Film and Q&A with the artists

Wednesday
November 1, 2017
7 p.m.

Landis Cinema at Buck Hall
219 North 3rd Street (at Snyder Street)
Easton, PA

An award-winning documentary about The Sachal Jazz Ensemble that traces the group’s journey from Pakistan to New York’s Lincoln Center and asks whether there is still room for musicians in a society roiled by conflict. Watch the trailer here.

Members of The Sachal Jazz Ensemble will join us for a Q&A session immediately after the screening.

Tickets are free but should be obtained in advance. They will be available beginning in September through the Williams Center for the Arts.

Stand-Up Comedy

Tuesday
October 24, 2017
8 p.m.

Colton Chapel
College Hill, Easton, PA

The activist, actor, writer, and former Daily Show correspondent has mined Islamophobia for comedy gold for years. Known for his satirical spin, Aasif Mandvi provides humorous perspective on the news, daily life, and diversification in the media.

Admission is free.

Film and Q&A with the Filmmaker

Monday
October 16, 2017
7 p.m.

Landis Cinema at Buck Hall
219 North 3rd Street (at Snyder Street)
Easton, PA

Iffat Fatima captures one of the most prolonged conflicts in the Muslim world—Kashmir, which is currently experiencing a large-scale revolt against Indian rule. Blood Leaves Its Trail (or Khoon Diy Baarav) was filmed over a period of nine years to tell the story of contemporary Kashmir through the lives of family members of the victim of enforced disappearances.

Filmmaker Iffat Fatima will join us for a Q&A session immediately after the screening.

Admission is free.

Presented by the Departments of History and Film and Media Studies.

LECTURE

Thursday
October 12, 2017
4:15 p.m.

Skillman Library
Gendebien Room
College Hill, Easton, PA

Calligrapher Elinor Aishah Holland will offer an illustrated presentation on this traditional art form in Islamic culture and essential part of a civilization that exists from Morocco to Indonesia. The beauty of Arabic letterforms will be highlighted, along with styles and developments, as well as methods and materials, with an emphasis on the great Ottoman tradition.

Film and Q&A with the director

Thursday
September 28, 2017
4:10 p.m.

Kirby Hall of Civil Rights
Room 104
College Hill, Easton, PA

Elias Matar documents his journey, with his daughter Lyla, to Lebanon’s Beqaa Valley in June of 2016 to work with Salam LADC, a local NGO. In the Beqaa Valley, there are more than 500,000 Syrian refugees who have been living in a state of limbo for the past five years. These refugees are left in the dark; they have no country, nearly no rights, very little education, and not enough food. “Children of Beqaa” gives a voice to the refugees, who just want their stories to be heard. Watch the trailer.

Director Elias Matar will join us to talk about his experiences in Beqaa Valley and why he decided to make it the subject of his documentary.

Admission is free. No tickets required.

Presented by Refugee Action with the support of the Offices of Intercultural Development and Religious and Spiritual Life, the Departments of Music and Film and Media Studies, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Social Justice Reading Series, the Muslim Students Association, the International Students Association, the International Affairs Club, Hillel, and Amnesty International.

LECTURE

Tuesday
September 12, 2017
4:30 p.m.

Hugel Science Center
Room 103
College Hill, Easton, PA

Frances Pritchett teaches and writes about modern South Asian literature, especially Urdu poetry. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in South Asian Languages and Civilizations in 1981 and has taught at Columbia since 1982. Her books include Nets of Awareness: Urdu Poetry and Its Critics (University of California Press, 1994); The Romance Tradition in Urdu: Adventures from the Dastan of Amir Hamzah (Columbia University Press, 1991); and (with Khaliq Ahmad Khaliq), Urdu Meter: A Practical Handbook (University of Wisconsin, 1987).

She is currently working on a commentary on the entire collection of Urdu poetry of Mirza Asadullah Khan (1797-1869). This work-in-progress is available online: A Desertful of Roses: the Urdu Ghazals of Mirza Asadullah Khan “Ghalib”. At Lafayette, Dr. Pritchett will discuss this poet of unparalleled eminence and share techniques of interpretation and translation, especially in the context of her work on Ghalib (Urdu and Persian).

Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits
by Laila Lalami

Community Reading

Ongoing

Save the Date: Laila Lalami will give the Community Reading Keynote Address on March 21, 2018.

Each summer, Lafayette invites the entire community—students, faculty, staff, alumni, and our neighbors in Easton and surrounding areas—to read a work of literature that we will explore together throughout the upcoming academic year.

The choice for summer 2017 is Laila Lalami’s acclaimed 2005 debut novel, Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits.

From the publisher:

Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits evokes the grit and enduring grace that is modern Morocco. As four Moroccans illegally cross the Strait of Gibraltar in an inflatable boat headed for Spain, author Laila Lalami asks, What has driven them to risk their lives? And will the rewards prove to be worth the danger? There’s Murad, a gentle, unemployed man who’s been reduced to hustling tourists around Tangier; Halima, who’s fleeing her drunken husband and the slums of Casablanca; Aziz, who must leave behind his devoted wife in hope of securing work in Spain; and Faten, a student and religious fanatic whose faith is at odds with an influential man determined to destroy her future. Sensitively written with beauty and boldness, this is a gripping book about what propels people to risk their lives in search of a better future.

“A dream of a debut, by turns troubling and glorious, angry and wise.” —Junot Diaz

Gain a little insight on the story from the author herself, add this novel to your summer reading pile, and then join us throughout the 17/18 academic year for multidisciplinary events that will provide a context for us to delve into the book’s themes together, as a community.