Middle Eastern Culture Celebrated at Cuyamaca College Events
Posted on: Mar 25, 2019 12:00:00 PM
Contact: Anne Krueger anne.krueger@gcccd.edu
Middle Eastern Heritage Month comes to Cuyamaca College in April with a menu of cultural
events highlighted by an all-day Syriac House Exhibition and an afternoon theatrical
performance of storytelling and music reminiscent of a historic Baghdad coffee house.
“Cuyamaca College has a very diverse Middle Eastern community in terms of ethnicity,
nationality and religion and we are using this opportunity to highlight the community’s
rich cultures and traditions,” said Aklas Sheai, an Arabic language instructor who
is organizing many of the month’s events.
All are free and open to the public. Included in the April lineup:
- The Syriac House Exhibition on April 3 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on the second floor
of the Student Center. Art, antiques and collectibles will be on display. Presented
by the Middle Eastern Students Club and sponsored by Cuyamaca College Student Affairs,
Engagement & Equity, Associated Student Government and Our Mother of Perpetual Help
Syriac Catholic Church.
- Cuyamaca College’s World Languages Department hosts a leadership presentation for
Middle Eastern immigrants on April 8 at 12:30 p.m. in Room I-207 of the Student Center.
- Art instructor and former university professor Qusay Al Zubaidi will display his postmodern
creations on April 10 from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. in Room I-207 of the Student Center.
Presented by the Middle Eastern Students Club and sponsored by Cuyamaca College Student
Affairs, Engagement & Equity and Associated Student Government.
- A discussion titled Arabic Culture & Arab-American Contributions to American Society
is scheduled for April 11 from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. in Room I-207 of the Student Center.
Presented by Hanaa Kassas, who teaches at both Cuyamaca College and San Diego State
University.
- An April 15 College Hour, Chaldean Culture & Traditions, with live music, dancing and traditional food, at 1 p.m. on the Grand Lawn. Presented
by the Middle Eastern Students Club and sponsored by Cuyamaca College Student Affairs,
Engagement & Equity and Associated Student Government.
- The World Languages Department presents singer Mariam Mouawad, who attended the Lebanese
National Higher Conservatory of Music and now serves as an Arabic teaching assistant
at San Diego State University. Mouawad will be performing April 18 at 5:30 p.m. at
the Samuel M. Ciccati Theatre.
- Khan Jghan, scheduled for April 24 from 12:30 to 2 p.m. in the Samuel M. Ciccati Theatre. Khan Jghan is said to have been the first coffee house in Baghdad in the early 20th century,
and it would grow into a popular local gathering place, a place that hosted a storyteller
named Al-Qasakhoon, who was considered a celebrity because of his ability to entertain
people for hours and guide them with words of wisdom. Khan Jghan will include musicians, storytelling, and more in a setting reminiscent of the historic
coffee house. This event is presented by Aklas Sheai and is sponsored by the Middle
Eastern Students Club, Cuyamaca College Student Affairs, Engagement & Equity and Associated
Student Government.
- A screening of The Arab Americans on April 29 at 12:30 p.m. in the Digital Theatre. This 2017 film details the contributions
made by immigrants from the Middle East, North Africa and the Arabian peninsula have
made in the United States. Presented by the Middle Eastern Students Club and followed
by a discussion, this event is sponsored by Cuyamaca College Student Affairs, Engagement
& Equity and Associated Student Government.
The month also includes a reading from the book Orientalism by Edward Said from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. every Wednesday in the Student Center Quad.
Leading the Heritage Book Club readings starting on April 3 is sociology instructor
Rachel Jacob Almeida. In the 1978 book, the author defines Orientalism as the West's
patronizing representations of the East.
East San Diego County has the second-largest Iraqi population in the country, behind
only the greater Detroit area, and Cuyamaca College has been holding special spring
events celebrating Arabic culture for years. Previous celebrations included “Henna
and Music” and an elaborate, five-act production of “Scheherazade: Tell Me a Story,”
an original take on the Middle Eastern fable of Scheherazade and the Arabian Nights.