2005-2006 NES Activities and Events

Fall 2005
Middle Eastern Film Screenings
Mondays, 7:30pm
132 Rockefeller Hall
August 29: The Battle of Algiers
September 5: Omar Gatlato
September 12: Silences of the Palace
September 19: Alexandria, Why?
September 26: A Suspended Life
October 5: Divine Intervention
Please note that this screening will be held on a Wednesday
October 17: The House on Chelouche Street
October 24: Hamsin
October 31: Yana’s Friends
November 7: Cow
Special screening at Cornell Cinema, Willard Straight Hall, 9:20 pm
November 14: Boycott
November 21: Taste of Cherry
November 28: Under the Skin of the City
For more information, contact
Complete listing and film descriptions

 

Is there a Muslim Diaspora? Promises and Challenges of Islam in Europe, Africa and North America
Panel discussion with Bassam Tibi, A.D. White Professor
Monday, September 12, 4:30pm
401 Warren Hall
NES Grad Colloquium
Bassam Tibi, A.D. White Professor
Monday, September 19, 4:30pm
White Hall

Special NES Undergrad Majors Table with Bassam Tibi, A.D. White Professor

Thursday, September 22, 6:00 pm
Alice Cook House Seminar Room
Please RSVP to or

The Burning: Finitude and the Politico-Theological Imagination of Illegal Migration
A talk by Stefania Pandolfo, Professor of Anthropology, University of California-Berkeley

September 23rd, 3:30 pm
165 McGraw Hall
Sponsors: Africana Studies and Research Center, Anthropology Graduate Student Association, Clarke Fund for the Middle East at the Cornell Law School, The Einaudi Center, Near Eastern Studies, Peace Studies, and Romance Studies
 
Delhi, Urdu and the Qutb Minar: Narratives of Muslim History in India
SAP Seminar Series: a lecture by David Lelyveld, Professor of History and Associate Dean, Humanities and Social Sciences at William Paterson University
Monday, September 26, 12:15 pm
G08 Uris Hall
Special Celebration of Turkish Culture, Change and Development
September 26 - October 1
For more information: International Programs/CALS
Classic Turkish Film Series
In conjunction with the Special Celebration of Turkish Culture, Change and Development
October 3 - November 1
See Cornell Cinema for complete listing
Israel and the Palestinian Refugee Issue
Lecture by Professor Elia Zureik, Queen's University
Thursday, September 29, 4:30 pm
134 Goldwin Smith
So Yesterday was the Burning of Books: Wartime in Iraq
Lecture on the current condition of the libraries and archives of Iraq by René Teygeler
Monday, October 3, 2:30 pm
2B48 Lecture Room, Kroch Library
René Teygeler is a preservation consultant for a number of international organizations, including the European Commission on Preservation and Access, the International Council on Archives, and the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property. Mr. Teygeler, a graduate of the University of Leiden and the University of Utrecht, was recently a consultant for the Ministry of Culture at the Iraq Reconstruction Management Office and has just returned from eight months in Baghdad.
Sponsor: Cornell University Library
The Afro-Semitic Experience
As part of Daniel Pearl Music Day
Thursday, October 6, 8:00 pm
Alice Cook House Common Room
FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
More information

Karim Kawar, Jordanian Ambassador to the U.S.

October
Details TBA
Near Eastern Studies Colloquium
Arabic Cases and Moods: An Unnatural Linguistic Phenomenon
Tuesday, October 25
110 White Hall
Sponsor: NES
a talk given by Senior Lecturer Munther Younes, NES
 
Alon Ben-Gurion
Grandson of David Ben Gurion will speak on building up the Negev
Thursday, October 27, time to be announced
Location to be announced
Sponsor: CIPAC, Near Eastern Studies and Jewish Studies
Beyond Anne Frank: Hidden Children and Family Reconstruction in Post-war Holland
a talk by Diane Wolf, Professor of Sociology, UC Davis
Thursday, October 27 at 12:00p.m.
Iss Conference Room
Sponsor: Government, German Studies, NES, SOC H, ISS Evolving Family Theme Project
 
Film Just Married
Ayelet Bechar, director
November
Details TBA
Sepharadi Persian Night
A free eveing celebrating joint Persian and Jewish heritage with stand -up comedy, Middle Eastern music, dancing, and Kosher Persian food.
Thursday, November 3
Sponsor: Sephardi & Mizrachi Association, Near Eastern Studies and Jewish Studies
The Political Landscape: The United States and the Middle East
John Zogby
Zogby International
Thursday, November 10 at 8:30p.m.
Alice Cook House Common Room
Sponsor: Alice H. Cook House, The Arab Students Assoc., and NES
a talk by John Zogby. Refreshments to follow.
Poetry Reading
Ted Kooser, Poet Laureate of the United States
Sunday, November 13 at 8:30p.m.
Alice Cook House Common Room
Sponsor: Alice H. Cook House
Ted Kooser is a Pulitzer Prize winner for Poetry.
Panel Discussion: The Riots in France
 
Monday, November 14 at 7:30p.m.
Alice Cook House Common Room
Sponsor: Alice Cook House
Alice Cook and French House Residents Ask:
Is France on the Verge of an Ideological Revolution?

Please join the French House, the Alice Cook House,
and faculty commentators for this unique event.

Faculty guests include Professors Philip Lewis (Romance Studies), Steven Kaplan (History), Salah Hassan (Africana Studies), Lecturer Karine Proux-Garcia (Romance Studies) and Visiting Assistant Professor Laurent Dubreuil (Romance Studies).  Discussion moderator will be Professor and House Dean Ross Brann (Near Eastern Studies).
 Contact Ioana Vartolomei (igv2@cornell.edu) for more information or directions to ACH
Cornell Middle Eastern Music Ensemble
A program of Greek and Arabic music
Monday, November 14 at 7:30p.m.
A.D. White House
Sponsor: IES, Einaudi Center, Department of Music and Department of Near Eastern Studies
The event is free and open to the public.
Civil Society in Western Europe: An Inspiration to Turkish Modernization?
**THIS EVENT HAS BEEN CANCELLED**
Professor Serif Mardin
Thursday, December 1 at 3:00-4:30p.m.
Mann Library, 2nd floor
Sponsor: This event is sponsored by the Turkish Student Association, the Department of Near Eastern Studies, the Institute for European Studies, Cornell University Society for the Humanities and the GPSAFC. The event is free and open to the Cornell Community.
Prof. Serif Mardin is a prominent Turkish political scientist and sociologist who had a Ph.D. from Stanford University in 1958. His studies focus on Turkish Modernity with an emphasis on the relationship between the state and the civil society. He discusses mainly the characteristics and evolution of state-civil society-religion relationships in the late Ottoman and early Turkish Republic periods with a view to European Modernization. He is currently teaching a course on Turkish politics at Syracuse University as a visiting professor. He has taught  various courses at other well-known universities in the US such as Princeton, Harvard, Columbia, UCLA, Berkeley and the American University
 
 
 

Spring 2006
Deliberations and Drifts: A Useful Magnificent Language
The Work of Samia A. Halaby

Thursday, January 12 through Friday, March 31
The Tompkins County Public Library
Held in conjunction with the Light in Winter Festival

Simon Shaheen and Al-Qantara at Light in Winter Festival

Friday, January 20, State Theatre, 7:30pm
 
Light in Winter is an annual festival of explorations in music, art and science in Ithaca, NY. Come join scientists, musicians, dancers, writers, engineers, and artists who collaborate to share their passion with diverse audiences in ways that are understandable, accessible, and exciting.
For schedule, tickets, packages & more, visit
http://www.lightinwinter.com
Simon Shaheen Mini-Concert
Saturday, January 21, 8:30pm
Alice Cook House Common Room

Andalusi Moorings
Professor Ross Brann, Cornell University
Monday, January 30, 12:15-1:15pm
104 White Hall
**Part of the NES Colloquium Series

Separate Spaces: Linguistic Perspectives on Medieval Jewish Culture in Northern France

Professor Kirsten Fudeman, Ithaca College
Wednesday, February 1, 4:30pm
106A Morrill Hall


Law in China or Conquest in the Americas: Competing Constructions of Political Space
in the Early Ottoman Empire

Baki Tezcan, UC-Davis/Cornell Society for the Humanities
Monday, February 6, 12:15-1:15pm
104 White Hall
**Part of the NES Colloquium Series
A performance of Khalil Gibran's "A Child of Life"
Michel El-Ashkar, Lebanese performance artist
Monday, February 6, 8:30pm
Statler Auditorium
Sponsored by the Cornell Lebanese Club
Careers in Public Affairs Discussion with NES majors Ambassador Tom Simons, Provost's Visiting Professor
Tuesday, February 7, 4:30pm
110 White Hall
For more details, click here.

Public Lecture
Tuesday, February 14, 4:30pm
165 McGraw Hall
Women with Mustaches and Men without Beards: Gender and Sexual Anxieties of Iranian Modernity
Afsaneh Najmabadi, Harvard University
Tuesday, February 14, 4:30pm
A.D. White House, Guerlac Room
Sponsored by the Feminist Gender and Sexuality Studies Program
Speaking to Power, Listening to Lovers:
The Rhetoric of Patronage and Politics in Classical Arabic and Persian Poetry
Jocelyn Sharlet, UC-Davis
Monday, February 20, 12:15-1:15pm
104 White Hall
**Part of the NES Colloquium Series
Islam Awareness Week
Monday, February 20 - Sunday, February 26

Islam 101: Everything you need to know about Islam
Omer Bajwa
Monday February 20, 7:30pm
Rockefeller Hall 122
How much do you know about the world’s fastest growing religion? With
Muslims constituting a fifth of the world’s population, it’s about time
you learn some of the basics. Come for the lecture, stay for the
questions.
“Malcolm X”
Tuesday February 21, 7:30pm
McGraw 165
The fascinating and critically acclaimed 1992 Spike Lee biopic on the life
of the visionary black leader, Malcolm X,  whose ideas touched the lives
of millions and continue to do so long after his death. Co-sponsored by
BSU.
“The Message”
Wednesday February 22, 7:00pm
Goldwin Smith HEC
Producer-director Moustapha Akkad’s The Message is an epic film which
seeks to tell the story of the origins of Islam, starring Antony Quinn.
Screening commemorates the 30th anniversary of the film and Akkad’s recent
death as a result of the 2005 Amman bombings.
Farid Ayaz Qawwal and Brothers
Wednesday February 22, 8pm
Statler Auditorium
The Pakistani Students Association and MECA present a performance of the
Farid Ayaz Qawwal group. Qawwali is a vibrant musical tradition of South
Asia that is more broadly linked to mysticism in Islam and the love for
the Divine.
Islam in America:
An Enemy in Our Midst?
Ahmed Younis, National Director, MPAC
Thursday, February 23, 7:30pm
Goldwin Smith, Kaufman Auditorium
The turbulent times we are living in warrant a closer look at an apparent
divide between West and Islam. How familiar are we with the American
Muslim identity? Cosponsored by NES Dept. and the Islamic Alliance for
Justice.
Jummah Prayer Service
Friday, February 24, 1:15pm
One World Room, Anabel Taylor Hall
Jummah is a congregational prayer that Muslims hold every Friday.  The
Cornell and Ithaca communities are invited to observe the khutba (sermon)
and prayer. Contact sh297@cornell.edu to RSVP.
Jummah Cafe
Friday February 24th
314 Anabel Taylor Hall, 2:15 PM
Express yourself at the first ever Jummah Café!! Come and discuss issues
related to Islam and Muslims or just come and socialize while enjoying a
good cup of tea.
Around the World in 8 Days goes to the movies with Shawkat Toorawa:
“Le Grande Voyage”
Friday February 24, 7:30PM
RPCC Auditorium
Reda, a young French-Moroccan and his old father drive from the south of
France to Mecca in order for the father to do his pilgrimage. Sponsored by
the NES Dept., Religious Studies Program, MECA and Faculty Programs in
Residential Communities.
Islamic Tile Painting Workshop
Sunday, February 26, 3-4:30 p.m.
Johnson Museum of Art, Fee:  $3/person
Come experiment with a popular art form from Islamic culture. Limited to
first 15 people. To RSVP: amm88@cornell.edu
 
Panel Discussion: The Danish Cartoons and Their Aftermath
Religious Sensitivity vs. Freedom of the Press?
Please join the Alice Cook House and key faculty commentators for this unique event.
Tuesday, February 21, 8:30pm
Alice Cook House Common Room
For more information, contact Ioana Vartolomei (igv2@cornell.edu)
Mythos 2006: Living the Greek Myth at Cornell
Thursday, February 23 - Sunday, March 5
The Hellenic Students Association at Cornell, in collaboration with Professor Gail Holst-Warhaft and Maria Hnaraki, organizes a series of events about Greek and Mediterranean culture this spring at Cornell.
For schedule & more, visit
http://www.mythoscornell.com
Christian Impurity vs. Economic Necessity: A Muslim Response to a New European Product in the Fatwa on Rumi Paper
Professor Leor Halevi, Texas A&M
Tuesday, February 28, 4:30pm
106 White Hall
**Part of the NES Colloquium Series
Orality, Literacy, and Book Culture Among Jews in the Medieval Islamic World
Professor Marina Rustow, Emory
Tuesday, March 7, 4:30pm
106 White Hall
**Part of the NES Colloquium Series
Mediterranean & Middle Eastern Poetry Night
**Please join us for an evening of stirring poetry and delicious food**
Monday, March 13, 6:00-8:00pm
A.D. White House - Guerlac Room
Complex Pastoralists? The Social Organization of Copper Production in the Levant during the later Early Bronze Age
Dr. Russell B. Adams, Ithaca College
Thursday, March 16, 5:15pm
106 White Hall
An Evening of Judeo-Arabic Music From Israel
Featuring Yair Dalal (oud, violin, voice)
and the Cornell Middle East Ensemble
Tuesday, March 28, 8:30pm
Alice Cook House Common Room
A Reading by Elias Khoury
Elias Khoury, Lebanese novelist
Thursday, March 30, 8:30pm
Alice Cook House
From Engagement to Disengagement and Beyond: Israel's Quest for Security and Stability
Michael Oren
Thursday, March 30, 5:00pm
Uris Hall Auditorium

Michael Oren is a famed Israeli historian most noted for his award winning account of the Six Day War, Six Days of War, published in 2002. Oren has served in the Israeli government and is a veteran of the Israeli Defense Forces. Currently a senior fellow at the Shalem Center in Israel, Oren has been described by one Cornellian, who recently heard him lecture, as a "rock star."  Dr. Oren is teaching in the states this year as a Visiting Professor both Harvard and Yale.
Music Passports and Customs: Musicians and
Instruments Transcend Borderlines
Maria Hnaraki, Cornell University
Monday, April 3, 12:15-1:15pm
104 White Hall
**Part of the NES Colloquium Series
The Italian Genizah. A recent Discovery of Ancient Hebrew Manuscripts
Mauro Perani, University of Bologna
Tuesday, April 4, 4:30pm
Place: 106 White Hall
No. 17 (film screening)
David Ofek, screenwriter/director
Sunday, April 9, 7:15pm
Cornell Cinema

In June 2002, a suicide bomber blew up a bus traveling from Tel Aviv to Tiberius. Seventeen people were killed: 16 identified and one unknown, the body burnt beyond recognition. When no one came forward to claim the unidentified remains, police assumed the deceased was a foreign worker and the case went cold. But Ofek was haunted by the image of the victim's unmarked grave and set out on a six-month quest to give No. 17 the dignity of a name. A real-life detective yarn, No. 17 builds nail-biting suspense en route to a surprising conclusion, demonstrating that behind every statistic lies a human story.
A talk on Coptic conversion narratives (official title TBA)
Tamer El-Leithy, NYU/Harvard Society of Fellows
Monday, April 10, 12:15-1:15pm
104 White Hall
**Part of the NES Colloquium Series
Just Married
Ayelet Bechar, film director
Monday, April 10, 8:30pm
Alice Cook House Common Room

Just Married , by director Ayelet Bechar, is described as a "startling look at life in Israel for Arabs". The film follows Kifah and Sudah, two newlywed Palestinian women and their experiences with the Citizenship Law which has been in effect since 2003. Under those regulations, residents of the Palestinian Authority are forbidden to enter Israel even if married to Israeli citizens.

Fin de Siècle Beirut: The Making of an Ottoman Provincial Capital
Professor Jens Hanssen, University of Toronto
Tuesday, April 18, 4:30pm
106 White Hall
**Part of the NES Colloquium Series

Ancient Israel's Suppressed Past: Collective Memory, Censorship, and Identity Formation
Professor Mark Smith, NYU
response by Professor Dominic Boyer
Monday, April 24, 4:30pm
104 White Hall
A student panel discussion on the Palestinian and Israeli elections
Wednesday, April 26, 7:00pm
Alice Cook House Common Room
*refreshments*