Free Middle East Lecture Series Coming To Camden County College

GLOUCESTER TOWNSHIP, NJ - Camden County College is teaming up with the University of Pennsylvania Middle East Center to present “Middle East: New Perspectives,” a series of five free lectures, the college announced.

The series begins on March 13 with “In Between” a one-man, semi-autobiographical theater performance on growing up the son of a Muslim Palestinian father and an Israeli Jewish mother. “In Between” portrays the complexities and contradictions inherent in Palestinian-Israeli identity.

On the precipice between two cultures stands Ibrahim Miari. His play recalls his childhood in Acre, memories of his Jewish and Palestinian grandmothers, of war, and of the struggle to shape and understand his own multi-faceted identity.

Ibrahim Miari grew up in Israel and is a bilingual Hebrew and Arabic speaker. Ibrahim is a certified language teacher. He completed the Hebrew teacher training program and ACTFL MOPI at Hebrew College, the STARTALK Arabic teacher professional development program and ACTFL OPI certification at Boston University.

Ibrahim has taught Hebrew at Tufts University and Hebrew College’s Prozdor Program, as well as Arabic at Boston University and Northeastern University. In addition to teaching languages, Ibrahim is a professional actor who has performed in theater and film throughout Israel, Europe, and the United States. He holds a master’s in fine arts degree in Theater Education from Boston University.

Other lectures in the series:

“The Psychological Processes Behind Dehumanization” – March 27
Emile Bruneau, research associate and lecturer at the Annenberg School for Communication and Director of the Peace and Conflict Neuroscience Lab will present a talk on bringing the tools of science to bear on the problem of intergroup conflict.

“The Salesman” – April 3
Mayhar Entezari, a lecturer in Persian Language and Culture and instructor of Iranian cinema will discuss a film in which a young Iranian couple is forced to leave their apartment and move to the center of Tehran. They become embroiled in a life-altering situation involving the previous tenant.

“ISIS in Iraq” – April 11
Mohammed Salih is a doctoral student at the Annenberg School for Communication primarily interested in extremist movements in the Middle East, and the intersection of media, politics and culture in that region.

“Afghanistan’s Modern History and Why it Matters” – April 17
August 2019 marks the 100th anniversary of Afghanistan’s independence from Britain. In this talk, Professor Faiz Ahmed unearths a lost history behind Afghanistan’s first constitution and its founding as a modern nation-state.

All lectures take place at the Center at Camden County College, 200 College Drive in Blackwood, and begin at 6:30 p.m. For more information or to register, visit www.camdencc.edu/civiccenter or email thecenter@camdencc.edu.