The establishment of the Arabic Studies minor has brought the recently developed Arab Student Union and the Arab Studies Program together to help promote Arab culture on campus through the screening of “Under the Bombs.”
The Lebanese film is based on the events of the war that took place in 2006. With the rapid growth of the Arab Studies minor, this film will be the start of what will help bridge the gap that many students taking Arabic courses deem to be important.
Emran El-Badawi, director of Arab Studies and assistant professor of Arabic Language and Literature at the Department of Modern and Classical Languages said, “First, I want to promote film and culture as an integral part of language study. That is to say, students studying Arabic should be exposed to Arab culture as well.”
“Film is an essential media in this vein, which leads me to my second goal. Since the MCL has a strong and growing Film Studies program, it houses a splendid foreign language film series, which is the ideal venue to promote awareness about the Arab world to the student body as well as the public,” he said.
What attracted students to this minor was the ability to take courses to help them better understand the culture. Taking courses like History of the Modern Middle East can instill a foundation and produce background information to the previous Arabic courses students took.
“It’s currently impossible to develop a holistic perception of the world without a thorough understanding of the Middle East, and an Arab studies minor would be the perfect way to do that,” said biology junior Fatima Syed who is interested in declaring an Arab Studies minor.
“Middle Eastern food will be served at the event. The film will be followed by a lecture and discussion,” said Michael Fares, instructional assistant professor of Arabic. “We are happy to announce that Arab Studies is co-sponsoring this event with the Arab Student Union, a quickly growing student organization likewise dedicated to promoting and celebrating the presence of Arabic language and culture among the student body.”
ASU was established to promote Arab culture through folkloric music, cultural food and intellectual discussion.
“Hopefully it will present an antidote to some of the prevailing stereotypes people have about the Arab world. Additionally we want students of Arab background, and students interested in the Arab world, to know that ASU is now active and ready to provide meaningful events to the campus community,” said ASU President Luai Allarakia.
The event is scheduled to take place at 1 to 4 p.m Friday in Room 101 at the Social Work Building. Admission is free, and anyone interested is encouraged to come.
