The Middle East & North Africa Studies Certificate program seeks to provide the Ohio University and Athens communities with an interdisciplinary understanding of the history and contemporary dynamics of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.
While the bulk of its efforts are focused on the undergraduate certificate in Middle East and North Africa Studies, the program also organizes a range of events designed to compliment in-class education and speak to contemporary debates about the region.
For Fall 2018, the Middle East & North Africa Studies program presents the following:
Director Tamer El Said
Director’s Talk: Tamer El Said
Thursday, Sept. 20 | noon to 1 p.m. | Baker Center 231
Description: Director Tamer El Said (In the Last Days of the City) will be available for a director’s talk the day his film screens at the Athena Cinema. Living between Berlin and Cairo, El Said studied filmmaking and journalism. His debut film premiered in the Berlinale 2016 where it received the Caligari Film Prize. The film has been invited to over 140 festivals worldwide receiving more than 12 international awards from France, Germany, the United States, Italy, Poland, Russia, Argentina and Turkey. The film has been released theatrically in 10 countries and, also, obtained the Critics Award of the Best Arab Film in 2016. El Said was also mentoring workshops in many international film and art spaces including, among others, Institute of Contemporary Art in London, School of the Art Institute in Chicago, and Silent Green in Berlin. This event is co-sponsored by Ohio University’s Middle East & North Africa Studies Certificate, the Islamic Studies Certificate, Classics & World Religions, History, the Center for International Studies, and the School of Interdisciplinary Studies.
Screening of In the Last Days of the City (Egypt)
Thursday, Sept. 20 | 7 to 9 p.m. | Athena Cinema
Description: In the Last Days of the City is the debut feature of filmmaker Tamer El Said. It tells the fictional story of a filmmaker from downtown Cairo played by Khalid Abdalla (The Kite Runner, United 93, The Square) as he struggles to capture the soul of a city on edge while facing loss in his own life. Shot in Cairo, Beirut, Baghdad and Berlin during the two years before the outbreak of revolution in Egypt, the film’s multi-layered stories are a visually rich exploration of friendship, loneliness, loss and life in cities shaped by the shadows of war and adversity. This event is co-sponsored by Ohio University’s Middle East & North Africa Studies Certificate, the Islamic Studies Certificate, Classics & World Religions, History, the Center for International Studies, and the School of Interdisciplinary Studies.
Image from Nothing to Declare by the Dictaphone Group
Installation: Nothing to Declare
by Dictaphone Group
Sept. 21 through Dec. 16
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Thursday 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Saturday and Sunday 1 to 5 p.m.
Kennedy Museum of Art, 100 Ridges Circle, Athens
Description: Nothing to Declare is a researched-based interactive installation by Dictaphone Group whereby the audience is invited to explore the borders within Lebanon, those between Lebanon and its neighbors, and across the Arab world. This exhibition is sponsored by the Kennedy Museum of Art in collaboration with the Middle East and North Africa Studies program.
Stories of Refuge is an installation by the Dictaphone Group.
Installation: Stories of Refuge
by Dictaphone Group
Sept. 21 through Dec. 16
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Thursday 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Saturday and Sunday 1 to 5 p.m.
Kennedy Museum of Art, 100 Ridges Circle, Athens
Description: Stories of Refugee is an interactive installation by Dictaphone Group following the story of three Syrian refugees who fled the war in Syria to seek asylum in Munich Germany. One was injured during a demonstration in Syria and fled the country on a boat that sunk at sea, killing half of its passengers. Another walked from Syria to Turkey with children in hand, while their young relative was battling cancer with no access to clean water. The third was smuggled in a truck filled with chewing gum. All of them paid enormous sums of money to smugglers who cared nothing for their lives. This exhibition is sponsored by the Kennedy Museum of Art in collaboration with the Middle East and North Africa Studies Program.
Short Films Screening: Syrian Identity and Homeland
Tuesday, Oct. 23 | 5-7 p.m. | Athena Cinema
Description: This event will feature the screening of nine short films made in Syria during and about the uprising-turned-proxy war. This event is co-sponsored by Arts for Ohio and the War and Peace Theme, in partnership with the Middle East & North Africa Studies Certificate.
Artist’s Talk: Tania El Khoury
Thursday, Nov. 8 | 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. (Reception to Follow) | Ridges Auditorium, 100 Ridges Circle, Athens
Description: Artist Tania El Khoury will reflect on the practice of Dictaphone Group, a research and performance collaboration between herself and urbanist Abir Saksouk. Two of Dictaphone Group’s works are on display at the Kennedy Museum of Art between Sept. 21 and Dec. 16. El Khoury is a live artist whose work focuses on audience interactivity and is concerned with the ethical and political potential of such encounters. She creates installations and performances in which the audience is an active collaborator. El Khoury’s work has been shown in five continents in spaces ranging from museums to cable cars. She is the recipient of ANTI Festival International Live Art Prize 2017, the Total Theatre Innovation Award, and the Arches Brick Award 2011. El Khoury earned a Ph.D. from Royal Holloway, University of London. She is associated with Forest Fringe collective of artists in the UK and is a co-founder of Dictaphone Group in Lebanon, a research and performance collective aiming at questioning our relationship to the city, and redefining its public space. This event is sponsored by the Kennedy Museum of Art in collaboration with the Middle East and North Africa Studies program.
As Far As My Fingertips Take Me by Tania El Khoury
Performance: As Far As My Fingertips Take Me
by Tania El Khoury
Nov. 9 to Dec. 1 | Reservation Needed (Contact kesselc@ohio.edu) | Trisolini Gallery, Baker Center
Description: As Far As My Fingertips Take Me is an encounter through a gallery wall between an audience member and a refugee. Their arms touch without seeing each other. The refugee will mark the audience members by drawing on their arms. The audience will listen to those who have recently challenged border discrimination. The marking can be kept or washed away. This exhibition is sponsored by the Trisolini Gallery in partnership with the Middle East and North Africa Studies program.
Artist’s Reception: Tania El Khoury
Friday, Nov. 9| 6 to 8 p.m. | Trisolini Gallery, Baker Center
Description: Artist Tania El Khoury will reflect discuss her artistic and research practices, including As Far As My Fingertips Take Me, which will show at the Trispolini Gallery from Nov. 9 through Dec. 1. This event is sponsored by the Trisolini Gallery in partnership with the Middle East and North Africa Studies program.
Professor Noura Erakat
Lecture by Noura Erakat on ‘Contemporary Renewals of Back-Palestinian Solidarity’
Tuesday, Nov. 27 | 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. | Schoonover 145
Co-Sponsors: The event is sponsored by Women’s, Gender & Sexuality Studies, in partnership with the Center for Law, Justice & Culture, the Cutlers Scholars program, the Institute for Applied and Professional Ethics, the LGBTQ Center, the Geography Department, the Middle East & North Africa Studies program, the War & Peace Studies program.
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