Friday, April 1, 2011

Events Week of 4/4

* Note that Theater Club on Saturday 4/2 is CANCELLED

Schedule of Events Week of 4/4. All events start at 3PM in the AC unless otherwise noted:

Mon 4/4 - Guest Speaker: Faeez Safedin on South Africa's Transition to Democracy

Tues 4/5 - Guest Speaker: Todd Fine on Ameen Rihani (starts at 2:30PM at the US Embassy. You must notify me at least 1 day in advance if you want to attend)


The 100th Anniversary of the First Arab-American Novel: Ameen Rihani's Uncanny Message in The Book of Khalid

2011 brings the centennial anniversary of the first Arab-American novel: Ameen Rihani’s The Book of Khalid (1911). The story of two Arab boys who immigrate to New York City, the novel ambitiously confronts issues that concerned Rihani’s era and still confound our own: the ideal relations between Americans and Arabs, the problem of religious conflict in the Arab world and beyond, and the rightful position of Arabs within the great American story of immigration. Because of the novel’s extreme merit, historical importance, and contemporary relevance, a group of esteemed scholars and public figures have come together to establish Project Khalid, a coordinated effort to commemorate this important milestone in the history of Arab-American life and literature. Activities include preparing a new edition of the novel for schools and managing its distribution, hosting a public forum at the Library of Congress on March 29, 2011 and at the New York Public Library of October 25, and using online and traditional media to promote the novel and Rihani’s legacy throughout the anniversary year.

Todd Fine, the project's director, will introduce The Book of Khalid and will argue that the work, in addition to its extraordinary merit, has great relevance to the contemporary crisis in the Arab-American relationship and to the present situation in the region.

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Todd Fine, the director of Project Khalid (www.projectkhalid.org), is a Magna Cum Laude graduate of Harvard University and holds a Master’s Degree in International Relations from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University. He is the editor of a new critical edition of The Book of Khalid under advance contract with Syracuse University Press. At Harvard, Mr. Fine worked for Samuel P. Huntington as a research assistant for two years on his book on American identity and immigration, entitled Who Are We? (Simon and Schuster, 2004). He also organized and developed the Global Zero campaign on nuclear weapons, which launched in Paris, France in December 2008.


Wed 4/6 - Tunisian-Egyptian Virtual Summit to discuss post-revolution cooperation between Egyptian and Tunisian youth. This event will be held along with the AC in Cairo.

Thurs 4/7 - Guest Speaker: Palestinian-American Comedian Maysoon Zayid

Fri 4/8 - Documentary + Discussion: "The Cove"