São Paulo – “The Arab Middle East: recent past and current configurations” is the theme of the new course of the Institute of Arab Culture (Icarabe), due June 8th to July 6th at the Arab Chamber Space, at the headquarters of the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce, which sponsors the event. Enrolment will be open from Tuesday (25th) until June 4th.
According to Heloisa Abreu Dib Julien, general coordinator of the course, specialists on the subject and people who travel often to the Arab world have been invited to analyze the Arab countries from a more contemporary perspective. “After promoting courses that approached aspects of Arab culture, including poetry, literature, art and dancing, and the oral history of immigrants, we will once again provide a contemporary review of history and politics in the Arab countries,” she said.
At the first meeting, historian Arlene Clemesha will discuss Arab countries in the 19th century, covering nearly all of the Ottoman domain up until before the European domain. Professor Murched Omar Taha will cover the formation of Arab states, providing details on what happened with Arab nations after World War I, and the British, French and German protectorates.
The third class, to be given by political scientist José Farhat, will focus on Grand Syria to explain how the region was organized, what caused Lebanon to be dismembered, and what takes place today in political terms between the two countries.
The final meeting, due July 6th, will be a roundtable entitled “The current Middle East: politics, economy, trade relations, society and religion.” In addition to the three lecturers mentioned above, the debate will feature the Arab Brazilian Chamber’s secretary general, Michel Alaby, and the organization’s marketing vice president, Rubens Hannun. “We are going to try and raise important questions that participants would like to ask the lecturers,” said Heloisa.
The classes will be taught on Tuesdays, from 07:30 pm to 10:30 pm. The cost will be 300 Brazilian real (US$ 160) for the general public and 200 real (US$ 107) for members of the Institute, students, and retired persons. Interested parties may enrol by e-mail to secure their place in the course: curso@icarabe.org
Information
Site: www.icarabe.org
Telephone: + (55 11) 5084 5131
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
