Mariam Sheibani: Grammar of the heart

Surely, the (for some) cold and perhaps tedious subject of grammar has no affinity with the loftier purposes of Sufi aspirants. Our guest for this week, a PhD student in Islamic Thought in NELC, discusses an interesting and innovative hybrid genre of literature developed by some Sufi masters over centuries. (We hope to have a visual aid uploaded soon, so please check back if you’d like to have that while listening to this talk.) You may find the speaker’s presentation slides helpful as you listen (click here for them). Enjoy!

نحو القلوب: الشروح الصوفيّة على النحو العربي

MARIAM SHEIBANI
The Grammar of the Heart: Sufi Commentaries on Arabic Grammar

(Winter Quarter, Week 4: 30 January 2015)

To listen, right-click here to download or use the following streaming bar:

Posted in Circles | Leave a comment

Usama Canon: Learning Arabic in its various forms

Our guest this week, who has lived for extended periods in several parts of the Arabic world, discusses his own journey in learning and teaching Arabic and offers some advice for students on how to navigate the language in its classical form and its various vernaculars. Enjoy!

العربيّة بين الفصحى والدارجة تعلّماً وتكلّماً

USAMA CANON
Navigating Classical & Vernacular Arabic in Study and Speech

(Winter Quarter, Week 3: 23 January 2015)

To listen, right-click here to download or use the following streaming bar:

Posted in Circles | Leave a comment

Orit Bashkin: Transit camps in early Israel

Our own Prof. Orit Bashkin presents on a current topic of her research, namely, transit camps in the early state of Israel, the lives of Jews therein, and related questions concerning race and class. Enjoy!

مخيمات اليهود العرب في دولة إسرائيل: عنصرية الدولة والطائفية الجديدة

ORIT BASHKIN
Transit Camps in Israel: State Racism and the New Sectarianism

(Winter Quarter, Week 2: 16 January 2015)

To listen, right-click here to download or use the following streaming bar:

Posted in Circles | Leave a comment

Kevin Blankinship: Death and decay in poetry

“I esteem the very ground to be but mortal remains.”   —Abū al-‘Alā’ al-Ma’arri

This week our guest, a PhD candidate in Arabic literature in NELC, gives us us a macabre look into death and decay as they appear in the poetry of al-Ma’arri, whose work is the subject of his research. This talk includes a lot of poetry, and the speaker has been kind enough to prepare a handout of the lines he cites, which you can find by clicking here. Enjoy!

المعرّي والاضمحلال

KEVIN BLANKINSHIP
Al-Maʿarrī & Decay: A Macabre Interlude

(Fall Quarter, Week 5: 31 October 2014)

To listen, right-click here to download or use the following streaming bar:

Posted in Circles | Leave a comment

Nareman Taha & Rima Najia: Arab-American Social Services

This week our guests, who work for Chicagoland-based nonprofit Arab-American Family Services (Bridgeview, IL), discuss the work they do as social workers and challenges they face therein, as well as the some of the contours of the Arab-American fabric. This presentation includes a combination of standard Arabic and Jordanian dialect (and sprinkles of English). Enjoy!

الخدمة الأسرية بين الأمريكان العرب

NAREMAN TAHA & RIMA NAJIA
Family Services among Arab Americans

(Fall Quarter, Week 4: 24 October 2014)

To listen, right-click here to download or use the following streaming bar:

Posted in Circles | Leave a comment

Ahmed Alqarni: What makes language beautiful?

How do poets translate their thoughts and emotions into mere words which, when uttered, move us to laughter or tears, or bring us to share in their joy or their anger or their wonder? In this our second session of the quarter, we welcome Ahmad Alqarni, a student in mass communication at the University of Wisconsin–Whitewater. Mr. Alqarni is a native speaker from Saudi Arabia with a background in Arabic media. In this presentation, he interactively takes his audience through some of the elements behind what makes the language we speak—and the literary heritage we esteem (whatever our culture)—esthetically pleasing.

جماليات النصّ العربيّ

AHMED ALQARNI
Esthetics of the Arabic Text

(Fall Quarter, Week 2 | 10 October 2014)

To listen, right-click here to download or use the following streaming bar:

Posted in Circles | Leave a comment

Kay Heikkinen: Some summer reflections from Egypt

Welcome to a new year of Arabic Circle (2014–15)!

We kick off the year with our own Ustādha Kay Heikkinen, who continues the tradition of our dear departed Dr. Farouk Mustafa with reflections on summer travels in Egypt. Ustādha Kay, in her lighthearted fashion, tells us some anecdotes from this summer and opens the floor to discussion a few matters of topical interest. Please enjoy!

ذكريات من رحلة إلى مصر هذا الصيف

KAY HEIKKINEN
Summer Reflections from Egypt

(Fall Quarter, Week 1: 3 October 2014)

To listen, right-click here to download or use the following streaming bar:

 

Posted in Circles | Leave a comment

Muhammad Eissa: In Memory of Farouk Moustafa

Well this wraps up the Arabic Circle for the year, but we’ll be back in October, إن شاء الله!

 

وداعا من هنا … إلى اللقاء هناك:
فاروق مصطفى: ثلاثون عاما من الزمالة والصداقة

MUHAMMAD EISSA
Farewell From Here . . . Meet You There:
Farouk Mustafa: Thirty Years of Friendship and Colleagueship

Listen here!

 

Posted in Circles | Leave a comment

Sherine Yousef and Abdelghany Barakat

Two young Egyptians, Sherine and Abdelghany, here at the University of Chicago as Sawiris scholars to study economics and political science, discuss their impressions of Chicago and America in very clear Arabic!

Listen here!

Posted in Circles | Leave a comment

A Psalmic Reading of Quran 78

By Daniel Bannoura, of the Divinity School.

Listen here!

And here are the texts discussed, with translation:

Quran 78 Psalm 104

Posted in Circles | Leave a comment