University of the Incarnate Word - Islamic Conference 2002




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Scholars Symposium

Registration in Marian Hall. Indicate at the Registration Table if you would like to receive a certificate for participation. You are welcome to attend any of the sessions listed in Presentations http://www.uiw.edu/IslamicCon2002/presentations.html, as well as, what is listed below.

By Salwa Arnous Elaydi

Friday, March 1

All are invited to attend the 9 a.m. "Teaching About the Arab World and Islam" Workshop in Marian Hall.

2 p.m. Break with Middle Eastern Sweets in Marian Hall Ballroom

2:20 - 3 p.m. "LOST IN TRANSLATION: Finding My Place between The Syrian Me and The American Me" Poetry and Reflections by Marian Haddad (Library)

The poems in this manuscript began calling themselves to be written since childhood. The snapshots of my mother baking Syrian bread, of my father driving miles to collect a dollar, of my grandmother shuffling to the sink in the kitchen, and of all my siblings being their bold and unique selves, compartmentalized themselves into my mental cupboards and drawers. More recently, the visceral images of my eldest sister's diagnosis of colon and liver cancer, her chemotherapy treatments and near-fatal reactions to those treatments, her rise, her decline, her death, her burial, and our response to her suffering and absence, served to form the initial part of this book.

These images, some old, and some more recent, stayed dormant in my mind, quiet and safe, like old photographs; and I pulled them out, one by one, and began to document the good and the bad in the lives of a Middle Eastern immigrant couple and their eight immigrant children. They had reached the "promised" land, and they worked hard to assimilate themselves into this new American culture while hanging on desperately to their Syrian roots.

While fervently working at establishing themselves in America, they did not anticipate a third country becoming part of the fabric of their story. However, living in El Paso, a West-Texas desert town located across the Rio Grande river from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, afforded them, and later, myself, the opportunity to become exposed to the rich and colorful Mexican culture. The proximity of old Mexico, as well as the Mexican culture's immersion into El Paso's very core, afforded us the gift of a third cultural tradition. We began to speak that language, to cook that food in our Arab-American ovens, and to weave Mexico and its people into our own cultural fabric. I lived thirty-five years in this land where I, the last of nine siblings, was born, somewhere between Mexico and a river called home.

Marian Haddad earned her B.A. in Creative Writing at The University of Texas at El Paso. She has done graduate work in prose poetry at Emerson College and in philosophy at The University of Notre Dame under a fellowship from The National Endowment for the Humanities. She earned her M.F.A. in Creative Writing-Poetry at San Diego State University, and was an associate editor for Poetry International. She has been anthologized in Milkweed Editions' Stories from Where We Live: The California Coast, edited by Sara St. Antoine. Her work is also forthcoming in an anthology tentatively titled 100 Texas Poets edited by Naomi Shihab Nye, to be published by Greenwillow Books (HarperCollins). Her poetry and essays have appeared in various literary journals including The Rio Grande Review, Sin Fronteras/Writers Without Borders, Dark Horses, The Texas Observer, and San Diego Writers' Monthly. She has recently completed her first booklength manuscript of poetry entitled Somewhere Between Mexico and a River Called Home. She currently resides in San Antonio and teaches various poetry workshops within the city. She teaches at Northwest Vista College and Our Lady of the Lake University.

See http://www.uiw.edu/IslamicCon2002/presentations.html for other afternoon and evening activities including the concert and art exhibit reception.

Participants are invited to visit the art exhibit in the Fine Arts Building.

Salwa Arnous Elaydi, was born in Jaffa, Palestine, and has lived in Lebanon, Egypt, Kuwait, and now resides in San Antonio. Her vibrant paintings, strong Islamic designs, and delicate print-making tell stories of her deep faith, her longing for home, and her persistent exploration of art as a means of understanding and healing. An exhibit of her art will be displayed in the UIW Fine Arts Building, March 1 to 15, 2002.

Saturday, March 2

Registration in Marian Hall and sessions in the Library. You are welcome to attend any of the sessions listed in Presentations, http://www.uiw.edu/IslamicCon2002/presentations.html, as well as, what is listed below.

9 - 10 a.m. DIVERSITY AND TOLERANCE Moderated by Chriselda Pacheco.

TEACHING TOLERANCE AND RESPECT IN A DEMOCRATIC SOCIETY by Dr. Irasema Coronado

Dr. Irasema Coronado, is a Professor of Political Science and a part of the Border Lands Research Study Center at University of Texas, El Paso. She is a specialist on the U.S.-Mexico border lands and has also done research in the Israel-Palestine border lands. She is a consultant for the Environmental Protection Association.

UNDERSTANDING DIVERSITIES: The Brazilian case of "unrecognized" DIFFERENCES by Dr. Francis Musa Boakri

This will examine colonizing strategies of exploitation, subjugation, dehumanization and consequently, marginalization of the original inhabitants. Then focus on the present. Brazil's multi-racial diversity, may be officially mentioned these days. However, cultural practices, social norms and standards remain unchanged and stacked against Blacks. As such, it can be said that the basic problem of the marginalization of especially the Blacks, who form about 45% of the population, remain on the periphery of society in very practical terms. Official data consistently indicate that as a specific segment, they are the poorest, with negative indices on social integration, cultural recognition, economic benefits, and political participation.

Under these circumstances, the recent talk of the government about the introduction of "affirmative action policies" and a quota system in employment in government services and admission to public universities, raise very serious doubts about the real intentions. Could this not be mere state discourse in response to the Durban (South African) Conference on Xenophobia and the treatment of racial minorities? Besides, with general elections programmed for next year, could a new political platform not be in the minds of the ruling party? And worst of all, are there not possibilities that such policies could only result in reinforcing racial stereotyping? What remains to be seen is whether these policies, once widely implemented, would bring about real change in the lives of the millions of illiterate Brazilians of African descent. Would affirmative action really affirm equal rights for all, irrespective of race in an environment where racial grouping are loosely defined, and discriminatory practices are claimed either to be nonexistent or determined by other factors which refuse to accept that the members of all racial groups are equally capable, but that they need to be treated with dignity and given proportionate opportunities in order to be equally achieving and distinguished.

With this background explanation, Dr. Boakari intends to make a case for the fact that we need to recognize differences, religious or otherwise, in very practical ways in order to understand the urgent need for peacefully living together. So as to adequately recognize these differences, we must not shy away from objectively/critically learning about others; those who dress differently, appear physically peculiar, speak strange languages, have eating habits that might make us shy, name GOD DIFFERENTLY AND PRAY in gestures different from those that we are accustomed to. We urgently need to learn more about those who appear different in order to accept and not accommodate them, but fully integrate them mentally, spiritually and practically into whatever we consider human, important and necessary.

As the Brazilian experience may indicate, without really recognizing that the different is merely different, and neither inferior nor unequal, even the best of intentions run the danger of being classified as mere discourse, elaborated to hide the real reasons behind policies and practices which only intend to deceive in order to continue discriminating and marginalizing. And as history might have shown (the Greeks, Romans, South Africans and North Americans in such paces as Los Angeles and Watts), social injustices based upon discriminatory practices cannot go unattended forever. Society needs to begin understand ALL THE DIFFERENT, so that we can objectively ACCOMMODATE THEM AND TREAT EVERYBODY (since at one time or the other, each one of us is that different person) AS SISTERS AND BROTHERS WITH EQUAL RIGHTS (social privileges and responsibilities) AT ALL TIMES AND IN ALL CONTEXTS.

Dr. Francis Musa Boakari teaches in the International Education and Entrepreneurship graduate program at UIW. He brings experience both from Sierra Leone and Brazil. His research specializations are Africans of the diaspora and education; determinants of success among minority students and professionals; schooling and citizenship construction in the former Brazilian slave havens.

Chriselda Pacheco recently graduated from UIW in English, Communication Arts, and Latin American Studies. She studied in Brazil in the UIW special program there. She initiated the Social Justice page of the UIW newspaper, the Logos, and was a leader of the UIW chapter of Amnesty International.

10:30 - 12 noon ARAB CULTURE AND ARABS IN THE MEDIA

Presentations, video examples, and discussion

Dr. Saber Elaydi, Professor of Mathematics at Trinity University, is originally from Palestine. Not only is he recognized for publications and research in math, but he has contributed to many local dialogues on the Arab world. He is one of the San Antonio group which drafted the letter to President Bush in support of peace in the Middle East. Last year he had a Fullbright Fellowship to teach at Bier Zeit University in Ramallah, West Bank.

Dora Fitzgerald, UIW Communication Arts Faculty, teaches video production and brings her experience from working in local television. Her research has focused on race and ethnicity in the media. She will show examples of how Arabs have been portrayed in contemporary films.

Michael Mercer, UIW Assistant Professor of Communication Arts and Advisor to the LOGOS newspaper, is a native of Tennessee. Before coming to UIW, he taught at Auburn University in Alabama and has been a veteran newspaper writer.

1 to 2:30 p.m. MODERN AND ANCIENT WOMEN

VALUES AND ATTITUDES PASSED ON TO CHILDREN IN SITUATIONS OF VIOLENCE: INTERVIEWS OF JEWISH, CHRISTIAN, AND MUSLIM WOMEN

Dr. Jessica Kimmel will share some of her work in progress from research in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and Bethlehem in the summer of 2001. Having lived among British women who spoke of how World War II influenced what they were teaching their children, Kimmel has been seeking information in contemporary challenging situations.

Dr. Jessica Kimmel, Associate Professor of Education at UIW, teaches in the doctoral program and has special interest in cultural and gender influences on education. Last summer she had a grant to do research in the Middle East where she interviewed Jewish, Christian, and Muslim women.

COMPARING MUSLIM, CHRISTIAN, AND JEWISH WOMEN

Sarwat Husain is on the Mayor's Commision for a United San Antonio. She has been involved in business and education and directs Fundamentals Pre-K and Child Development Center and holds an M.A. from UIW. She is a part of the Muslim Community of San Antonio. She frequently does presentations on Islam and is involved in inter-religious conversations.

ENDURING WISDOM: EXPLORING ANCIENT TEXTS BY AND ABOUT MUSLIM, CHRISTIAN, AND JEWISH WOMEN

Sister Martha Ann Kirk, Th.D., Professor of Religious Studies at UIW, has written Biblical Women's Stories: Tears, Milk, and Honey. She will present examples from her forthcoming book Women of Bible Lands: A Pilgrim's Guide to the Inner and Outer Journeys that associates writings by and about ancient women with sites in the Middle East. For more information, see http://www.uiw.edu/holylandtour/kirk.html

2:45 to 4:45 p.m. PROMISES An award winning video of the experiences of Israeli and Palestinian children made by Points of View www.pbs.org/pov/promises/index.html. The film does not deal with politics, but rather with the need for healing in the Middle East as seen through the eyes of a future generation. Made possible by the peaceCENTER, www.salsa.net/peace. Library.

Participants are invited to visit the art exhibit in the Fine Arts Building.

Evening Banquet, panel, and celebration, see http://www.uiw.edu/IslamicCon2002/presentations.html

Sunday, March 3

Registration in Marian Hall and session in the Library. You are welcome to attend any of the sessions listed in Presentations http://www.uiw.edu/IslamicCon2002/presentations.html, as well as, what is listed below.

2 p.m. WHY I BELIEVE THE OSAM BEN LADIN BRAGGING TAPE WAS "REAL": THE INFLUENCE OF ELECTRONIC VISUAL MEDIA IN THE POST COLONIAL WORLD by Dr. Moumin Quazi

Dr. Moumin Quazi is a second generation citizen of the U.S. whose father is from Pakistan and whose mother is from Colorado. Quazi's dissertation, "The Blurred Boundaries Between Film and Fiction in Salmon Rushdi's Midnight's Children, The Satanic Verses, and Selected Other Works," examines the significant effect of film in Rushdi's postcolonial voice.