Students from eight Michigan colleges will assume the roles of Arab diplomats for three days in the statewide Model Arab League, held on the campus of Grand Valley State University from February 21-23.
Guest speaker for the event will be Philip C. Wilcox, Jr., head of the Foundation for Middle East Peace headquartered in Washington, D.C. Wilcox will speak to assembled student delegates at 7 p.m on Wednesday, February 21, in the Grand River Room of the Kirkhof Center, Allendale campus.
The Michigan Model Arab League, one of more than a dozen such groups nationwide, is a simulation of the League of Arab States in which delegations of students take on the roles of Arab diplomats and discuss issues facing their countries. Altogether, 90 students will participate in the event from GVSU, Calvin College, Hope College, Aquinas College, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo College, Spring Arbor College and University of Michigan-Dearborn.
The event is hosted by GVSU's Middle East Studies program and includes committee sessions throughout the three days, culminating in a summit on Friday at which students will elect a secretary general for the following year and vote to accept or reject proposals from the various delegations.
The role-playing exercise enhances students' knowledge of the Arab world, but goes beyond that, said Jim Goode, professor of History and coordinator of the Middle East Studies program at Grand Valley. It helps students develop public speaking, critical thinking, debate and diplomatic skills.
What's most important is the confidence they gain, Goode said. Students develop their abilities to meet with strangers, to debate and to be effective. By the end of the third day they're speaking up and expressing themselves with confidence.
Latif Bolat performs Turkish Sufi and folk musicAs part of the Model Arab League, Turkish musician Latif Bolat will bring the music of the mystics to Grand Valley State University with a free performance at 8 p.m. on Thursday, February 22, in the Louis Armstrong Theatre, Performing Arts Center on GVSU's Allendale campus.
Bolat, a native of Turkey now living in Berkeley, Calif., is considered one of the United States' premier performers of Sufi music ¿ devotional music and poetry developed for orders of Islamic mystics and often accompanied by spinning dancers. Bolat's performance at GVSU will include dancers who will demonstrate the devotional spinning, as well as several other musicians joining him on traditional Turkish instruments.
Besides Sufi music, Bolat's repertoire includes songs in Turkish classical and folk styles. He accompanies himself on the baglama, a long-necked lute.
