Penn Area Studies Centers Host "Asia Day" for Local High Schools
In partnership with the Penn Center for East Asian Studies, the South Asia Center and the Penn Museum, the Middle East Center co-sponsored “Asia Day” for local area high school students on February 11th, 2015. Approximately 120 students from four area high schools participated in the daylong program. This year’s Asia Day theme was “The Many Faces of Islam.” Students listened to lectures, participated in Urdu and Arabic language classes, and took a tour through the Penn Museum. The visiting students interacted with Penn staff and graduate students, took part in Q&A sessions and learned about a number of world regions.
Following the morning session, the visiting students enjoyed a lunch featuring South Asian and East Asian cuisine. After lunch, the students were treated to three different performances highlighting unique aspects of Asian and Middle Eastern culture. Juan Ibrahim Castrillion, a Penn PhD student in Ethnomusicology, performed traditional Sufi music playing instruments such as ney and bendir. Ibrahim Miari, a Lecturer of Modern Hebrew at Penn, performed a traditional Whirling Dervishes dance, accompanied by music performed by Mr. Castrillion. Finally, the daylong program closed with a performance by Penn Masti, the university’s premier South Asian co-ed fusion dance team.