Jewish, Islamic and Near Eastern Studies Program

2007-08 Events

Fathers Without Sons:
The Making of the Last Prophet

David S. Powers
Professor, Islamic History and Law
Cornell University

April 29, 2008
4:00 PM
Hurst Lounge, Duncker Hall

Q. 33:40 states, "Muhammad is not the father of any of your men but the Messenger of God and Seal of Prophets". The theological doctrine of the finality of prophecy is contingent upon Muhammad's sonlessness. Prof. Powers suggests that the theological doctrine necessitated several key adjustments to: (1) the consonantal skeleton of the Qur'an, (2) the institution of adoption, and (3) the biography of the Prophet.

Cosponsored with Asian and Near Eastern Languages and Literatures,Classics, History, International and Area Studies, and Religious Studies

Wrestling with the Angel:
Toward a Jewish Understanding of the Nazi Assault
on the Name of God and on Jewish Names

David Patterson
Bornblum Chair of Excellence in Judaic Studies
Director, Bornblum Judaic Studies Program
University of Memphis

April 14, 2008
8:00 PM
162 McDonnell

Prof. Patterson will show that in the Nazi assault on the Name of God there is also an assault on the name— that is, on the very identity—of the individual Jew. This assault has implications for Jewish thinking about Jewish identity in the post-Holocaust era.

Cosponsored with the Religious Studies Program

West Beirut

A film directed by
Zaid Doueiri

April 7, 2008
7:00 PM
214 Wilson

A coming-of-age film in which three teenagers defy geographic, cultural, and sectarian divisions to film and explore the war-torn city of Beirut. Released in 1998, this film uses humor to approach the despair and violence characterizing Beirut during the civil war that began in 1975. This film won numerous international awards at film festivals in Cannes, Narrowsburg, and Toronto. (105 mins.; Arabic and French with English subtitles).

A discussion led by Nancy Reynolds, assistant professor of modern Middle East history will follow the film.

Part of the JINES Middle East Film Series

A Colloquium on Sufism

Sufism: The Formative Period
by Ahmet Karamustafa
Prof of History, Washington University

April 4, 2008
3:00 PM
Eads 216

Comments by
Profs. Martin Jacobs & Asad Ahmed
Jewish, Islamic and Near Eastern Studies

Response from Prof. Karamustafa

Professor Ahmet T. Karamustafa's book, Sufism: The Formative Period (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press & Berkeley: University of California Press, 2007) marks a breakthrough in understanding one of the most important aspects of Islam. JINES is pleased to present a faculty colloquium on this volume. Two members of the JINES faculty, Profs. Asad Ahmed and Martin Jacobs, will present their reflections on Prof. Karamustafa's book, and he will respond to their comments.

Reception to Follow

Canterbury Tales, Rashemon and the Telling of History: Official Corruption in the
Late Ottoman Empire

Donald Quataert
SUNY, Binghamton

Thursday, April 3, 2008
4:00 PM
Hurst Lounge, Duncker Hall

Reception to follow.

Cosponsored with the Department of History.

Sex in the Sistine Chapel:
The Nakedness of Noah in Judaism & Christianity

Benjamin Braude
Boston College

March 24, 2008
4:00 PM
Earth and Planetary Sciences Building, Room 203

The talk explores the iconographic and exegetic foundations within Judaism and Christianity that influenced Michelangelo's depiction of a drunk naked Noah unprecedentedly surrounded by three naked sons. It places this first fresco set over the lay entrance to the Chapel within Michelangelo's Sistine project as a whole, as well as within the related problems of theologenitalia in Christianity, Judaism, and paganism. A confluence of seemingly unrelated events and trends—including religious polemic within and between Judaism and Christianity, the cults of Osirus and Dinoysius, the incarnation, the blood libel and other forms of religious persecution, the sex lives of Florentine males, Michelangelo's own tortured psychology, and Renaissance antiquarianism—effected this image. Now placed in the very heart of the Church, in the Pope's own chapel, this version of the Noah story which hinted at sodomy and castration intimately signaled the struggles over sex and the nature of Jesus Christ that have plagued Christianity since its early centuries.

Cosponsored with the departments of History and Art History and the programs in Religious Studies and Women and Gender Studies.

Cairo Station

A film produced by
Youssef Chahine

March 24, 2008
7:00 PM
214 Wilson

Youssef Chahine stars in this film, which is set in Cairo's main railroad station and uses the station's commuity to represent a microcosm of Egyptian society. The film follows the drama of a newspaper vendor's obsession with a beautiful lemonade seller. "A blend of sensuality and film noir, set against a backdrop of lower-depths neorealism, Cairo Station is essentially an underclass psycho-thriller" (David Chute, LA Weekly) (76 mins; Arabic with English subtitles).

A discussion led by Nancy Reynolds, assistant professor of modern Middle East history will follow the film.

Part of the JINES Middle East Film Series

Nasser '56

A film directed by
Mohamed Fadel

March 3, 2008
7:00 PM
214 Wilson

Shot in black-and-white to match old newsreel, this film presents Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser's dramatic nationalization of the Suez Canal in July 1956, an event that launched him (and Egypt) as a leader of the nonaligned and anticolonial movements during the Cold War and that prompted an invasion of Egypt that profoundly reconfigured regional and international politics. Egyptian film star Ahamd Zaki plays the charismatic Nasser. "Produced from an Arab point of view," this film was released to mark the 50th anniversary of the event (1996, 142 minutes; Arabic with English subtitles).

A discussion led by Nancy Reynolds, assistant professor of modern Middle East history will follow the film.

Part of the JINES Middle East Film Series

Taxonomies of Inheritance:
Jewish Texts in al-Andalus

David Wasserstein
Vanderbilt University

February 28, 2008
4:00 PM
Hurst Lounge, Duncker Hall

Cosponsored with History Department

Alexandria, Why?

A film directed by
Youssef Chahine

February 20, 2008
7:00 PM
214 Wilson

Set in cosmopolitan Alexandria during World War II, the film depicts the struggle of 18-year-old Yehia to develop his dramatic and filmmaking career and realize his aspirations to work in Hollywood. The social, political, and economic problems associated with the European occupation and war cause him to reevaluate his identity and ambitions. Released in 1978, this film garnered the Silver Bear award at the Berlin International Film Festival (133 minutes; Arabic with English subtitles).

A discussion led by Nancy Reynolds, assistant professor of modern Middle East history will follow the film.

Part of the JINES Middle East Film Series

Jasmine and Stars:
Reading More Than Lolita in Tehran

Fatemeh Keshavarz
Professor and Chair
Asian and Near Eastern Languages and Literatures

February 13, 2008
11:00 AM
Graham Chapel

In her recent book, Jasmine and Stars, the Iranian-born poet and professor breaks through pervasive Western stereotypes of Iranians to show the vitality of her homeland. Keshavarz teaches Persian and comparative literature, and chairs WUSTL's Department of Asian and Near Eastern Languages and Literatures.

Part of the Washington University Assembly Series

The Jewish People in 2030: Alternative Futures

Jewish People Policy Planning Institute (JPPI)

Featuring

AINAT WILF
recent foreign policy adviser to Vice Prime Minister Shimon Peres

AVINOAM BAR-YOSEF
chief diplomatic correspondent and US bureau chief for Ma'ariv

AVI GIL
director general of Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, chief of staff to the prime minister, executive policy adviser to the minister of foreign affairs

CHAIM WAXMAN
professor emeritus, Sociology and Jewish Studies, Rutgers University

January 28, 2008
8:00-10:00 AM
Hurst Lounge, Duncker 201

Kosher Breakfast Buffet, 8:00-8:30 AM
RSVP to jines@wustl.edu by 1/22

A prestigious panel from JPPPI examines prospects for the Jewish people, both in Israel and worldwide. Topics include: demoography, geo-political developments, science and technology, Jewish identity and relations bewteen Israel and the Diaspora, spiritual creativity, and institutional structures and leadership.

JPPI is an independent Israeli think tank producing policy-oriented analysis on issues of primary concern to world Jewry.

Cosponsored with the Jewish Federation of St. Louis

To Die in Jerusalem

Hilla Medalia
Director/Producer

November 14, 2007
8:00 PM
Brown 118

The film focuses on the deaths of a Palestinian teenager and an Israeli teenager in a bomb blast. Through the two families' personal losses, the film explores the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, mutual pain despite cultural differences and diverse perceptions of death; and ultimately the hope for peace. The film's most revealing moment is an emotionally charged meeting between the mothers of the two dead girls.

Cosponsored with St. Louis Hillel and
McDonnell International Scholars Academy

Jewish Women of Ravensbruck
Concentration Camp

Rochelle G. Saidel
Founder and Executive Director
Remember the Women Institute, New York City

November 7, 2007
4:00 PM
Eads 215

Until recently the Jewish victims at Ravensbrück, the Nazi death camp for female political prisoners, were neglected in most accounts of the Holocaust. Dr. Saidel has interviewed about 60 Jewish survivors and examined unpublished testimonies and documents for a more complete understanding of the camp. Dr. Saidel’s books will be on sale at the event.

Cosponsored with Germanic Languages and Literatures

Iran: Seven Faces of a Civilization

Farzin Rezaeian
Award-winning Documentarian
Educational Film Producer

October 30 , 2007
7:00 PM
Busch 100

This major new documentary uses the latest technology to showcase the 7,000-year history of Iran ’s art and architecture. Produced by the makers of “ Persepolis Recreated,” this film features spectacular graphic reconstruction superimposed on images of actual architectural remains. It recaptures the ancient treasures of Iran in ways never before possible.

Cosponsored with Asian and Near Eastern Languages and Literatures

"Writing Hope in Times of Despair:
Jerusalem in a Woman's Eyes"

Michal Govrin
Novelist, Poet, and Theater Director

October 16, 2007
7:30 PM
Hurst Lounge, Duncker Hall

Cosponsored with Asian and Near Eastern Languages and Literatures

"The Big Mouth Theory:
Communication Power in the Global Arena "

Michael Widlanski
Schusterman Visiting Professor of Israel Studies
Washington University in St. Louis

October 8, 2007
7:15 PM
Holmes Lounge, Ridgley Hall

Sponsored by the College of Arts & Sciences
Kosher reception to follow the lecture.

Coffee and Conversation with Israeli Writers

Motti Lerner
Israeli Playwright

September 24, 2007
4:00 PM
Rebstock 215

Cosponsored with the Department of Asian and Near Eastern Languages & Literatures and
the Committee on Comparative Literature

Cosponsored with Asian and Near Eastern Languages and Literatures

Click here to see 2006-07 lectures

Click here to see 2005-06 lectures