College to sponsor Arab Culture Celebration
Flathead Valley Community College’s Multicultural Affairs Office hosts an Arab Culture Celebration over several days in March.
The five-part series kicks off from 5:30 to 7 p.m. March 3 with an Arabic bazaar followed by presentations by Montanans with first-hand knowledge of the Arab-speaking world.
Located in the Arts and Technology Building community room, the bazaar features greeting cards with Arabic script and paintings, Jerusalem pottery, posters, peace pins, Palestinian olive oil, olive oil soaps, Bedouin embroidery and Keffiyehs (Arabic head scarves). Visitors may sample hummus and pita, grape leaves, tabbouleh, Arabic coffee and sweets.
After the bazaar, Samir Bitar kicks off the lecture series with an overview of the Arab world’s history and geography titled “Perspectives on the Arab World.” Bitar, a native Palestinian, lectures on Arabic language and cultures at the University of Montana.
The next three lectures take place at 7 p.m. March 8, 15 and 22 in room 144 of the Arts and Technology Building.
On March 8, Fadi Elhin, a Jordanian with a doctorate in Islamic studies, presents an illustrated lecture on “Jordan, a Desert Kingdom: Culture and Religions.” Elhin was one of Missoula’s first instructors of Arabic in the Missoula County Public Schools.
For the March 15 lecture, Flathead Valley’s Martha Bisharat and Linda de Kort team up to present “Palestine: Past, Present and Hope for the Future.” As part of the Middle East solutions community forum, the two women will relate personal stories such as Bisharat’s marriage to a Palestinian and de Kort’s experiences living in the Middle East with her family.
The celebration wraps up March 22 with “Egypt Today: Culture and Politics,” a discussion led by Souheir Rawlings, an Egyptian-American who has lived in the Flathead Valley since 1988. With extended family living in Egypt, Rawlings maintains a direct line to the nation’s unfolding events through her family and friends.
For more information, call 756-3945, e-mail mstembor@fvcc.edu or visit www.fvcc.edu/arabculture.