Date: Wednesday,  February 10, 2021
Time: 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm talk, including Q & A
Online Platform: Zoom

The popular Arabic epic Sīrat ‘Antar, which spotlights the heroic exploits of the half-Ethiopian, half-Arab 6th-century warrior and poet ‘Antarah ibn Shaddād, is the most well-known source of its kind for modern readers in the Arabic-speaking world and beyond. It is also based on the life and words of a real historical figure. But what did it mean for ‘Antarah to be half-Black—both in his own lifetime and in his legendary legacy as an Arab-Muslim epic hero? This talk analyzes how racial constructs and the social structures that manage and perpetuate them change from the pre-Islamic period through Islam’s formative centuries, spanning when the historical ‘Antarah was alive and when the existence of his epic is first attested in the 1100s. Throughout the talk, we will explore the ways that using popular literary sources can illuminate aspects of racial representation that are not as present elsewhere in the premodern Arabic register, and consider why this might be so.

Rachel Schine holds a PhD in Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations from the University of Chicago. She is presently a postdoctoral associate and instructor of Arabic literature and culture at the University of Colorado, Boulder in the Department of Asian Languages and Civilizations. Her current book project, Black Knights: Arabic Epic and the Making of Medieval Race, explores the origins, literary functions, and social histories of black protagonists in Arabic popular literature, and particularly in the language’s longest epic, Sīrat al-Amīra Dhāt al-Himma. She has published on topics relating to racialization and kinship in Arabic storytelling in, among others, the Journal of Arabic Literature and al-‘Usūr al-Wustā: The Journal of Middle East Medievalists.

Date: Tuesday, February 9, 2021
Time: 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm talk, including Q & A
Online Platform: Zoom

Malcolm X’s biography opened a doorway to a forgotten story in Dr. Rahim’s family history–one that was lost due to the war, communism, and genocide. Dr. Rahim will share his personal tale about exploring his ethnic history and religious identity after converting to Islam in America.

Emad Rahim is a Khmer American and survivor of the Cambodian Killing Fields whose life was turned into the short documentary “Against the Odds“: (F.A.M.E. ‘US International Film Festival’s 2016 Bronze Award Winner), and adapted into a theater production titled “Tales from the Salt City,” which is an extension of the acclaimed Undesirable Elements series written by celebrated playwright and Presidential National Medals of Arts Award recipient, Ping Chong. He has been featured in the Huffington Post, Rutgers’ The Humanist, Forbes, CEO Magazine, WorldClass Magazine, The Post Standard and covered by BBC and NPR.

Rahim was born in a concentration camp in the Killing Fields of Cambodia. He arrived to the United States with his family as a refugee living in Brooklyn New York and was raised in Syracuse NY. After struggling with street violence, gangs, drugs, poverty, family abuse and dyslexia as an adolescent, he found his way through higher education to become an award-winning educator, entrepreneur, author and community leader.

Rahim currently serves as the Kotouc Family Endowed Chair and Professor at Bellevue University and Dean of Social Impact at Claremont Lincoln University. He is an award-winning entrepreneur, educator, Fulbright Recipient and TEDx Speaker. He was the former Dean at Colorado Tech and Strayer University, Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Oklahoma State University and Syracuse University, and Visiting Scholar at Rutgers University.

For more info: www.emadrahim.com

Date: Wednesday,  January 27, 2021
Time: 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm talk, including Q & A
Online Platform: Zoom

Dr. Muna Ali holds a PhD in anthropology from Arizona State University. Her research focuses on American Muslims, Western Muslims, religion in the public sphere, and on the social determinants of health. She has authored articles and book chapters on Muslim Americans and on Islam and bioethics. Her book titled “Young Muslim America: Faith, Community and Belonging” focuses on the perspectives of diverse younger generations of Muslims on identity and on their assessment of the American Muslim community and society.

Dr. Ali also holds a doctorate in physical therapy. She co-founded the Islamic Center of North East Valley, the Islamic Speakers Bureau of Arizona, the Arizona Muslim Historical Society, and the Rumi Center.