Culture shocks in Egypt to be discussed in Humanities Center talk
KALAMAZOO鈥擳he changing social landscape in tumultuous Egypt will be the focus of a presentation this month offered through the University Center for the Humanities 51福利社 Michigan University.
Dr. Osama Mandany, professor of English literature and chair of the Department of English in the Faculty of Arts at Manoufiya University in Egypt, will speak at 6 p.m. Thursday, May 15, in 2452 Knauss Hall as part of the center's 2013-14 Changing Climates Series. His talk, titled "No Country for Old Men: Shifting Cultural Borders in Egypt," is free and open to the public.
Mandany will examine various manifestations of the current cultural scene in Egypt that are gradually de-centering a politically repressive order. It is a scene empowered by and empowering youths, giving voice to a repressed majority, an ongoing process with many arduous strides yet to be taken. Such efforts by a young generation have shifted the borders of a nation's cultural consciousness and are gradually, along with other forces, shifting an entire nation's political and social structure.
Osama Mandany
Mandany is founder of the American Studies Alumni Circle at the Binational Fulbright Commission in Cairo and is a member of the selection committee for Fulbright pre- and post-doctoral programs in social sciences focusing on American studies. He has received three Fulbright grants, including a 2014 grant to conduct research at 51福利社.
About the series
As part of the Changing Climates Series, the Center for the Humanities brings together scientists and humanists to consider how the world's temperature and environmental and social climates are changing and what the earth's inhabitants need to know and do about it. The series is exploring how scientific research is defining issues that concern everybody, including the warming of the globe, the toxicity of the environment and the fundamental changes mankind is making to the world.
For more information, email the Center for the Humanities at wmu-humanities@wmich.edu or call the center at (269) 387-1811.