Talk Examines Roles of Middle Eastern Women

11/22/2011 

Four scholars from the Middle East and North Africa will visit SUNY Cortland on Monday, Nov. 28, to present a Sandwich Seminar on the changing role of women in the Middle East and North Africa.

The lecture, titled “Arab Spring: Changing Lives of Women in the Middle East and North Africa,” begins at 12:30 p.m. in the Corey Union Exhibition Lounge. The event is free and open to the public.

In addition to the lunchtime talk, the group will meet with representatives from several departments and offices across campus, including the Institute for Civic Engagement (I.C.E.); the English Department; the Recreation, Parks and Leisure Studies Department; and the International Programs Office.

“Recent changes in Middle Eastern and North African countries — particularly in Egypt, Tunisia and Libya — have consequences for the entire region and the world,” said Richard Kendrick, the director of SUNY Cortland’s Institute for Civic Engagement. “This panel will focus on the impact of these changes on women’s lives. We are fortunate to have four scholars from Jordan and Morocco presenting on this important topic.”

The I.C.E. is working with Syracuse University (S.U.)’s Civic Education Leadership Fellows (C.E.L.F.) program to sponsor the event.

Julia Ganson, the program manager for the Middle East and North Africa Program at S.U.’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, will moderate the discussion.

The panelists include four female faculty members from overseas:

• Lubna Akroush, a dean and associate professor at Princess Alia University College at the Al-Balqa Applied University in Jordan, is member of several policy-making committees working on issues related to family, child protection and violence against the elderly.

• Rabea Aniq-Filali, a professor of English literature in Morocco, studies topics that include gender and media studies and currently coordinates the Women and Gender Studies Research Group.

• Fatima Ahmed Hassan Atiyat, an assistant professor at Princes Rhama College at the Al-Balqa Applied University in Jordan, has conducted several workshops in the field of family planning and population education; project planning and communication; and employment of women with disabilities.

• Khadija Safi-Eddine, a professor at Hassan II University in Morocco, has research interests that include feminist writing and women and development issues in Morocco.

 “This is the fifth group of C.E.L.F. scholars we have hosted on our campus,” Kendrick said. “And it is an outstanding opportunity to learn from people who live and work in the region about the impact on their lives of the dramatic changes we are seeing in the Middle East and North Africa.”

For more information, contact Kendrick at (607) 753-2481.