Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, January/February 1999, pages 83-84

Education

NEH-Sponsored Institutes on Middle East, Islam

By Betsy Barlow

The National Endowment for the Humanities is funding, as part of its summer programs for both college professors and K-12 teachers, several programs related to the Middle East and Islam. This should be a signficant benefit to educators who are trying to improve their knowledge of the non-Western world.

John Voll will direct an institute for college professors June 7 to July 2, 1999 on “Islam and the 21st Century: Heritage and Prospects” at Georgetown University in Washington. He will be assisted by John L. Esposito, Yvonne Y. Haddad, Amira el Azhary Sonbol, Walter Armbrust, and Sonsyrea Tate.

For further information or application material, contact Prof. John Voll, Georgetown University, Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, Washington, DC 20057; phone: (202) 687-8375; e-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

In addition, the NEH is also funding for college teachers a seminar program designed for fewer participants with more class discussion. Carl W. Ernst, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, will lead a program June 14 to July 16 on “The Literature of Islamic Mysticism.” For further information or the application packet, contact Professor Ernst at the Department of Religious Studies, CB#3225, 101 Sauders Hall, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3225; phone: (919) 962-3924; e-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

The NEH also is funding four programs for K-12 teachers. Roger Allen, University of Pennsylvania, will lead a seminar July 5 to July 30 on “The Arabic Novel in Translation.” Contact him at 840 Williams Hall, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104; phone (215) 898-6337; e-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Maureen N. Eke, Central Michigan University, will host a July 5 to Aug. 6 program on “Writing Africa: Chinua Achebe, Joyce Cary, Joseph Conrad, and Wole Soyinka.” Contact her at Central Michigan University, English Department, AN 301 E, Mt. Pleasant, MI 48859; phone: (517) 774-2662; e-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

The University of Michigan’s Center for Middle Eastern Studies will hold an institute July 5 to July 30 on “The Arab World and the West: A History of Intellectual Relationships.” Co-directors are Michael Bonner and Anton Shammas, both of the Near Eastern Studies Department, and Ronald Stockton, a political scientist from the University of Michigan-Dearborn. For information or to apply, contact Elizabeth Barlow, CMENAS, University of Michigan, 1080 S. University, Suite 4640, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1106; phone: (734) 764-0350; e-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

“Islam in West Africa” is the topic for yet another institute, to be directed by Richard A. Corby, University of Arkansas. Contact him at the School of Social and Behavioral Sciences, P.O. Box 3619, University of Arkansas at Monticello, Monticello, AR 71656; phone: (870) 460-1047; e-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

All of these institutes and seminars offer a stipend to participants to cover the cost of their transportation to the site of the program and their room and board while present. All programs are expected to help educators improve their knowledge of the Middle East, Africa and Islam.

Dar al Islam Summer Teachers’ Institute

A two-week program for secondary school teachers, “Understanding and Teaching About Islam,” will be offered twice at Dar al Islam in Abiquiu, New Mexico. Institute Director Karima Diane Alavi has announced that the dates for 1999 are July 11-24, with a repeat of the same program on Aug. 1-14.

The daily program comprises three hours of lecture/discussions in the morning followed by small group study sessions in the early afternoons. Late afternoons provide time for reading, study, reflection, use of the library and audio-visual resources and other enrichment activities. Evening sessions feature films, slide programs, discussions and demonstrations.

While the academic program is intense, there are, we are told, opportunities for mountain hikes, swimming, river rafting and star gazing. The setting is in the beautiful mountains of northern New Mexico.

Participants pay their travel and incidental expenses. The Institute provides required books, supplementary materials, room and board, and a $200 travel allowance.

The application deadline is March 15, 1999 and applicants will be notified of acceptance by April 20. For information on the application process, contact Karima Alavi, Director, Dar al Islam Teachers’ Institute, P. O. Box 180, Abiquiu, NM 87510; phone: (505) 685-4515 ext 24.

New Films Available

Films are often more effective in teaching about cultures or historical events than simple classroom discussions. So it is good news that Arab Film Distribution has recently added to its collection for sale and rental eight Tunisian and six Egyptian films of recent vintage or historical importance.

The Egyptian collection includes the Alexandria trilogy directed by Youssef Chahine (“Alexandria, Why?”; “An Egyptian Story”; and “Alexandria Again and Forever”) and “The Sparrow,” produced in 1973 and set in Upper Egypt before and during the June 1967 War.

Another film of the 1967 war, “Little Dreams,” written and directed by Khaled El Hagar, tells the story of a 13-year-old boy who lives with his mother in Suez.

A 1998 film, “Date Wine,” directed by Radwan el-Kashef, should be popular with American audiences. It received a Silver Prize at the 1998 Carthage Film Festival. The village men migrate in search of jobs and wealth, leaving behind young Ahmed. In their absence, he finds the role of the leader of the village thrust upon him. After initial resistance, he gradually accepts this responsibility. When the migrant men return, life in the village becomes very interesting!

The new Tunisian films include “The Gulf War, What Next?” This is a compilation of five leading Arab film directors, and includes Borhane Alaoui”s “Black Night Eclipse,” about a Lebanese filmmaker in Paris grappling with making a film about the war; Nouri Bouzid’s “It is Sheherazade They’re Killing” (a Tunisian family in Ramadan, torn apart by dissension over heroes and victims of the war); Mustapha Darkaoui’s “the Silence” (a theater group wants to revisit Iraq); Nejia Ben Mabrouk’s “Research of Shaima,” where a filmmaker travels to Baghdad in search of a girl seen on television; and Elia Suleiman’s “Homage by Assassination,” in which a Palestinian screenwriter attempts to finish a script in New York, while becoming increasingly distraught over news of the war.

“Crossing Over,” directed by Mahmoud Ben Mahmoud, tells the story of a Polish worker and an Arab intellectual who travel the English Channel together as officals on both sides of the Channel deny them entry. The Pole is fleeing the crackdown on Solidarity, the Arab is simply fleeing. Condemned to shuttle meaninglessly back and forth across the channel, the indignity and absurdity of their experience becomes a powerful metaphor of exile and alienation in the modern nation-state.

“Bent Familia,” a 1997 film directed by Nouri Bouzid, received Honorable Mention at the Venice Film Festival in 1997. It focuses on gender relationships in modern Tunisia.

“The Dove’s Lost Necklace,” a 1990 film directed by Nacer Khemir, received the Special Prize of the Jury at the Locarno International Film Festival. It is set in Andalusia during the eleventh century, and deals with themes of love, poetry, and a quest. For further information, contact Arab Film Distribution at (206) 322-0882.

Moroccan Women on Film

Another film of interest to classes in women’s studies, anthropology or Islamic studies is “Still Ready: Three Women From the Moroccan Resistance,” a video directed by Hakim Belabbes and produced by Alison Baker. This video addresses the questions, “Who were the women of the resistance?” “What did they do?” “Where are they now?”

For purchase ($200) or rental ($75), contact the producer, Alison Baker, 22-D Hollywood Avenue, Ho Ho Kus, NJ 07423, phone: (800) 343-5540. The stories of the women of the Moroccan resistance are also told in a book by Alison Baker, Voices of Resistance: Oral Histories of Moroccan Women, published by SUNY press.

“Great Decisions” Series

The Foreign Policy Association has announced the topics for its 1999 “Great Decisions” integrated resource program including videos, updates, teachers’ guide, and public and private Web discussion areas. Despite the omission of several obvious crises in the Middle East, the topics may nonetheless be of interest to Middle Eastern specialists. One is “Central Asia Pressure Cooker: The Caspian Basin and Iran”; a second is “Foreign Policy in the Information Age”; a third is “U.S. Role in the United Nations: A Changing Dynamic?”; and another is “International Financial Crisis: The IMF and Its Critics.”

There is a special rate for teachers and school systems. For information about ordering, contact Paul Mucha at phone: (216) 781-3730 or e-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it