FLB home News resources for undergraduates graduates faculty staff graduate assistants flb business office flb graduate student services   staff directory FLB directories UIUC home old browsers Thursday, March 23, 2006 2005-2006/047 Visiting Fulbright Specialist from Egypt at U. of I. until April 22 to provide direct access to the Muslim world URBANA—Sahar Mohammed Hassan Tawfiq, a native and resident of Cairo, Egypt, is visiting the U. of I. from now until April 22 through the Fulbright Visiting Specialists Program: Direct Access to the Muslim World, an initiative sponsored by the United States Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. The theme for her visit is “Arabic Literature and Criticism.” During her stay in Champaign-Urbana, Ms. Tawfiq will make two free public appearances. She will give a lecture entitled “Contemporary Arabic Literature in Egypt,” on Friday, April 7, from 8-10 p.m., at the Central Illinois Mosque and Islamic Center on Lincoln Avenue in Urbana. Ms. Tawfiq also will participate in a PEN Border Crossings Festival and lecture at the Illini Union Bookstore, 807 S. Wright St., Champaign, on Wednesday, April 19, from 4:30-6 p.m. The PEN Border Crossing Festival event will include a panel discussion with Marilyn Booth, associate professor of comparative and world literature at the U. of I. PEN, based in New York City, is an association seeking to promote freedom of expression by defending authors, encouraging reading and writing, and administering literary prizes. Border Crossings is a PEN-sponsored project, funded in part by the National Endowment for the Arts, which brings overseas writers in direct contact with U.S. readers, using literature as a bridge for mutual understanding. While in the United States, the Fulbright Visiting Specialists engage institutions and communities in dialogue, learning and mutual understanding, as well as the development of courses, programs, exchange activities and relationships. While at the U. of I. Tawfiq will present lectures or short courses; team-teach with American colleagues or assist in program and curriculum development; and speak to community groups, service clubs, and religious and school groups. Tawfiq has a degree in Arabic language and literature from al-Azhar University, Cairo, and had a career as teacher and supervisor in the Egyptian school system (1975-2002) before turning to writing and translating fulltime. She also taught in the Saudi school system in the 1990s. She has published two novels and many short stories in Arabic. A collection of her stories in English, "Points of the Compass," selected and translated by Booth. The book won the University of Arkansas Press Arabic Translation Award in 1995. Tawfiq also writes children's stories. As an English-to-Arabic translator, she has translated academic books as well as, recently, Maxine Hong Kingston's "The Woman Warrior" and Margaret Atwood's "Alias Grace." She has been a writer-in-residence at the Chateau de Lavigny (Switzerland), and has participated in numerous conferences on literature in the Arab world and in Copenhagen. The U. of I. is one of 28 U.S. colleges and universities to be selected to host a Fulbright Visiting Specialist from one of the world’s many Muslim communities during spring semester 2006, in an effort to expand current understanding of Islamic societies and cultures both in and out of the classroom. Since the program’s launch in January of 2004, more than 100 U.S. colleges and universities have been selected to develop campus and community-based programs for three- to six-week visits by specialists from Muslim communities, or those with a large Muslim population, in the Middle East, North Africa, South Asia, as well as several countries in Central Asia, Southeast Asia, Europe, and Africa. The program fits within the framework of today’s global challenges as the Fulbright Visiting Specialists are engaging U.S. institutions that desire to enrich campus and community understanding of those who live in Muslim countries and challenge prevailing stereotypes about Islamic societies and cultures. Tawfiq’s visit to the U. of I. is co-sponsored by the university’s Program in South Asian and Middle East Studies, the Program in Comparative and World Literature, the Center for Global Studies, Women and Gender in Global Perspectives, and the Department of Linguistics. For more information about Tawfiq’s lecture at the Central Illinois Mosque and Islamic Center contact Muhammad Faruque, Middle East Librarian, University of Illinois Library, 217-333-1501, faruque@uiuc.edu. For information about the PEN Crossing Festival, contact Chad Post at the Center for Book Culture/Dalkey Archive Press, Normal, Ill., 309-438-7555, centerforboo03@centerforbookculture.org.