Events

Middle East Center Sponsored Events

September 18, 2006

       Dr. Kalid Amine, Abdelmalek Assaadi University, Tetouan, Morocco, “Performing Postcoloniality in the Moroccan Scene”

October 23, 2006

      Dr. Sean Foley, “Shaykh Khalid and the Naqshbandiyya-Khalidiyya” (Brown Bag lunch lecture)

November 14, 2006

      Dr. Aswan Hamza, “Higher Education in the Gulf”

November 8, 2007

      Dr. Robert Satloff, “Countering Holocaust Denial in the Middle East: A New Approach,” (In connection with the MTSU Holocaust Studies Conference)    

January 31, 2007

      Lily Rivlin, “Can You Hear Me?  Israeli and Palestinian Women Fight for Peace”  (A film showing and discussion with director)

February 26, 2007

Dr. Ron Messier, “Allah and Dr. Buzzard: Muslim Slaves in America”

March 14, 2007

        Dr. Gregory Gause, “The Iraq War:  Causes and Consequences”

April 18, 2007

        Dr. John Esposito, Georgetown University, “Islam and the West”

October 31, 2007

      Dr. Waleed El-Ansary (Religions Studies, University of South Carolina), “Bridging the Gaps of Global Religions and Spirituality,” (In conjunction with the Third International Conference on Cultural Diversity)

February 11, 2008

         Dr. Juan Cole (University of Michigan), “The Millennium in Pursuit: Shiite Opposition to the U.S. in Iraq”

April 19, 2008

    Omar Faruk Tekbilik Ensemble (Turkey), Performances at MTSU and Vanderbilt

March 19, 2008

     Dr. Said Ennahid, Al Akhawayn University, “The Archeology of Space in Arabic Poetry”

March 20, 2008

       Kerry Foley, Somali Community Center, “Somali Immigrants in Middle Tennessee:  Challenges and Opportunities”

March 24, 2008

       Dr. Bill Levine, MTSU Department of English, “The Simulacrum of Jerusalem: Manufacturing the Religious Sublime in the Holy Land Experience Biblical Theme Park”

April 22, 2008

      Miriam Sivan, “Contemporary Women Writing in Israel”

      MTSU Distinguished Lecture Fund support

October 20, 2008

       Dr Özkul  Çobanoglu, “Tradition and Transformation in Ottoman Folk Culture”

April 6, 2009

      Marjane Satrapi, “Persepolis: The Novel and the Film”

February 23, 2010

     Heather Raffo, Iraqi American playwright (9 Parts of Desire), performance of her work.

      Co-sponsored with Department of English, Depatment of Speech and Theatre (now two departments–the Department of Communication Studies and the Department of Theatre and Dance, MTSU Distinguished Lecture Fund, University Honors College.

March 2, 2010

      Dr. Michael Gunter (Tennessee Technological University), “U.S. Foreign Policy on the Kurds”

Spring 2010

    Nairoz Celebration (singing, dancing, food) at Garden Plaza. Main sponsor: MTSU Kurdish Student Organization

April 8, 2010

Saudi Festival Day (with Saudi Student Association)

Oct. 26, 2011

      Showing of Min Dit (Before your Eyes) with director Miraz Bezar

April 4, 2011

       Etgar Keret, Israeli Writer (The Bus Driver Who Wanted to Be God), with the support of the MTSU Distinguished Lecture Fund

Febuary 28, 2012

         Dr. Thuraya Abdulla, Visiting Fulbright Scholar, University of Bahrain, “Pearl of the Gulf: A View of Bahrain” (co-sponsored by University Honors College, Department of Mathematical Sciences, and the Office of International Affairs)

April 5, 2012

Ibrahim al-Husseini, Performance of his play “Comedy of Sorrows” discussion with the playwright following performance) In conjunction with “Voices of the Revolution: The Arab Spring” with Vanderbilt University

October 23, 2013 

        A showing of Prince among Slaves. Co-sponsored by the Walker Library, with support from an NEH gran, Am. Library Assoc. Distinguished Lectures Fun, and the Middle East Center

November, 4 2013

       Dr. Mustafa Bayoumi (Brooklyn College). “How Does it Feel To Be a Problem? Arab American Life and U.S. Foreign Policy), Cosponsored with Walker Library

March 22, 2016

      Sayed Kashua (Palestinian-Israeli Writer who writes in Hebrew), a reading. (In conjunction with events at Vanderbilt University)

April 6, 2016

       Showing of Ossama Mohammed’s film Silvered Water, Syrian Self Portrait, an innovative documentary on the Syrian Civil War

October 4, 2022

       Dr. Carl Ernst, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, “Islam, Arabic, and Slavery in Early America: The Arabic Writings of Omar Ibn Said (1770-1863)

Nov. 8, 2022

Dr. Zaid Brifkani (Kurdish American novelist and MTSU alum), A Reading

March 16, 2024

Nourouz Celebration, with singing, dancing and food