of growing up in Iran. Currently an Institute of International Education fellow, Neda Soltani will discuss the stifling, age-old Iranian path toward democracy, which brought about the 1979 Islamic Revolution, eventually culminating in a theocratic dictatorship. Soltani is one of the hundreds of Iranians who were forced into a life of exile after the disputed 2009 Presidential election in Iran

Panel:

Henrik Melius (Director of Spiritus Mundi), Muhamed Sacirbey (Bosnia’s former Foreign Minister and Ambassador to the United Nations, producer of U2 concert in Bosnia), Dr. Ahmad Sarmast founder of Afghani National Institute of Music (Music Advisor and Project Director, Ministry of Education, Afghanistan) and Peter Yarrow (activist and folk legend, Peter, Paul and Mary) will explore the role that music can play in breaking down social, ethnic, and religious barriers, and its use as a coalescing force for bringing about social change and mutual respect. Dr. David Sanders (Broadcasting Department, Montclair State University) will serve as moderator.

PLAY READING AND DISCUSSION:

A play by Yussef El Guindi El Guindi’s 10 Acrobats focuses on the contemporary personal dynamics in Arab- American immigrant families in a post September 11th political climate. Generational conflicts, the issues of accommodating to western culture, the loss of faith, arranged marriages and sexual identity are issues portrayed through the witty and compassionate script, directed by Susan Kerner and introduced by Jane Peterson (both Theater and Dance Department, Montclair State University). Peterson will lead a post-performance discussion, scheduled to commence directly after the completion of the reading.

LECTURE:

Racial Profiling in America: The Impact on the Muslim Community

David Harris (School of Law, University of Pittsburgh), nationally recognized as the leading authority on racial profiling, will critically ana- lyze the pros and cons of U.S. intelligence policies and discuss how the use of profiling affects our ability to gather the intelligence that is essential for our safety against terrorist attacks. Harris’s personal accomplishments and individual research will serve as a platform that will allow him to explore these issues in great detail and reference his developed study of racial profiling by law enforcement, which has been elevated it to an issue of national significance.