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On Friday, April 10, the Middle East Women’s Voices Symposium was held at Saint Xavier.
The symposium was sponsored by the College of Arts and Sciences, in collaboration with the Department of English and Foreign Languages, the Women and Gender Studies Program, and the Middle Eastern Studies Program.
Dr. Nicole Khoury was the event’s main planner, along with the help of Dr. Tatiana Tatum (biology) and Dr. Iman Saca (anthropology).
Among the presenters at the symposium were Dr. Khoury’s students from her English 357 course, Arab Women’s Rhetoric. The students were given creative freedoms and were allowed to choose t presentation topic of their choice.
“My presentation was about Western Perceptions of Middle Eastern Women with a focus on the challenges of [those] perceptions and misrepresentations. Presenting with [classmate] Dina [Nouti] was a great way for both of us to expand our ideas and research,” said Angela Pusateri, one of Khoury’s students.
Malala Yousafzai, Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis, and the Syrian Civil War were just some of the topics that were presented at the symposium. The topics were presented in both panel and roundtable discussions.
Jasmine Steele, a student in Arab Women’s Rhetoric, said, “I spoke on mental health stigma beliefs, particularly beliefs of mental illness in the Muslim community. I introduced an organization named Syria: The Trojan Women, which consists of a group of women who travel around the world…bring[ing] awareness to how the war is negatively affecting Syrian refugees’ mental health.”
Steele’s presentation was just one of the unique topics presented at the symposium. Danielle Van Witzenberg “explored how author Marjane Satrapi uses the medium of the graphic novel to appeal to a western audience,” while Casey Papp “explor[ed] how Arab women in the modern day are defying stereotypes and orientalist objectifications of western culture.”
In addition to the students of Khoury’s class, students from Dr. Tatiana Tatum’s class presented as well, bringing an even wider array of topics to the symposium. Students weren’t the only ones who presented at the symposium.
Dr. Louise Cainkar, a sociologist and associate professor of social welfare and justice at Marquette University, also participated, serving as the event’s keynote speaking. Cainkar is the founding director of the Palestine Human Rights Information Center.
Additionally, she holds many different offices, including the treasurer of the Arab American Action Network, a Chicago community organization.
At the symposium, Cainkar spoke about her experiences discovering her passion for Middle Eastern studies and she detailed her research on Arab American teenagers and the numerous books and projects she has been involved in.
“The keynote speaker did a very good job and I think what’s interesting about it is, she presented her work as a biography. So she talked about how her work progressed through time and how she moved geographically to wherever she needed in order to gather data…Very few people do the work that she does. Very few people study immigrants coming here and then going back there, to their country of origin, and how life has changed for them and what is good and bad about the constant movement between the US and the country of origin…” said Dr. Iman Saca, director of the Middle Eastern Studies Program.
Other participants were also entertained by Cainkar’s discussion.
“I really enjoyed Louise Cainkar’s speech. I found her story very interesting and motivating. Cainkar talked about being the only one in her field writing about Middle Eastern studies when she first started researching the topic and now she isn’t alone in the field. Also, that Middle Eastern studies is actually recognized as a valid field of study. I felt inspired by her determination to educate herself and others about Middle Eastern cultures,” said Van Witzenberg.
In addition to Cainkar’s talk, Saint Xavier’s own Rola Othman, Director of Technology and Computer Services, participated in a roundtable discussion with her four sisters on growing up and the differences in their lifestyles now. The five sisters, all very successful career women, shared with the audience the importance that religion played in their lives as well.
“I really enjoyed the sisters’ talk. They were so funny together and it was obvious that they are all very outspoken and intelligent,” said Jessica Jose, who attended the afternoon roundtable.
Those who attended the symposium were also invited to dine on Middle Eastern cuisine, such as falafel, hummus, and pita bread. When the symposium concluded, attendees were invited to have afternoon tea as well.
Although all of the presentations and discussions were different, participants and attendees definitely had their favorites.
“I might sound conceited, but I liked my presentation the best because [classmate] Marvin Fourte’s presentation was wonderful and it really enhanced my ideas. I learned about Mohanty’s Methodological Universalism, which is the lumping of diverse struggles and diverse lands into one culture, allowing Westerners to push stigmas and stereotypes that can never apply to such a diverse whole. Typically, western culture does this in order to gain support for military campaigns that back capitalism,” Papp explained.
Papp and Fourte presented in the day’s first roundtable discussion, which got the audience involved as well. A lively discussion took place during their presentation, which was a great way to include the attendees in a unique way.
“Honestly, overall, I learned that my classmates are absolutely brilliant and the topics and conversations that took place were so interesting,” said Pusateri. The symposium was definitely a group effort, as it involved so many people.
Those who planned and participated all agree that it was successful.
“I think this event—and many other events similar to it that expose our students, faculty, and staff to the issues of the time—are extremely important. This event was open to the people, so there were a few students from the area high schools who came and attended the event. So this also exposes our university to various communities in the area. Our purpose is not to just teach in the class, but our purpose is education. And these kinds of events are very, very educational to our Saint Xavier community,” Saca said.
Katherine Arvia
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