Past Events: 2001

Spring Semester 2001

1/18 Democracy in Egypt? A discussion of the recent elections Vickie Langohr, Assistant Professor of Political Science, College of the Holy Cross Jason Brownlee, Ph.D. Candidate in Politics, Princeton University Vickie Langohr is an expert on Egyptian politics and the Muslim Brotherhood. Jason Brownlee recently returned from observing the November 2000 parliamentary elections. Join us for a discussion of the regime, opposition, and the prospects for authoritarianism in the 21st century. Co-sponsored by the Middle East Center and the Department of Political Science (for information call 215.898.6335 ). 

1/19 Ud Music of the Near East: A Tribute to Udi Hrant featuring Richard Hagopian and Ensemble. International House of Philadelphia presents a 100th anniversary concert honoring Udi Hrant, the legendary blind Armenian ud master. This concert will be a powerful program of dance tunes, improvisations and art songs. 8 p.m. International House (3701 Chestnut)Tickets are on sale now: $20 (students $18). Call UpStages for tickets at 215-569-9700 . Call 215-895-6537 for additional concert information or visit www.ihousephilly.org. 

1/25 Nationalism, Constitutionalism, and Print Culture in Nineteenth Century Iran Shiva Balaghi, Associate Director and Adjunct Professor of History, Hagop Kevorkian Center, NYU DISCUSSANT: Anne Norton 4:30 p.m. 639 Williams Hall (International Relations Seminar Room) Papers for this seminar (9/25) will be distributed ahead of time and will be available from the Middle East Center via e-mail or hard copy (contact us at: info@mec.sas.upenn.edu). For further information contact: 215.898.6335 . 

1/29-2/2 Alexander Leskov, formerly Head, Department of Archaeology and Ancient Art, Museum of Oriental Art, Moscow. Currently visiting Scholar, Near Eastern Studies, University of California at Berkeley. 2001 Hyde Lecturer-Ancient History. Co-sponsored by Ancient History, Art and Archaeology of the Mediterranean World, Classical Studies, History of Art, University Museum Mediterranean Section, and the Center for Ancient Studies. 

1/29 The Caucasus As a Cultural Bridge Between Near East Civilization and the World of the Nomads 4:30-6 p.m. Room 329, Anthropology Department, University Museum. 
1/30 Maikop Seminar 2-3:45 p.m. Anthropology Conference Room. Limited Seating. Please contact hpittman@sas.upenn.edu if you plan to attend. 
1/31 No scheduled talks. Dr. Leskov will be available for conversation with students and colleagues. 
2/1 Dept. of Classics Colloquium: Herodotus and the New Discoveries of Scythian Monuments 4:30-6 p.m. 203 Logan Hall.
2/2 AAMW Lunch: Animal Style Art and/or Scythians and New Discoveries in the Northwest Causasus (6th-4th centuries B.C.) 11:30-1 p.m. Room 113 Jaffe. Light lunch and soda provided. 

1/31 Arguing Egpyt: The Taha Husayn On Pre-Islamic Poetry Controversy and Egyptian National Identity Joe Glicksburg, Political Science Department. 2:00-4:00 p.m. Stiteler Undergraduate Lounge, first floor Stiteler Hall. Copies of the paper to be discussed are available in Williams 839, or to request a copy of the paper, contact the Center at 215.898.6335 or marym@mec.sas.upenn.edu. Refreshments will be served. 

2/8 Preachers, Prayer-Leaders, and the Public in the Period of Crusades and Counter-Crusades Daniella Talmon-Heller, Hebrew University visiting research fellow at Princeton University. 4:30 p.m. Williams Hall 639 (IR Seminar Room). Co-sponsored by AMES and the Middle East Center. 

2/15 Hegemony, Historical Memory, and State Power: Reflections from Iraq Eric Davis, Pol. Science and Director of Rutger's Program in Middle East Studies. Discussant: Ian Lustick 

2/15 The Discovery of Urkesh and the Dawn of a Civilization Giorgio Buccellati, Professor, Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures, and Department of History, UCLA, and Marilyn Kelly-Buccellati, Professor, Art History, California State University, Los Angeles, speak about how they selected the site of Tell Mozan, located in northeastern Syria. They identify the site as Urkesh--an important third millenium B.C. capital city, prominent in the mythology of the little-known Hurrian peoples. Because of the site's historical and stylistic pecularities, the lecturers argue that the excavations have revealed the dawn of a "new civilization," one distinctive within Syro-Mesopotamia. 6:00 p.m. Free. Reception follows. Rainey Auditorium. Sponsored by the Hagop Kevorkian Visiting Lectureship Fund. Registration requested. Information: 215.898.4890 . 

3/8 Tel Aviv's Rothschild: When a Boulevard Becomes a Monument Barbara Mann, Near Eastern Studies, Princeton (Discussant: TBA)

3/22 - Lecture: "Medicine & Philosophy in the 10th Century: A Special Focus on Abu-Zayd al-Balkhi" by Dr. Hans Hinrich Biesterfeldt, Ruhr-Universitat Bochum. IR Seminar Room, Williams Hall Rm.639, 4:30 PM. Sponsored by the Middle East Center. 

3/29 - Lecture: "Scholarship, Rebellion, and the Perfect Man: Themes in Chinese Muslim History" by Zvi Aziz Ben-Dor, Fellow at the Rutgers Center for Historical Analysis. Irvine Hall G16, 4:30 PM. Sponsored by The Middle East Center and Center for East Asian Studies. 

3/30 - Special Event: "Islam in the Mix: Religion and the Globalization of Hip Hop Culture" by the Poor Righteous Teachers (C Rayz Walz, Grand Agent, Jamarah Leverette, Suheir Hammad). Conference: 10AM to 4PM, Amado Recital Hall (at 34th & Spruce St.) Concert: 8PM, at the Rotunda (4012 Walnut Street). Admission is FREE For more information, call the Middle East Center at 215-898-6335 . 

4/2 - Special Event: "The Formation of the Arabic Novel and the Enlightenment Movement." By Gaber Asfour, Undersecretary of the Egyptian Ministry of Culture, and is Professor of Arabic Literature at Cairo University. Humanities Forum (3619 Locust Walk), 4:30 PM. Sponsored by the Middle East Center. 

4/4 - "The Construction of National Identities: Israelis & Palestinians" by Rashid Khalidi & Yael Zerubavel. Khalidi is Professor of Middle East History and Director of the Center for International Studies at the University of Chicago, and is the author of "Palestinian Identity: The Construction of National Consciousness" (Columbia 1997); Zerubavel is the founding Director of of the Bildner Center for the Study of Jewish Life and the Chair of the Department of Jewish Studies at Rutgers University. She is the author of "Recovered Roots: Collective Memory and the Making of Israeli National Tradition (Chicago 1995). Stiteler B6, 3:30 PM. Sponsored by the Middle East Center, Christopher H. Browne Center for International Politics, Department of History, and the Kutchin Jewish Studies Seminar. 

4/5 - Middle East Studies Seminar: "Before Democracy: Coming to Terms with Formal Political Authority" by Abdelsalam Maghroui, Fellow Transnational Institute, Princeton University. Discussant: Deborah Harrold, Political Science, Drexel University. IR Seminar Room, Williams 639, 4:30 PM. Sponsored by the Middle East Center. 

4/6 - Special Event: Free Policy Briefing Trip to Washington, DC: "The Future of US-Iraqi Policy." Briefings from Washington Institute for Near East Policy, White House National Security Council, Anti-Sanction Activists, Human Rights Watch. Sponsored by the Middle East Center. 

4/16 - Special Event: Elias Khoury, one of the most prolific novelists in the Arab World today. Khoury is from Lebanon and has written 10 novels, four books on literary and poetry criticism, one play and a film scenario. Khoury is also the editor of the An-Nahar Weekly Literary Supplement. Several of his works have been translated to French, German, Hebrew. English translations of "The Little Mountain," and "The Journey of Little Gandhi" are available. 2:30-4:00 PM, meeting with students to discuss Khoury's "The Journey of Little Gandhi," at Van Pelt Library, Weigle Seminar Suite 402. 4:30 PM, Khoury will lecture on "The Text and Its Double." An exploration of the authentic and inauthentic in literary traditions (Don Quixote and Kalila Wa Dimna). Humanities Forum at 3619 Locust Walk. 

September

Monday 17 September 2001
MIDDLE EAST PUBLIC LECTURE SERIES:
“Breaking Rank: A Humanitarian Call to End the Economic Sanctions Against Iraq”
Kathy Kelly (co-sponsored with Thomas Naff), Voices of the Wilderness

Thursday 20 September 2001
MIDDLE EAST STUDIES SEMINAR:
“Post-1979 Iranian National Culture: A Reconsideration”
Haggai Ram, Middle Eastern Studies, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
Discussant: Firoozeh Kashani-Sabet, History (Penn)

October

Tuesday 2 October 2001
MIDDLE EAST PUBLIC LECTURE SERIES:
Discussion Forum: “Reflections on September 11”
Panelists: Rosane Rocher (SARS & Asian American Studies), Robert Vitalis (Political Science), Ritty Lukose (Education), Nubar Hovsepian (Political Science)
Location: The Veranda, 3615 Locust Walk

Saturday 6 October 2001 – Sunday 7 October 2001
RELATED MUSEUM EVENTS:
Egypt Revealed: Reports from the 2001 Excavation Season
Lecturers include: Drs. Zahi Hawass, Kent Weeks, Mark Lehner, Salima Ikram, & David Silverman
Location: University of Pennsylvania Museum

Wednesday 17 October 2001, 4:30 PM
MIDDLE EAST PUBLIC LECTURE SERIES:
“The Role of Turkey in Combating Terrorism”
Stephen Kinzer, Veteran Foreign Correspondent for the New York Times
Location: Stiteler Hall, Room B-21

Wednesday, 17 October, 7:30PM – 9:30PM
“Non-Violence in Action: Resisting the Israeli Occupation” (Video Lecture Tour)
Liad Kantorowicz, Israeli Peace Activist and Tyson Smith, American Independent Filmmaker
Co-Sponsored by the Penn Arab Student Society, the Middle East Center, Jewish Mobilization for a Just Peace, the Solomon Asch Center for the Study of Ethnopolitical Conflict, the Albert Greenfield Intercultural Center, American Friends’ Service Committee, Resource Center for Nonviolence (US), and Christian Peacemaker Teams (Canada)
Location: Meyerson Hall, B-3

Thursday 18 October 2001, 4:30 PM
MIDDLE EAST STUDIES SEMINAR:
“Pathological Landscape: Malaria and the Sanitization of the Land in Mandatory Palestine, 1920-1947”
Sandy Sufian, Postdoctoral Fellow, Rutgers Center for Historical Analysis
Discussant: Professor Henrika Kuklick, History & Sociology of Science (Penn)
Location: Stiteler Hall, Conference Room, Second Floor

Thursday 18 October 2001, 7:00 PM
MIDDLE EAST PUBLIC LECTURE SERIES:
“The Challenges of Israeli-Palestinian Peace”
Uri Avnery, Israeli Peace Activist, Author of My Friend, My Enemy
Location: Humanities Forum, 3619 Locust Walk

Tuesday, 23 October, 7:30PM
“Terrorism and Radical Islam”
Emmanuel Sivan, Professor of History, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and advisor to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon
Co-sponsored by Penn Hillel, the Middle East Center, and the Consulate General of Israel (Philadelphia)
Location: Stiteler Hall, B-6

Thursday 25 October 2001, 7PM
THE OTHER ISRAEL: DOCUMENTARY FILM SERIES
“1996 Was a Good Year for Tourism"
Amit Goren was eleven years old when his Alexandria-born father decided to move the family to the U.S. and start a tourism agency. For over 10 years, Amit documented (on camera) his family’s visits to Israel, his father’s return to Alexandria and the family’s life in the U.S.
Location: Chemistry Building (231 S. 34th Street), Carolyn Hoff-Lynch Room

Friday 26 October 2001, 3:45-5:00 PM
AFRICAN STUDIES CONSORTIUM WORKSHOP: The New African Diaspora
Middle East Center Panel, “The Accidental American: The North African Experience in America”
Participants: Robert Vitalis, Nubar Hovsepian, Hocine Fetni, Amel Ahmed
Location: Terrace Room, Logan Hall

Friday 26 October 2001, 2:30 PM
“US Policy in the Middle East”
Co-sponsored by PENNPac
Ron Wyden (D-OR), United States Senator
Location: Bodek Lounge, 100 Houston Hall

Tuesday 30 October 2001, 1pm-5pm (Papers); 5pm-6:30pm (Reception)
Conference, “Cultural Approaches to Modern Turkey: Folklore, Popular Culture, Nationalism, & Religion”
Participants: Arzu Ozturkmen (History, Bosphorus University), Heiko Henkel (Anthropology, Princeton University),  Meltem Turkoz (Folklore & Folklife, Penn), Hakan Yilmaz (Political Science & International Affairs, Bosphorus University)
Location: 3619 Locust Walk (Humanities Forum)

Tuesday, 30 October 2001, 7:00PM
Workshop on Arab and Jewish Stereotypes and Lecture on Stereotyping
Vida Bajc, Sociology (Penn)
Co-sponsored by the Arab-Jewish Alliance (Penn), the Middle East Center, Penn Arab Students Society (PASS), and Operation Understanding
Location: Irvine Auditorium, Room G-16

November

Thursday 1 November 2001, 4:30PM 
MIDDLE EAST STUDIES SEMINAR:
“State Business Relations in Syria: Economic Networks & Economic Change”
Bassam Haddad, Doctoral Candidate, Department of Government, Georgetown University
Discussant: Melani Cammett, Doctoral Candidate, Department of Political Science, UC Berkeley
Location: Stiteler Hall, Conference Room, Second Floor

Thursday 8 November 2001, 4:30 PM
MIDDLE EAST PUBLIC LECTURE SERIES:
“The Struggle Against Global Terrorism: Ends & Means – Defining a Just War” 
Co-sponsored by the University of Pennsylvania Law School
Richard Falk, Professor Emeritus of International Law, Princeton University
Discussants: Arthur Waldron, History (Penn) and Jacques deLisle, Penn Law School
Location: Law School, Room 100

Thursday 8 November 2001 7PM
THE OTHER ISRAEL: DOCUMENTARY FILM SERIES
"Because of the War,” directed by Orna Ben-Dor, 1988. 90 minutes.
An award-winning documentary about the impact of the Holocaust on the lives of second generation survivors: two popular Israeli rock figures Yehuda Poliker, singer, and Ya’kov Gilad, lyricist. It is a story of a Sephardi and Ashkenazi – of the working-class and intellectuals. The film interweaves interviews with the parents and sons together with performances by Poliker of his rock songs which deal with the memories.
Location: Chemistry Building (231 S. 34th Street), Carolyn Hoff-Lynch Room

Saturday and Sunday, 10 – 11 November 2001, 12:30PM (Saturday) and 1:30PM (Sunday)
“Some Words with a Mummy: Edgar Allan Poe and Egyptology”
Special Weekend Program presented by the University of Pennsylvania Museum
Events will include: a reading of Poe’s “Some Words with a Mummy” by actor and Poe impersonator David Keltz, gallery tours of the exhibition “Egyptian Mummy: Secrets and Science”, and interactive activities for children.
For more information, visit www.upenn.edu/museum or call (215) 898-4000 .
Location: University of Pennsylvania Museum, 33rd and Spruce Streets

Thursday 15 November 2001 4:30PM
MIDDLE EAST PUBLIC LECTURE SERIES:
“Freedom After September 11”
Anthony Lewis, New York Times columnist
Location: Yasuda Amphitheater, Aresty Institute of Executive Education, Steinberg Conference Center
255 South 38tth Street
Co-sponsored by: Middle East Center, Aresty Institute for Executive Education (The Wharton School), Annenberg School of Communication, Janet Lee Stevens Award Committee, International Relations
Please Note: Picture ID Required 

Thursday 15 November 2001 7PM
THE OTHER ISRAEL: DOCUMENTARY FILM SERIES
"Zehava Ben: The Solitary Star," Winner of the 1997 Gold Hugo, Chicago International Film Festival
Zehava Ben assumed her place in Israel as the “unknown queen” of oriental Middle Eastern music. Ben performs songs of the greatest Egyptian queen of Arabic music: Om Kulthum. Her tour of the Middle East opened a window for peace. In his documentary, E. Laufer presents her complex story - Cinderella-like, rags to fame - in human terms.
Location: Chemistry Building (231 S. 34th Street), Carolyn Hoff-Lynch Room

Wednesday 28 November 2001 7PM
Talk and Discussion: Empowering Afghan Women
Speaker: Tahmeena Faryal, Representative from the Revolutionary Association of Women of Afghanistan (RAWA)
Location: Harrison Auditorium, University Museum, 33rd and Spruce Sts.

December

Saturday 1 December 2001 Time: TBA
WHARTON WEST ASIA CONFERENCE
“Arabian Sea to Mediterranean Shores: Transitioning Business in the 21st Century”
Conference held under the rubric of the Wharton Global Business Forum 
Co-sponsored by the Middle East Center
Keynote Address:  Mr. Shahid Javed Burki, CEO of EMP Financial Advisors, Former President of the World Bank and HRH Prince Firas Raad of the Kingdom of Jordan
Location: Yarnall Conference Center, International House, 3701 Chestnut Street  (tel. 215-895-6524 )
For more information, contact Conference Chairperson Dilawar Syed at dilawar.syed.wg02@wharton.upenn.edu (tel. 215-431-1630 .  Additional information also available at the conference website: www.whartonglobal.com/westasia

Thursday 6 December 2002, 6:30PM
MIDDLE EAST CULTURE SERIES
“An Evening of Traditional Performance and Discussion with Fatima Chebchoub”
Performer: Fatima Chebchoub, Moroccan actress and filmaker and Penn graduate student
Location: 3820 Locust (Upper Lobby Classroom)

Thursday 6 December 2001, 3:30PM 
MIDDLE EAST CULTURAL SERIES 
A Multimedia Presentation: Songs of the Bitter Migration: Nubian Music in Egypt 
Ted Swedenburg, Associate Professor of Anthropology, University of Arkansas with the participation of Hamza El-Din, World-Renowned Master of Nubian Music
Location: 3619 Locust Walk (Humanities Forum) 

Friday 7 December 2001, 7:30PM 
MIDDLE EAST CULTURAL SERIES 
Musical Recital: Celebration of Sacred Sufi Music with Hamza El-Din 
(Including "Love Songs of India" by Deepak Kumar and Naren Budhkar) 
Location: The Harrison Auditorium, University of Pennsylvania Museum, 33rd
and Spruce Streets 
Please Note: Tickets are required for this event and are available at ticketmaster.com or (215) 336-2000 . For more information, please contact
(215) 879-6311 , (888) 232-1786 , or www.bmf.org/concert 

Saturday 8 December 2001 (Time TBA) 
MIDDLE EAST CULTURAL SERIES 
Poetry and Music Recital: Coleman Barks Presents the Poetry of Rumi 
(With the Illumination Band and Hamza El-Din) 
Location: The Harrison Auditorium, University of Pennsylvania Museum, 33rd and Spruce Streets
Please Note: Tickets are required for this event and are available at ticketmaster.com or (215) 336-2000 . For more information, please contact (215) 879-6311 , (888) 232-1786 , or www.bmf.org/concert