São Paulo – The Centre for International Relations at the Getulio Vargas Foundation (FGV, in the Portuguese acronym), in Rio de Janeiro, will offer, from August 31st to September 2nd, a course entitled “School on the History and Politics of the Arab World 2011,” geared toward professionals and postgraduate students in the fields of Politics, History, Social Sciences, Law, International Relations, Economics and Administration. The course is free of charge and enrolment will remain open until August 5th.
Lecturers will include the former Brazilian Minister of Foreign Relations, Celso Amorim; New York Times columnist Roger Cohen, the International section editor at the time of the September 11th, 2001 attacks; Paulo Gabriel Hilu, director of the Centre for Middle Eastern Studies at the Federal University of the State of Rio de Janeiro; Matias Spektor, director of the Centre for International Relations at FGV; Juan Cole, History professor at the University of Michigan; and Monique Goldfeld, doctoral graduate at the Contemporary Brazilian History Research and Documentation Centre at FGV.
The classes will tackle matters such as the History of the Middle East, the Arab Spring, Relation between Middle East and Latin America, Arabs and Muslims in Latin America, Islamism and Media Coverage of the Arab World. A roundtable debate will also be held with all lecturers, dealing with the Middle East-related themes most widely researched in academia.
On the last day of the course, there will be a guided tour of the centre of Rio de Janeiro, including visits to the major cultural and gastronomic spots related to the Arab community in the city, such as the Cinelândia area, which staged important political and historical events in Rio; the “Sahara,” a popular trade area that got its start thanks to several merchants who came from Arab countries; and the National Library, where visitors will have access to ancient documents linked to the Middle East that belonged in the collection of emperor Pedro II.
To attend the course, applicants must fill in an entry form available at link http://cpdoc.fgv.br/relacoesinternacionais/arabworldschool/registration, aside from writing a letter explaining how they believe the course will benefit them. Applications will be evaluated by the coordination of the International Relations Centre, which will contact all of the applicants to inform of their admittance. There are a total of 50 openings for the event. According to the FGV, classes will be taught in English. Transport and lodging expenses will be paid for by the students themselves.
Service
School on History and Politics of the Arab World 2011
From August 31st to September 2nd
FGV International Relations Centre
Tel.: +55 21 3799-5605
Site: www.cpdoc.fgv.br/ri
E-mail: ri@fgv.br
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
