World Culture Day
On March 9th, 2018, 119 regional high school students and 16 teachers participated in a special event, World Culture Day sponsored by the Middle East Center along with the South Asia Center and Penn Museum. This popular annual event, formerly known as Asia Day was revamped this year to provide more prominent focus on regional socio-political issues and cultures from Middle East. The day started with a keynote lecture by the Center’s guest speaker, Brahim El Guabli, Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Comparative Literature, Princeton University. After keynote, students were separated into smaller groups to experience a guided-Egypt gallery tour and the International Classroom program, an interactive workshop facilitated by a Museum-affiliated Egyptologist. After the catering lunch, Middle East Center’s collaborator, Al-Bustan Seeds of Culture, a local arts-based non-profit organization engaged students in interactive Middle East music performance.
The majority of participants were from the Title I schools from the School District of Philadelphia. They enjoyed this special opportunity to participate in global learning program in a university context.