American Corner, Tunis

Week of 1/30 Events

2012-01-27T08:19:00.000-08:00

Mon 1/30 (3 pm) - Viewing and Discussion of the State of the Union Address with American Public Affairs Officer, John Berry

Tue 1/31 (4 pm) - Conversation Hour on TED Talk: "Women Entrepreneurs, Example, not Exception"

Wed 2/1 (3 pm) - Presentation on e Library as a research resource by Regional Information Resource Officer Catherine Marsicek

Thur 2/2 (4 pm) - Conversation Hour: All American Muslims (TLC Show)

Fri 2/3 (3 pm) - Film Screening: "The Secret Life of Bees"

Week of 1/23 Events

2012-01-20T05:48:00.000-08:00

Mon 1/23 (4pm) - Conversation Hour: American Comedian, Stephen Colbert Running for President!?

Tue 1/24 (4pm) - Guest Speaker: American Street Artist, Jesse Roberts

Wed 1/25 (3pm) - The Honorable Supreme Court Associate Justice Stephen Breyer holding a discussion with Tunsiian on "The Role of a Constitution and the Challenges of Interpreting it for Application in Law" NOTE: THIS EVENT WILL BE HELD AT THE U.S. EMBASSY PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF YOU WANT TO COME AND MEET AT THE AC AT NO LATER THAN 2:15pm.

Bio: Stephen Breyer was born in San Francisco, California, August 15, 1938. He married Joanna Hare in 1967, and has three children - Chloe, Nell, and Michael. He received an A.B. from Stanford University, a B.A. from Magdalen College, Oxford, and an LL.B. from Harvard Law School. He served as a law clerk to Justice Arthur Goldberg of the Supreme Court of the United States during the 1964 Term, as a Special Assistant to the Assistant U.S. Attorney General for Antitrust, 1965–1967, as an Assistant Special Prosecutor of the Watergate Special Prosecution Force, 1973, as Special Counsel of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, 1974–1975, and as Chief Counsel of the committee, 1979–1980. He was an Assistant Professor, Professor of Law, and Lecturer at Harvard Law School, 1967–1994, a Professor at the Harvard University Kennedy School of Government, 1977–1980, and a Visiting Professor at the College of Law, Sydney, Australia and at the University of Rome. From 1980–1990, he served as a Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, and as its Chief Judge, 1990–1994. He also served as a member of the Judicial Conference of the United States, 1990–1994, and of the United States Sentencing Commission, 1985–1989. President Clinton nominated him as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, and he took his seat August 3, 1994.

Thur 1/26 (4pm) - Presentation/Conversation Hour on Tunisian Chechia and Cultural Hertiage

Fri 1/27 (3pm) - Yosser and Randa's Cooking Club!

Week of 12/5 Events

2011-12-02T02:24:00.000-08:00

Mon 12/5 (4pm) – Christmas Craft and Conversation Hour

Tue 12/6 (4pm) – “Guest Speaker: Isabel Rioja Scott on Influential Women and Women’s Empowerment”

Bio:

Isabel has been serving in U.S. Embassy Tunis as the Commercial Attaché since March 2009. In addition to assisting U.S. companies trade with and invest in Tunisia, she covers energy issues, civil aviation, bilateral trade, investment, and foreign assistance. Since her arrival, Isabel has been active in promoting strengthened bilateral commercial ties through her work on franchising legislation, the Trade Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA), U.S. company advocacy, and outreach to the Tunisian business community. Isabel is slated to serve in Mexico City as lead on trade issues in the summer of 2012.

Isabel joined the Foreign Service in 2002 and served previously as the Dean and Virginia Rusk Fellow at Georgetown University, where she researched Latin American economic policy and taught a course on U.S.-Venezuela foreign relations. Before that, she was a Watch Officer in the State Department Operations Center, a 24-hour crisis management office working closely with former Secretary Condoleezza Rice and other senior State Department principals.

She has also served as Economic Officer in Caracas, Venezuela, where she reported on Venezuelan economic policy, petro-diplomacy, land expropriations and other economic issues such as intellectual property, trade, and aviation. Isabel has also served Consular Officer in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, and in Washington, DC in the Office of Cuban Affairs.

Isabel was born and raised in Madrid, Spain, but moved to Tucson, Arizona at an early age. She holds a B.A. with honors in International Relations and History from the University of Pennsylvania, and also studied at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Prior to joining the Foreign Service, she worked as an insurance broker. She is fluent in Spanish and speaks French. She is married and has one daughter.

Wed 12/7 (3pm) – Rehearsal for the AC Volunteers Environment Group elementary schools presentation

*Please come to this event if you plan on presenting with this group

Wed 12/7 (3pm) – Rehearsal for the AC Volunteers Orphanage Group for the upcoming event at the orphanage

*Please come to this event if you plan on volunteering with this group the following weekend

The AC will open late, at 2:30pm this day

Thur 12/8 (2pm) – Debate Skills Presentation at Tunis Business School

This event is open to the public so, please come if you like.

This means that the AC will close at 1:15 this day

Fri 12/9 (3pm) – Film Screening: Cartoon Christmas Classics

Week of 11/28 Events

2011-11-28T02:28:00.000-08:00

Mon 11/28 (4pm) – Conversation Hour: American Indian and Alaska Native Month

Tue 11/29 (2pm) – Come meet members of the Legacy hip hop group at the AC and then join us for their concert at Ibn Rachiq Cultural Center at 6:00 pm (we will leave from the AC at 5:00 pm exactly)

Wed 11/30 (4 pm) – Conversation Hour led by American Exchange student, Gambe Gamez researching in Tunisia on the topic of “Political Islam in Tunisia: The Public’s Point of View”

Thur 12/1 (4 pm) – All AC Volunteer Groups’ Meeting

Fri 12/2 (3 pm) – Film Screening: Frosty the Snowman

Week of 11/24 Events

2011-11-18T05:56:00.000-08:00

The American Corner will be closed Thursday and Friday in observance of Thanksgivng and Ras al-Am holidays.

Mon 11/21 (4pm) – Karari – It’s Your Decision

Aymen Ben Abderrahmen, Secretary-General of IWATCH ORGANIZATION will be speaking about a new project he's working on in collaboration with the Karari Foundation for participative democracy (solveit.ch)

Tue 11/22 (4pm) – Thanksgiving Presentation and Activity

Wed 11/23 – The AC Will Close Early for the Thanksgiving Cooking Event

For those who signed up for the Wednesday cooking event will be contacted about the details.

Week of November 14 Events

2011-11-11T04:06:00.000-08:00

Week of 11/7 Events

2011-11-04T09:39:00.001-07:00

Mon 11/7 – The AC will be closed in observance of Eid Al Idha holidays. Eid Mubarak everyone!

Tue 11/8 (4pm) – Conversation Hour: Occupy Wall Street with Americans from Caravan TV Series

Wed 11/9 (4pm) – Senda Zayati on Cultures in Harmony

Wed 11/9 (5pm) –Environmental Group Volunteer Meeting

Thur 11/10 (Time tbd) – Presentation on public speaking at Tunis Business School

Fri 11/11 (Time tbd) – Tour at the American Cemetery in Carthage for Veteran’s Day

Week of 10/31 Events

2011-10-31T06:19:00.000-07:00

Mon 10/31 (3pm) – Halloween Presentation and Activities

Tue 11/1 (11am) – AC Tunis-IRC Cairo Web Chat: The Tunisia Elections

Come and discuss the Tunisian elections with Egyptian youth eager to learn from the wonderful precedent Tunisians provided for future Arab World elections.

Tue 11/1 (3pm) – Business Entrepreneurship Delegation Motivation Stories

Meet at the AC at 3:00 pm (no later) to go on a trip to Ghazela Techno Park to hear from a US-Tunisian Delegation for Business Entrepreneurship!

Wed 11/2 (3pm) – Portfolio Workshop

Learn important tips for writing resumes/CVs, writing cover letters, and having a successful interview.

Thur 11/3 (3pm) – Comic Book Club Meeting

Thur 11/3 (4pm) – AC Volunteers All Groups Meeting

Come share your successes from the first month of AC Volunteer groups focused on Environmental issues, cultural heritage, orphanage volunteering and artistic promotion!

Fri 11/4 (10am) – Tunisian Debates led by Jamil Choura

Fri 11/4 (3pm) – Film: College Inc.

Week of 10/17 Events

2011-10-14T08:10:00.000-07:00

Mon 10/17 (4pm) - World Food Day Awareness Discussion Hour

Tue 10/18 (1:30pm) – “Founding Elections: Lessons and Models from Developing Countries during the Third Wave of Democratization and After” at CEMAT (we will meet at the AC to walk there together)

THEREFORE, THE AC WILL CLOSE EARLY THIS DAY SO WE CAN ATTEND THE EVENT AS A GROUP

Wed 10/19 (4pm) – Comic Book Club Meeting

Wed 10/19 (5pm) – AC Volunteers Art Group Meeting

Thur 10/20 (4pm) – Guest Speaker: Johanna Klees on Volunteerism

Johanna Klees is a Peace Corps Alum who volunteered in Azerbaijan

Thur 10/20 (5pm) – AC Volunteers Meetings for the Cultural Heritage and Orphanage groups

Fri 10/21 (3pm) – Film Screening: Breakfast at Tiffany’s

Week of 10/10 Events

2011-10-07T14:14:00.000-07:00

Mon 10/10 (3pm) GIST Technology Competition Info. Session and Technology Entrepreneurship Brainstorm

Tue 10/11 (4pm) Discussion Hour: Jasmin Economic and Social Plan

Wed 10/12 (4pm) World Food Day Awareness Discussion Hour

Thur 10/13 (4pm) Presentation by the Amena Association against sexual harassment

Thur 10/13 (5pm) AC Book Club Meeting

Fri 10/14 (3pm) Film Screening: TBA

2011-10-03T08:12:00.000-07:00

Focusing Tunisia Energy on Entrepreneurship 10928

Click "View Full Screen" to see the whole presentation.

Week of 10/3 Events

2011-09-30T08:52:00.000-07:00

Mon 10/3 (4pm) Conversation Hour: Fashion for Development

Tue 10/4 (4pm) Conversation Hour: Going Green with Hamdi Labidi

Wed 10/5 (4pm) Imen S’hel on Economic Entrepreneurship

Thur 10/6 (1pm-5pm) I Watch Election Observer Training
Fulfill your civic duty by helping ensure free and fair elections.

Fri 10/7 (4pm) AC Volunteer Kick-off Karaoke Party
Come and get involved in your community with your choice of AC volunteer initiatives and sing your heart out!

Week of 9/26 Events

2011-09-23T06:00:00.000-07:00

Mon 9/26 (3:30pm) View Taleb Salheb on Education for Employment online at:

http://iipdigital.usembassy.gov/st/english/article/2011/09/20110916113111ffej0.9759333.html#axzz1YUkvuAEa

The AC will be closed at this time)

Tue 9/27 (3pm) Civic Debate Facilitation led by Jamil Choura

Wed 9/28 (2pm) Guest Speaker Paul Sullivan on Business Entrepreneurship

Bio:

Paul R. Sullivan is an experienced member of adjunct faculties in global business. Paul received his B.S. in Engineering and his MBA from the University of Michigan. He has also completed the Program for Health Systems Management presented by Harvard University’s Schools of Business, Public Health, and Medicine.
In addition to teaching in Executive Education Programs, Paul was the Founder and Managing Director of Global Partners, Inc., an international business development consulting firm. With 35 years of experience in research, management consulting, and management education, Paul frequently travels to Europe, Asia, and Latin America to help corporations prepare business development plans and expand their world markets. He has worked in 50 countries and developed, and presented seminars on global management, business-to-business marketing, sales and entrepreneurship to thousands of managers from over 100 countries. He has led and trained capture teams resulting in hundreds of millions of dollars of new business worldwide for their companies.
Before founding Global Partners, Paul was a Senior Vice President of Harbridge House, Inc. an international management consulting firm, and a member of its Management Board and Strategic Planning Committee. He led the globalization practice and established the Functional Management Division and recruited and managed a staff of 50 providing consulting and custom educational services in all functional areas.
Paul has worked with many Fortune “Global 500” companies including ABB, Abbott Laboratories, ALSTOM, AT&T, Boston Scientific, General Electric, General Dynamics, McDonald’s, Motorola, Qualcomm, Raytheon, Rockwell International, STMicroelectronics, United Technologies, Volvo and Xerox as well as government organizations including the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Departments of Defense, Energy and Health & Human Services and the US Agency for International Development.
He has written numerous articles including “A Global Perspective Enriches Entrepreneurs,” “Strategies for Playing the Global Game,” “Six Traits of Global Managers,” “Are You Developing Global Leaders?” and is co-author of the book Measuring Hospital Inflation.

Paul teaches Leading in a Global Organization and Project Management for Global Leaders in the Executive Education program for the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan as well as other programs around the world and volunteers as a mentor and adviser to entrepreneurs.

Wed 9/28 (4pm) Imen S’hel from I Watch presenting on Social Entrepreneurship

Thur 9/29 (5pm) Guest Speaker Jennifer Blitz on the Carter Center in Tunisia

Fri 9/30 (3pm) Film Screening: Up in the Air

Week of 9/19 Events

2011-09-16T04:14:00.000-07:00

Mon 9/19 (3:30pm) - Civic Engagement Discussion with Eric Bjornlund

Please tune in online at the following link for this discussion as the American Corner will close early: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=134186210013402

Eric Bjornlund Bio:

Eric Bjornlund is co-founder and principal of Democracy International. A lawyer and development professional with two decades of international experience, Mr. Bjornlund has designed, managed, and evaluated democratic development programs in 30 countries in Africa, Asia, Europe, Eurasia, and the Middle East. He has worked in the areas of international and domestic election monitoring, election systems and administration, political party building, legislative development, constitutional and legal reform, decentralization, women’s political empowerment, civil-military relations, civic and voter education, and civil society advocacy. He has extensive experience with assessments, evaluations, project designs, democracy assistance studies, and survey research and has led projects in emerging democracies, semi authoritarian countries, post conflict societies, and failed and failing states.

From 1989 to 2000, Mr. Bjornlund worked for the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI) in various senior positions in Washington and overseas. In the Middle East, in 1995-96, Mr. Bjornlund was the NDI Director in the Palestinian Territories, based in East Jerusalem and Gaza. He directed civic education and election monitoring programs for transitional Palestinian elections in January 1996, culminating in an international delegation led by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter. He developed the prototype Civic Forum program, an ongoing civic education network of several thousand Palestinians. In a similar role as NDI Country Director in Indonesia in 1999-2000 and Carter Center Country Director in Indonesia in 2004, Mr. Bjornlund developed and supervised a multiyear project in support of a democratic transition that in many ways serves as a model for ongoing transitions in the Middle East. The program included focus on domestic and international election monitoring, constitutional and law reform, political party development, legislative process, decentralization and regional autonomy, civil-military relations, and civil society advocacy.
Mr. Bjornlund has written and spoken extensively about transitional and post conflict elections, democratization, legal reform, and international democracy promotion. He is author of Beyond Free and Fair: Monitoring Elections and Building Democracy (Washington, Baltimore and London: Wilson Center Press and Johns Hopkins University Press, 2004), which explores the history and evolution of international and domestic election monitoring and offers insight into how the international community can more successfully advance democracy around the world.
Mr. Bjornlund has testified on many occasions before Congress and the United Nations and has spoken at conferences and universities throughout the world. He has served as an expert on election commissions and election monitoring for the U.S. State Department and has appeared on television and radio in the U.S. and abroad, including on the BBC, C-SPAN, CNN, National Public Radio, Voice of America, and other media outlets.
Mr. Bjornlund holds a J.D. from Columbia University, an M.P.A. from John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, and a B.A. magna cum laude from Williams College.

Mon 9/19 (6pm) - AC Civic Awareness and Engagement Video Competition Deadline

Civic Awareness and Engagement Video Competition

Rules of the Game:

The American Corner in Tunis is announcing a video contest as part of its Civic Empowerment Month. To enter, please create an original (your own work not taken from others) short film on the theme of civic awareness and engagement of no more than 5 minutes to win a spot in a two-day videography workshop led by international multimedia trainer, Karl Idsvoog on September 26-27. The winner will also receive a certificate and 50 TD. The video submission deadline will be Monday, September 19. You can submit your video by posting a youtube/dailymotion link to it under the event posting on the American Corner Tunis Facebook group entitled, “AC Civic Awareness and Engagement Video Competition”.

The videos should emphasize civic social commentary and can be done using cell phones, small cameras, or any other device at your disposal. The videos should focus on an issue of civic awareness and engagement. This can include, but is not limited to, civic engagement in post-revolution politics, social engagement in the form of volunteerism, etc. The video should tell a story and inspire future civic awareness and engagement in Tunisia. Any dialogue should be in English or subtitle in English.

Any videos containing plagiarism, submitted later than September 19 at 6:00 pm or that exceed 5 minutes will be automatically disqualified.

Best of luck to you all!

Tue 9/20 (2:30pm) - OSU Tunisia Program Visit to the AC

Come visit a group of American Students who are studying in Tunis through the Oregon State Study abroad program. This will be a casual event where you can meet students coming from a variety of states who are in Tunisia to study Arabic or French.

Wed 9/21 (4pm) Guest Speaker Caitlin Maguire for Rock the Vote International

Rock the Vote's mission is to engage and build political power for young people in our country.

Founded twenty years ago at the intersection of popular culture and politics, Rock the Vote is growing its team and its campaigns in 2011, to support the tidal wave of young people who want to get involved in elections and seize the power of the youth vote to create political and social change.

Over the last two decades, Rock the Vote has registered more young people to vote than any other organization or campaign, and we intend to register and turn out millions more in years to come – and to be the best-informed place online where young people can find out what they need to know before casting a ballot.

After years of declining participation at the polls, a new generation of young voters has arrived. Millions of new voters between the ages of 18 – 29 cast ballots in 2004, 2006, and 2008. Rock the Vote is dedicated to building the political power and clout of the Millennial Generation by registering and turning out young people, by forcing the candidates to campaign to them, and by making politicians pay attention to youth and the issues they care about once in office.

Wed 9/21 (5:30pm) - Civic Awareness and Engagement Video Competition Winner Announcement

Thur 9/22 (5:30pm) - Guest Speaker John Marks on Search for Common Ground

Our mission is to transform the way the world deals with conflict: away from adversarial approaches, toward cooperative solutions.

Our ability to deal with conflict affects how we handle every issue that faces humanity. Whether global in nature, such as poverty, hunger or the environment, or closer to home, such as family or community relations, we face daily challenges to our abilities to deal with conflict constructively. We remain essentially optimistic that, on the whole, history is moving in positive directions.

"There is no conflict that cannot be resolved. Violent conflict is created and sustained by human beings, and it can be ended by human beings." Senator George Mitchell

"The opportunity for cooperation is there, even in our most vexing disputes, if we only bother to look for it." William Raspberry, Washington Post Columnist

By transforming how people deal with conflict, we can make significant strides in addressing the major issues facing the world.

Fri 9/23 (11am) - Presentation by Islam "Lily" Lengliz on a Tunisian Woman's Experience in India Researching the Impact of Malnutrition on Children

Fri 9/23 (3pm) Film Clip from Framework for Democracy + Discussion

Week of 9/12 Events

2011-09-09T06:35:00.000-07:00

Mon 9/12 (1pm) - Maybe I'm Wrong: Civic Debate Presentation and Training led by Jamil Choura

A program organized for youth in Tunis to promote tolerance, respect of differing opinions, and principles of civilized debate in an open society. Since the Revolution, many public exchanges in Tunisia have descended into shouting and sometimes even violence amongst youth. The name “Maybe I’m Wrong” suggests that young people can be open-minded and even change their opinions without being embarrassed. The project includes training in techniques of debate as well as an open public debate with audience participation. It aims to stress the importance of communication, intellectual awareness, and the culture of peaceful coexistence in order to pave the way for a real democracy in Tunisia.

Mon 9/12 (4pm) - AC Volunteers Meeting

Come to learn more about projects being planned and how you can get involved and build a stronger community through volunteerism!

Tue 9/13 (1pm) - Ar.Tun.ited: A Meeting for Artists and their Fans by Roué Krimi and Emna Bouguira

If you are an artist or if you simply love art click here to learn more about a new project entitled Ar.Tun.ited:

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=267396953277473

Ar.Tun.ited, is an initiative to bring together young Tunisian artists and engage them in the country’s emerging civil society. This project aims to find solutions for three issues affecting the art scene in Tunisia: the absence of a strong community of young artists, little if any encouragement for young people to commit to a career in the arts, and a lack of opportunities for young artists to engage with the general public. In response, the project aims to create a community of young talented artists working side by side to promote art and participate in civic reform, including helping to advance the work of civil society NGOs. For instance if an NGO wants to organize a campaign against illiteracy, Ar.Tun.ited will help organize an event addressing the same theme. The first phase of the project is to hold an introductory meeting in Tunis, followed by a collective art exhibition and performance composed of several art genres, enabling young artists to present their work and feel part of a larger community. The hope is to solidify this new network with a website featuring information on artists and civic affairs.

Tue 9/13 (4pm) - Democracy Simulation: Constitutional Convention

Wed 9/14 (1:30pm) - AC Tunis-AC Cairo Skype Conversation Hour on "Ways to Support the Arab Spring"

Wed 9/14 (4pm) - Conversation Hour on Harajuku Fashion by Hamdi Labidi

Thur 9/15 (10:30am) - Civic Awareness Video Competition Workshop by videographer and photographer, Mike Hammond

Civic Awareness and Engagement Video Competition

Rules of the Game:

The American Corner in Tunis is announcing a video contest as part of its Civic Empowerment Month. To enter, please create an original (your own work not taken from others) short film on the theme of civic awareness and engagement of no more than 5 minutes to win a spot in a two-day videography workshop led by international multimedia trainer, Karl Idsvoog on September 26-27. The winner will also receive a certificate and 50 TD. The video submission deadline will be Monday, September 19. You can submit your video by posting a youtube/dailymotion link to it under the event posting on the American Corner Tunis Facebook group entitled, “AC Civic Awareness and Engagement Video Competition”.

The videos should emphasize civic social commentary and can be done using cell phones, small cameras, or any other device at your disposal. The videos should focus on an issue of civic awareness and engagement. This can include, but is not limited to, civic engagement in post-revolution politics, social engagement in the form of volunteerism, etc. The video should tell a story and inspire future civic awareness and engagement in Tunisia. Any dialogue should be in English or subtitle in English

Mike Hammond, videographer and photographer will also be available Thursday, September 15 for a small workshop to help put videos together and also to provide feedback on your work.

Any videos containing plagiarism, submitted later than September 19 at 6:00 pm or that exceed 5 minutes will be automatically disqualified.

Best of luck to you all!

Thurs 9/15 (4pm) - Soliya Connect Program Orientation and Information Session

IF YOU INTEND TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS PROGRAM YOU MUST COME TO THIS INFORMATION SESSION

In an increasingly interdependent world, cross-cultural education and exchange should no longer be considered a luxury for the privileged elite – to succeed in the global economy and address complex global challenges, all young people will need to develop a basic level of cross-cultural awareness and understanding. Soliya’s Connect Program is a new approach to cross-cultural exchange that has the potential to dramatically increase access to intercultural education.

Through accredited university courses, Connect Program participants use customized videoconferencing technology to connect directly with their peers from around the world and engage in candid discussions of cross-cultural issues. The program is extremely low-cost as compared to traditional exchange or study abroad experiences and the technical requirements for participation are minimal. Small groups of 8-10 students are guided through the 10-week dialogue program by pairs of highly-trained facilitators. Over the course of a semester, participants have the opportunity to develop genuine relationships with group members from around the world and learn about other cultures from those who are immersed in them every day. Soliya facilitators are specifically trained to foster a respectful environment in which participants feel comfortable expressing and exploring different perspectives. Through a proven dialogue process, students progress from discussing culture and everyday life to delving into controversial topics with the support of trusted group members, ultimately arriving at a better understanding of other cultures and perspectives.

Fri 9/16 (4pm) - Film Segment from Framework for Democracy: on The Living Constitution (Constitution by Popular Referendum) + Discussion

Week of 9/5 Events

2011-09-04T02:45:00.000-07:00

- The AC will now be back to normal hours (10:00 am - 6:00 pm)

- AC Civic Empowerment Month Begins

Mon 9/5 (4pm) - Civic Awareness Video Competition Announcements and Discussion

Tue 9/6 (4pm) - Open Discussion on Democracy

Wed 9/7 (4pm) - Guest Speaker Brian Katulis on Civil Society Organization

Bio:

Brian Katulis is a Senior Fellow at American Progress, where his work focuses on U.S. national security policy in the Middle East and South Asia. Katulis has served as a consultant to numerous U.S. government agencies, private corporations, and nongovernmental organizations on projects in more than two dozen countries, including Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Yemen, Egypt, and Colombia. From 1995 to 1998, he lived and worked in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and Egypt for the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs.

Katulis received a master's degree from Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School for Public and International Affairs and a B.A. in history and Arab and Islamic Studies from Villanova University. In 1994 and 1995, he was a Fulbright scholar in Amman, Jordan, where he conducted research on the peace treaty between Israel and Jordan. Katulis has published articles in several newspapers and journals, including The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe, Baltimore Sun, and Middle East Policy, among other publications. He is co-author of The Prosperity Agenda, a book on U.S. national security published by John Wiley & Sons in 2008. Katulis speaks Arabic.

Thur 9/8 (4pm) - Democracy Simulation: Constitutional Convention

Fri 9/9 (1pm) - Presentation by the Human Rights Corps of Tunisia

Fri 9/9 (3pm) - Film Segment from Framework for Democracy on The Living Constitution (Constitution by Popular Referendum) + Discussion

Week of 8/26 Events...or lack there of

2011-08-26T01:16:00.000-07:00

Mon 8/29-Thur 9/1 - Please note that the American Corner will be closed Monday, August 29-Thursday, September 1 in observance of 3id Al-Fitr. So, in sha' allah 3idkom mabrouk to everyone!!

Fri 9/2 (1pm) - Women's Equality Day Discussion Hour

Week of 8/22 Events

2011-08-19T02:26:00.000-07:00

Mon 8/22 (1 PM) - AC Volunteers Meeting

Tue 8/23 (1 PM) - Film Segment 3 from "L'Islam aux Etats-Unis" followed by discussion

Wed 8/24 (1 PM) - Embassy Film Interviews: "Americans on America" Project

Mohamed Trad, Social Media Assistant and Achref Aouadi, Alumni Coordinator from the U.S. embassy will present the idea behind "Americans to America" and then film Tunisians asking questions about the American experience, facilitating interaction between Americans and Tunisians. Average Americans will respond to these questions in a video answering your questions. Come and support international dialogue and understanding!

Thur 8/25 (1 PM) - Film Screening: "Hotel Rawanda"

Fri 8/26 - The AC will close early at 11:00 am

Week of 8/15 Events

2011-08-12T06:56:00.000-07:00

Mon 8/15 (1PM) - Plan AC Charity Project

Tue 8/16 (9AM) - Web Conference with Farah Pandith + Discussion

Farah Pandith is the U.S. State Department Special Representative to Muslim Communities. In this inaugural webchat, Farah will be speaking about her recent travels to Indonesia & Malaysia, giving updates on the Generation Change and 2011 Hours Against Hate projects, and conveying Ramadan greetings from the United States.

Tue 8/16 (1PM) - Film Segment 3 from "L'Islam aux Etats-Unis" followed by discussion

Tue 8/16 (7:10PM) - AC Iftar Potluck

For this event, each person should bring a dish of food, soup, drinks or sweets to share with the others for an AC member iftar held at the American Corner. If people coordinate on what each will bring, I think this will work better.

Wed 8/17 (1PM) - Presentation on Religious Diversity in America

Thur 8/18 (1PM) - Conversation Hour on International Herald Tribune Article "Teaching Rebels" led by Hamdi Labidi

Fri 8/19 (1 PM) - Film Screening: America Before Columbus (National Geographic)

Week of 8/8 Events

2011-08-06T01:51:00.000-07:00

Mon 8/8 (9am-12pm) - People's Movement for Human Rights Learning & Integration Workshop Session 1 (AMIDEAST Conference Room)

These 3 hours will be dedicated to the personalization of human rights, bringing it home, making it yours and giving you a view of human rights that takes it out of the political and legal realm and into a process that you can incorporate in your everyday life.

Mon 8/8 (1pm) - Conversation Hour on TED Clip: Shereen El Feki on Pop culture in the Arab world

Tue 8/9 (9am-12pm) - People's Movement for Human Rights Learning & Integration Workshop Session 2 (AMIDEAST Conference Room)

The building of a Human Rights Corps and the evolution to a Human Rights City, what do you have to do to make them happen in your city, nation and community.

Tue 8/9 (1pm) - Film Segment 2 from "L'Islam aux Etats-Unis" followed by discussion

Wed 8/10 (9am-12pm) - People's Movement for Human Rights Learning & Integration Workshop Session 3 (AMIDEAST Conference Room)

How do I make a difference and bring this process to others, to my own organization, into the systems that impact me on a daily basis...how do I ensure that every citizen and resident of Tunisia knows, owns and can act upon Human Rights as part of their daily life.

Wed 8/10 (1pm) - Presentation by ISLT "Random Photographers"

Thur 8/11 (1pm) - Presentation by Lorendra Pinder on the State of New York

Fri 8/12 (1pm) - Film Screening: The Breakfast Club

Week of 8/1 Events

2011-07-29T02:14:00.000-07:00

Mon 8/1 (1pm)- Conversation Hour on the killings in Norway

Tue 8/2 (1pm)- Film Segment 1 from "L'Islam aux Etats-Unis" followed by discussion

Wed 8/3 (1pm)- Presentation on Oregon, the 33rd state of the United States

Thurs 8/4 (1pm)- Kristof Reader: Meet up to discuss Nicholas Kristof's latest column and brainstorm how to change the world

Fri 8/5 (1pm)- Film Screening: "Babel" + Discussion

Week of 7/25 Events

2011-07-22T01:48:00.000-07:00

Mon 7/25 - AC Closed for Tunisian Republic Day

Tue 7/26 (1 PM) - Cultures of America: Chinese Americans Presentation by Jessica Li

Wed 7/27 (1 PM) - Goodbye Party for Ravi Kaneriya, American Corner Coordinator

Come say goodbye to your good friend and AC Coordinator extraordinaire. He will be greatly missed by AC patrons and AMIDEAST staff.

Thurs 7/28 (1 PM) - Conversation Hour with Amana Organization against sexual harassment

Fri 7/29 (1 PM) - Film Screening: Aladdin and the King of Thieves

Week of 7/18 Schedule

2011-07-15T03:43:00.000-07:00

Mon 7/18 (12PM) - Catch-Up Call with Shannon Zimmerman on Skype

Mon 7/18 (1:30PM) - AC Tunis-AC Cairo Virtual Chat on Role of Religion in Politics After the Revolutions

Tues 7/19 (1PM) - World Peace Game Simulation

The World Peace Game is a political science simulation developed in America by John Hunter. The game involves teams of students who run countries on a shared planet and have to solve challenges related to the complexities of governing a state. At the AC, we have developed a simplified version of this game, and we will allow AC visitors the chance to sample this shorter, simpler simulation based on the concept of the World Peace Game.

Wed 7/20 (1PM) - Cultures of America: Scandinavian-Americans by Colin Soderberg-Chase

Wed 7/20 (3PM) - AC Beach Outing to Sidi Bou Said or Carthage (meet at AC at 3PM to go to the beach with AC friends)

Thurs 7/21 (1PM) - Presentation on Arab-American Author Ameen Rihani by Ameni Mathlouthi

Fri 7/22 (12:30PM) - Documentary + Discussion: "Promises" (about children in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict)

Fri 7/22 (3PM) - Guest Speaker: Randa Fahmy Hudome on Arab-Americans, Citizen Diplomacy, and Engagement between the USA and Tunisian Youth

Her bio here & below:

An internationally recognized expert in global markets and the energy sector, Randa Fahmy Hudome has more than twenty-five years of legal and public policy experience, including service in the executive branch of the United States Government as the Associate Deputy Secretary of Energy.

Presently, Randa is President of Fahmy Hudome International (FHI), a strategic consulting firm, which provides critical advice and counsel to Fortune 500 companies, foreign governments, media organizations, and private sector entities with an interest in energy policy and international business transactions.

Prior to founding FHI, Ms. Fahmy Hudome was appointed by President George W. Bush to serve as the Associate Deputy Secretary of Energy. Working with the White House and the Departments of State and Commerce, she developed and implemented international energy policy. Her keen diplomatic skills became a critical factor when dealing with both producer and consumer nations as she exercised the Administration’s quiet diplomacy strategy in the petroleum market. Also during her tenure at Department of Energy, Randa was credited with gaining and solidifying U.S. Government support for the Permanent Secretariat of the International Energy Forum based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. She was Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham’s personal representative to the Paris based International Energy Agency where she helped coordinate strategy for international oil emergencies amongst the 26-member country organization. Randa was also the point person at the Department of Energy for increased advocacy on behalf of American energy companies seeking business around the globe.

From 1995-2001, Randa served as Counselor to United States Senator Spencer Abraham (R-MI). During the six years she spent in the legislative branch, she was credited with shaping many pieces of legislation that affected U.S. interests abroad. Her legislative contributions included securing increased appropriations for U.S. allies in the Middle East; drafting and securing passage for the first resolution on tolerance towards Islam in America; and orchestrating a legislative strategy to remove the U.S. travel ban on Lebanon. She also served as a key policy advisor to the Senator during his tenure on the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, focusing on immigration and terrorism legislation.

Prior to her government service, Randa practiced law with Willkie, Farr and Gallagher, where she specialized in the areas of communications, international trade, and corporate litigation. She maintains bar memberships in Maryland, the District of Columbia, and the United States Court of International Trade.

Randa’s expertise in international energy and trade policy has been sought by the U.S. Secretary of State, who appointed her to serve on the U.S. State Department Advisory Committee on International Economic Policy, and by the Secretary of Energy who appointed her to serve on the U.S. Secretary of Energy Advisory Board. She presently serves on the Board of Directors of SWAPSOL, a privately held energy company that discovered a breakthrough in hydrocarbon refining and CO2 mitigation.

Ms. Fahmy Hudome’s opinions on international diplomacy have been published in the Wall Street Journal, and she appears frequently as an expert analyst on energy and national security issues on NBC’s Today Show, MSNBC, CNN, and Al-Jazeera.

Randa received her juris doctor from the Georgetown University Law Center, where she held the post of Administrative Editor of The Georgetown Journal of International Law. Her B.A. in political science and international relations was awarded summa cum laude by Wilkes University.

Week of 7/11 Events

2011-07-08T12:42:00.000-07:00

Mon 7/11 - Islam Quiz & Conversation Hour (1 pm)

Tue 7/12 - Islam & Human Rights by Mourad Brahmi (1 pm)

Wed 7/13 - Guest Speaker Reza Aslan on Islam & Modernity (4 pm)

Dr. Reza Aslan, an internationally acclaimed writer and scholar of religions, is the founder of AslanMedia.com, an online journal for news and entertainment about the Middle East and the world. Reza Aslan has degrees in Religions from Santa Clara University, Harvard University, and the University of California, Santa Barbara, as well as a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Iowa, where he was named the Truman Capote Fellow in Fiction. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Los Angeles Institute for the Humanities, and the Pacific Council on International Policy. He serves on the board of directors of the Ploughshares Fund, which gives grants for peace and security issues; Abraham's Vision, an educational, conflict transformation organization for Israeli and Palestinian youths; PEN USA, which champions the rights of writers under siege around the world; and the Levantine Cultural Center, which builds bridges between Americans and the Arab/Muslim world through the arts.

Aslan's first book is the International Bestseller, No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam, which has been translated into thirteen languages, and named one of the 100 most important books of the last decade. He is also the author of How to Win a Cosmic War (published in paperback as Beyond Fundamentalism: Confronting Religious Extremism in a Globalized Age), as well as editor of two volumes: Tablet and Pen: Literary Landscapes from the Modern Middle East, and Muslims and Jews in America: Commonalties, Contentions, and Complexities.

Reza Aslan is Co-founder and Chief Creative Officer of BoomGen Studios, the premier entertainment brand for creative content from and about the Greater Middle East and President of AppOvation Labs, a mobile applications company. Born in Iran, he lives in Los Angeles with his wife (author and entrepreneur Jessica Jackley) where he is Associate Professor of Creative Writing at the University of California, Riverside.

Thursday 7/14 - Guest Speaker, Doug Penhallegon on Comparison and Contrast of the Arab Spring and Eastern European Revolutions (12 pm)

Doug Penhallegon teaches in the History Department at Duquesne University in addition to the School of Leadership and Professional Advancement. He has two Master's degrees from Duquesne, in History and in Liberal Studies. His fields of expertise include contemporary Islamic-Western relations, Middle East politics, and peacebuilding. Doug is the 2010-2011 Commonwealth Speaker for the Pennsylvania Humanities Council, where he offers public lectures on the debate over the supposed "clash of civilizations" between the Muslim and Western worlds. He also earned a Certificate in National Security and Intelligence Studies from Point Park University. He has taught history everywhere from below the flightdeck of an aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf to a halfway house in Harlem, NY. In the fall of 2011 he will begin a PhD in Political Science with a concentration in International Relations at Kent State University.

Thursday 7/14 - Qur'an Analysis in English (1 pm)

Friday 7/15 - Film Screening: "Witness: Islam & America"

HOUR CHANGE

2011-06-30T07:45:00.000-07:00

The American Corner will begin summer hours starting on July 1 until the end of Ramadan. Summer hours will be Monday-Friday 9:00-3:00.

Week of 7/4 Events

2011-06-30T07:29:00.000-07:00

Mon 7/4 - AC CLOSED for American Independence Day

Tue 7/5 - American Independence Day Quiz, Presentation and Yard Games in Belvedere Park (1PM)

Wed 7/6 - Conversation Hour: Freedom of Speech (1PM)

Thur 7/7 - Guest Speaker, Doug Penhallegon on Comparison and Contrast of the Arab Spring and Eastern European Revolutions (12:30)

Doug Penhallegon teaches in the History Department at Duquesne University in addition to the School of Leadership and Professional Advancement. He has two Master's degrees from Duquesne, in History and in Liberal Studies. His fields of expertise include contemporary Islamic-Western relations, Middle East politics, and peacebuilding. Doug is the 2010-2011 Commonwealth Speaker for the Pennsylvania Humanities Council, where he offers public lectures on the debate over the supposed "clash of civilizations" between the Muslim and Western worlds. He also earned a Certificate in National Security and Intelligence Studies from Point Park University. He has taught history everywhere from below the flightdeck of an aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf to a halfway house in Harlem, NY. In the fall of 2011 he will begin a PhD in Political Science with a concentration in International Relations at Kent State University.

Fri 7/8 Film: Good Hair (1PM)

Week of 6/27 Events

2011-06-24T06:04:00.000-07:00

Product Development Month Events (in basement of AMIDEAST):

Mon June 27 (4PM) - Workshop on "Strategies for Innovative Thinking" by Ravi Kaneriya

Tues June 28 (4PM) - Nothing

*Wed June 29 (4PM) - Product Development Month Competition - work on idea in teams

*Thurs June 30 (4PM) - Product Development Competition - Presentations of ideas and awarding of prizes

*Fri July 1 (4PM) - *Friday July 1 (3PM) - Finance Week Investment Contest Results

Non-Product Development Month Events

Mon June 27 (2:30PM) - Guest Speaker: Wheldon Kennedy on “The Structure of Campaign Planning”

Biography of Weldon Kennedy of Change.org

Weldon Kennedy is a Change.org Director of Organizing. He grew up in New Mexico and has always wondered what is beyond the next hill. After traveling the world for a year, Weldon returned the US an impassioned activist working to redress some of the injustices he had seen. After working on a variety of issues and elections, Weldon moved to London to manage membership campaigns for ONE.org... - where he stayed until joining Change.org in early 2011.

Change.org

Change.org is an online activism platform for social change that raises awareness about important causes and connects people to opportunities for powerful action. It works with more than 1000 of the largest organizations in the world, has a team of hundreds of journalists and organizers that span the globe, and empowers millions of people each month to make a difference.
Change.org is organized around more than a dozen leading cause-based communities, ranging from gay rights to women’s rights to animal welfare. It encourages individuals within each community to start an online petition, sign petitions related to their interests, and magnify their impact by sharing each petition with friends.

Tues June 28 (1:30PM) - Conversation Hour: Youth, Social Media, Rap, and Revolution with Chris Gray

Chris Gray is an American, living in Tunisia, who is doing research on the Tunisian Revolution. Specifically, he wants to examine how Tunisians (especially youth) used novel ways to propagate the revolution, including the use of social media and the element of rap music as a political statement.

If you would like to have a conversation hour with him and simultaneously help give him information for his research, please attend.

Tues June 28 (2:30PM) - Presentation: "The UN Milennium Goals" by Emna Chihi

Wed June 29 (2:30PM) - Workshop on Making Tunisian Pastries with Amira Chihi

Fri July 1 (1PM) - Documentary + Discussion of film "Religulous"

Week of June 20 Events

2011-06-18T02:47:00.000-07:00

Management Week Events:

Mon June 20 (4PM) - "Corporate Culture and Employee Motivation" by Ravi Kaneriya

Tues June 21 (4PM) - Presentation of key learnings from management book "Good to Great"

Wed June 22 (4PM) - "Innovative Marketing and Communication" by Rym Bedoui Ayari, President of the Tunisian-American Chamber of Commerce and manager of Sultan's Finest Food candy factory

Thurs June 23 (4PM) - "Careers in Human Resources" by Aziza Mzoughi from Vistaprint

Thurs June 23 (5PM) - "Careers in Management" by Olfa el-Ghoul from Vistaprint

Fri June 24 (3PM) - Management Competition

Non-Management Week Events:

Mon June 20 (2:30PM) - Guest Speaker Wheldon Kennedy
Biography of Weldon Kennedy of Change.org

Weldon Kennedy is a Change.org Director of Organizing. He grew up in New Mexico and has always wondered what is beyond the next hill. After traveling the world for a year, Weldon returned the US an impassioned activist working to redress some of the injustices he had seen. After working on a variety of issues and elections, Weldon moved to London to manage membership campaigns for ONE.org - where he stayed until joining Change.org in early 2011.

Change.org

Change.org is an online activism platform for social change that raises awareness about important causes and connects people to opportunities for powerful action. It works with more than 1000 of the largest organizations in the world, has a team of hundreds of journalists and organizers that span the globe, and empowers millions of people each month to make a difference.
Change.org is organized around more than a dozen leading cause-based communities, ranging from gay rights to women’s rights to animal welfare. It encourages individuals within each community to start an online petition, sign petitions related to their interests, and magnify their impact by sharing each petition with friends.

Tues June 21 (2:30PM) - Meet Alissa Strunk! The new AC Tunis Coordinator

Wed June 22 (2:30PM) - Presentation on British History by Ines Hedi

Thurs June 23 (2PM) - Presentation on "What Men Want"

Meet Kayla Sweeney, the New Coordinator of the AC Sousse!

2011-06-14T04:43:00.001-07:00

Hello everybody! I want to take a moment to properly introduce myself. My name is Kayla Sweeney, I'm from Chicago (well an unknown town 1 hour north of Chicago), and I studied Global Communication in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I am very excited to coordinate the American Window in Sousse, and expand it into another American Corner over the next year! In addition to studying globalization and communications, I focused on French & Francophone studies, and the Middle East and North Africa, and the Maghreb is my personal favorite area of interest. Two years ago, I spent a semester abroad studying in Rabat, Morocco, where I had the opportunity to work on my Standard Arabic and where I picked up a little bit of the Moroccan dialect. For me, traveling and meeting new people and experiencing new perspectives is what makes my life worthwhile! I also love playing tennis, so if you play and would like to have a partner, please let me know! I am excited about the next year and all the things that the American Window (soon-to-be American Corner inshallah) will be doing in the coming year!

Kayla

Week of 6/13 Events

2011-06-10T10:37:00.000-07:00

FINANCE WEEK EVENTS

Mon June 13 (4PM) – Fundamentals of Finance Presentation
• Workshop on key financial metrics, financial statements, and tools for financial analysis

Tues June 14 (4PM) – Film: "Inside the Meltdown: What Happened to the Economy"
• We will watch a documentary about the recent financial crisis

Wed June 15 (4PM) – Ayoub Zaafouri from Shell Talks about Careers in Finance

*Thurs June 16 (4PM) – Kick-Off Stock Market Investing Competition
• I will introduce teams to the website we will use for investing in stocks (not for real just for pretend), and explain the rules of the game. Teams can research stocks and determine which picks to buy. The objective is to maximize return on their investments.

NON-FINANCE WEEK EVENTS

Mon June 13 @ 2:30PM - Mourad Brahmi presents "What Women Want", a workshop to help guys better understand girls and how to make them happy

Mon June 13 @ 6:00PM - Conversation Hour: The Arab Spring (facilitated by Kayla)

Tues June 14 @ 6:00PM - Conversation Hour: Women's Right (facilitated by Kayla)

Wed June 15 @ 6:00PM - Conversation Hour: Globalization or Education (you choose) (facilitated by Kayla)

Fri June 17 @ 3:00PM - Film: "Secondhand Lions"

Week of 6/6 Events

2011-06-03T15:48:00.000-07:00

Marketing Week Events:

-Mon June 6 (4PM) – Marketing Workshop by Professor Madiha Ferjani from the Mediterranean Business School.

-Tues June 7 (4PM) – Guest Speaker on Careers in Marketing: Mondher Khanfir from Wiki Start-Up (located in AMIDEAST Central Park room)

• Mondher Khanfir is a Tunisian Social Entrepreneur. He is acting now as Investment Advisor at a private Venture Capitalist. He had actively contributed to the reinforcement of the civil society capacity in Tunisia, since he lead the ATUGE (Association des Tunisiens des Grandes Ecoles) from 2002 to 2007, then he joined the CJD Tunisia as counselor of the Executive Bureau, and later acted for a short but intensive period, including the Revolution, as Chief Executive Director at the Tunisian American Chamber of Commerce. Thanks to his international background and significant track record as Senior Project Manager and as Foreign Trade Counselor for the Tunisian government, he developed a good understanding of international economies and trades policies.

Mr KHANFIR holds an Executive MBA from the Mediterranean School of Business of Tunis as well as an Engineer High School graduate, from Arts & Métiers ParisTech High School, with a Marketing certification from British Chamber of Commerce in Paris. He lately followed a special program on Entrepreneurship & Innovation Management training at RPI New York – USA.

-*Wed June 8 (4PM) – Preparation for Sandwich Selling Contest
• Students will be given around 15TD to buy ingredients to make sandwiches. They must decide what types of sandwiches they will make, how to promote their sandwich brand with posters and advertising, and how to price and sell their sandwiches. They will make their plans, and on Saturday, they will go to a public location (Menzah 6 in front on Monoprix) and try to sell their sandwiches to regular citizens. They will use this time to plan their strategy, pricing, sandwich types to make, and marketing plan.

-*Thurs June 9 (4PM) – Brainstorming and Designing a Tourism Marketing Campaign for Tunisia
• Teams of students will put together a marketing campaign to promote tourism in Tunisia. They will create a logo to market Tunisia and put together a concept presentation for an advertisement to encourage tourism in Tunisia

-* Sat June 11 (1PM-4PM) – Sandwich Selling Contest in Menzah 6 (in front of Monoprix)
• Sandwich selling teams will have 3 hours to sell sandwiches in Menzah 6. The team with the highest profit wins.

Other Events:

Mon 6/6 (3PM) - Special Event: Meet Kayla Sweeney, the new American Window Coordinator for Sousse!

Tues 6/7 (3PM) - Conversation Hour: "Tiger Moms" (about a Chinese mom's controversial philosophy of ultra strict parenting)

Wed 6/8 (3PM) - Special Event: Bye Bye Shannon Zimmerman! (come wish Shannon goodbye before she leaves Tunisia for the US)

Wed 6/8 (5PM) - AC Theater Club Final Performance (in Central Park room); come watch their play on the revolution

Thurs 6/9 (2PM) - AC Tunis and AC Cairo Virtual Summit Part 2: Addressing Economic Challenges and Corruption

Fri 6/10 (3PM) - Film: "The Infidel" (a comedy about a Muslim man who finds out that he is adopted and was originally Jewish.... laughs ensue)

Week of 5/30 Events

2011-05-25T04:53:00.000-07:00

Mon 5/30 - "The New Virtual World" presented by Ahmed Ben Nejma (4PM)

Tues 5/31 - Guest Speaker: Farah Pandith, US Special Representative to Muslim Communities (4PM)

Farah Pandith is a senior US State Department official who was appointed by Hillary Clinton to represent the US to Muslim communities around the world. Farah is herself a Muslim-American, originally from Kashmir.

She her profile here: http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/biog/125492.htm

Farah will speak about some of her recent initiatives and about America's relations with the Muslim world. She will also answer comments and questions that Tunisian AC members may have.

This is a great way to make your voice heard to a senior State Department official. Don't miss this opportunity. Come and make your voice heard about the issues that are most important to you!

Wed 6/1 - Public Speaking Competition (4PM)

Thurs 6/2 - Star Academy AMIDEAST Karaoke Event Season 4 (3PM in AMIDEAST Main Building Basement)

Fri 6/3 - Meet with Muslim-American Hip-Hop Group REMARKABLE CURRENT (10AM at AC)

Remarkable Current, a Muslim-American rap group, is on tour in Tunisia, and YOU have a chance to meet them in person live! Come to the AC at 10AM on Friday June 3 to join in a round table discussion and Q&A with this talented group of hip-hop artists. Later the same day, you can attend one of their concerts free.

Learn about the group: http://www.remarkablecurrent.com/Remarkable_Current/home.html

Fri 6/3 - Film: "The Graveman" by Tunisian Filmmaker Ghanem Gawar (3PM at AC)

This is a short film. After the film, Tunisian filmmaker Ghanem Gawar will facilitate a discussion about this movie.

Fri 6/3 - FREE Remarkable Current Concert (7PM at Centre Culturel Menzah 6, Tunis)

Week of 5/23 Events

2011-05-20T15:23:00.000-07:00

Mon 5/23 - Conversation Hour: An Eye-for-an-Eye as a Policy of Punishments (discussing the acid attack in Iran) (4PM)

Tues 5/24 - Presentation on Iran (4PM)

Wed 5/25 - Public Speaking Workshop (recommended fo Public Speaking Competition participants but open to all) (4PM)

Thurs 5/26 - English Game (4PM)

Fri 5/27 - Guest Speaker: Wei Wei Hsing from the Acumen Fund

More Info
The Acumen Fund is an American social enterprise that funds small businesses in developing countries, especially in Africa (not Tunisia though yet). If you are interested in NGOs, social entrepreneurship, and economic development issues, you should attend this session. Wei Wei will discuss the story of how Acumen Fund started and the type of work that it does.

To learn more about Acumen Fund, check this out: http://www.acumenfund.org/

To see Wei Wei's bio, see here: http://www.acumenfund.org/about-us/our-team/wei-wei-hsing.html

Announcing the AC Public Speaking Competition

2011-05-17T16:29:00.000-07:00

Are you the next Martin Luther King? The next Gamal Abd al-Nasser? The next Malcolm X? Can you inspire and move people with your words? If you answered YES, then read on.

The AC will be hosting a public speaking competition on Wednesday June 1 at 4PM. Anyone can participate. Participants must present a speech of no more than 5 minutes on the theme of: "The Future of the Tunisian Revolution". Speeches will be judged on 1) content, 2) style, and 3) how inspirational they were.

1 participant will be selected as the winner of the contest, and will receive a prize of 50TD and a certificate for 1st place in the competition.

If you want to enter this contest, please sign up by e-mailing your interest to rkaneriya@amideast.org.

American Corner Business Entrepreneurship Month

2011-05-17T04:50:00.000-07:00

Below is the outline of the programs that are slated for AC Business Entrepreneurship Month. The 4 weeks of June will each contain programs around the following 4 themes: Marketing, Finance, Management, and Product Development. Each week consists of trainings, workshops, or information sessions on the weekly theme. The final event of each week is a team-oriented competition that will allow teams to put the theoretic knowledge of the previous sessions to practice. I am looking into the possibility of providing financial prizes to the winning team of each week’s challenges.

Bulleted explanations of activities and programs are provided where explanation is necessary.

People who attend at least 6 of the 8 activities below that are marked by an asterisk (*) plus at least 4 of the 11 programs without an asterisk will receive an official certificate endorsed by Injaz, the American Corner, Shell, Citigroup, and other participating companies and organizations that signifies their successful completion of a rigorous month of business training programming.

Most sessions will be held in English. Participation in these programs is open to anyone and is FREE.
• Where: American Corner at AMIDEAST, 22 Rue al-Amine al-Abbassi, Cite Jardins, 1002 Tunis Belvedere (near Place Pasteur and the British Council)
• When: See times next to events below.

Marketing Week (Week of June 5)

Mon June 6 (4PM) – Marketing Workshop by Injaz

Tues June 7 (4PM) – Guest Speaker on Careers in Marketing by Injaz

*Wed June 8 (4PM) – Brainstorming and Designing a Tourism Marketing Campaign for Tunisia
• Teams of students will put together a marketing campaign to promote tourism in Tunisia. They will create a logo to market Tunisia and put together a concept presentation for an advertisement to encourage tourism in Tunisia

*Thurs June 9 (4PM) – Preparation for Sandwich Selling Contest
• Students will be given around 15TD to buy ingredients to make sandwiches. They must decide what types of sandwiches they will make, how to promote their sandwich brand with posters and advertising, and how to price and sell their sandwiches. They will make their plans, and on Friday or Saturday, they will go to a public location (currently slated for Menzah 6 in front on Monoprix) and try to sell their sandwiches to regular citizens.

*Fri or Sat June 10 or 11 (1PM-4PM) – Sandwich Selling Contest in Public location
• Sandwich selling teams will have 3 hours to sell sandwiches in Menzah 6. The team with the highest profit wins.

Finance Week (Week of June 12)

Mon June 13 (4PM) – Finance Fundamentals by Ravi
• Workshop on financial statements and basic ratios for financial analysis

Tues June 14 (4PM) – Guest Speaker on Technical and Financial Analysis from Injaz
• Speaker will explain tools for making stock investment decisions

Wed June 15 (4PM) – Banking Simulation or Banking Professional Talking about Career in Banking Industry by Injaz

*Thurs June 16 (4PM) – Kick-Off Stock Market Investing Competition
• I will introduce teams to the website we will use for investing in stocks (not for real just for pretend), and explain the rules of the game. Teams can research stocks and determine which picks to buy. The objective is to maximize return on their investments.

Management Week (Week of June 19)

Mon June 20 (4PM) – Employee Engagement Presentation by Ravi
• I’ll present about employee management and motivation.

Tues June 21 (4PM) – Presentation of Good to Great by Ravi
• I will present management best practices from the business book Good to Great.

Wed June 22 (4PM) – Guest Speaker on Management by Injaz

Thurs June 23 (4PM) – Short 1-2 hour simulation on HR or Information Session on Careers in HR

*Fri June 24 (4PM) – Short Business Case Activity (full time shouldn’t be more than 2 hours) or if that isn’t possible, then shortened Management Dilemmas and Scenarios Challenge judged by someone from Injaz
• Injaz is looking into a business case problem that could be completed (reading and discussion and all) in 2 hours maximum. If such a case cannot be found, the proposal is for Injaz to select a facilitator who can pose 1-2 paragraph management scenarios or ethical dilemmas in management that teams would have to react to. The Injaz-selected facilitator of the event would select the team at the end who he thinks has offered the best management solutions to the problems posed. That team would be judged the winning of this contest.

Product Development Week (Week of June 26)

Mon June 27 (4PM) – Strategies for Innovative Thinking by Ravi
• I’ll present some techniques and tools that can be used to practice innovative thinking and a creative mindset

Tues June 28 (4PM) – Guest Speaker on Product Development or R&D/Intro to Careers in R&D by Injaz

*Wed June 29 (4PM) – Workshop on Redesigning a Table
• Teams will be given a boring everyday object like a table. They must brainstorm creative ideas on how to redesign a table by giving it additional features, capabilities, and/or a new look. Teams will organize their ideas into a presentation

* Thurs June 30 (4PM) – Team Presentations of Table Resign Concepts to Judge Provided by Injaz
• Teams from Wednesday will present their table redesign ideas to a judge selected by Injaz who will choose the winning team

*Fri July 1 (4PM) – Results of Stock Market Investing Competition from Finance Week Announced

Week of 5/16 Events

2011-05-12T09:41:00.000-07:00

Mon 5/16 - Presentation on Tunisian Jewish Heritage by Ahmed (4PM)

Tues 5/17 - Presentation on Irish History by Mourad (4PM)

Wed 5/18 - Guest Speaker: Ian, an American Middle East Peace Activist (3PM)

Wed 5/18 - Conversation Hour: "Will there be a Third Intifadah in Palestine?" facilitated by Rania (4PM)

Thurs 5/19 - Fun English Game (4PM)

Fri 5/20 - Documentary + Discussion: "Beyond Belief" (4PM)
This documentary is about 2 American women whose husbands were killed in 9/11. But instead of hating Muslims, they decided to honor their husbands' memories by going to Afghanistan to help women there who had also lost their husbands in war. After this film, there will be a discussion.

Week of 5/9 Events

2011-05-09T12:36:00.000-07:00

Mon 5/9 - Conversation Hour: The Death of Osama Bin Laden (4PM)

Tues 5/10 - Debate Club: Targeted Assassinations (4PM)

Wed 5/11 - Conversation Hour: Royalty and Monarchies (4PM)

Thurs 5/12 - Conversation Hour: Police Brutality (4PM)

Fri 5/13 - Film: "Yes Man"

Week of 5/2 Events

2011-04-28T04:30:00.000-07:00

An important note:

* Starting May 2, the AC will go back to it's pre-revolution events schedule. That means that all conversation hours and guest speaker events will be held Monday-Thursday at 4PM. The Friday films will continue to be held at 3PM.

Mon 5/2 - Conversation Hour: Freudian Theory (4PM)

Tues 5/3 - Mourad Brahmi Presents on The Book "Of Mice and Men" (4PM)

Wed 5/4 - English Club Event at Tunisia Polytechnic School (1:30PM-6PM)
Tunisia Polytechnic School is hosting an English Day event and all AC visitors are welcome and encouraged to attend. The event will consist of workshops presented by Tunisia Polytechnic School. the British Council, and AMIDEAST. There will also be networking opportunities and fun activities to practice speaking English.

If you are interested in coming, please meet at AMIDEAST at 1:30PM. A free bus will take you to and from the event at TPS's campus in Carthage. It will bring you back to AMIDEAST at 6PM.

Thurs 5/5 - Achref Aouadi Presents on Earth Day and the Environment (4PM)

Fri 5/6 - Film: "Planet Earth: The Great Plains" (3PM)

AC Closed for Next Few Days

2011-04-20T11:06:00.000-07:00

Hi all,

The AC is closed for the next few days. We will reopen on Wednesday April 27. All activities planned for the closed days will be rescheduled.

Week of 4/18 Schedule - Iraq Week at the AC

2011-04-16T03:33:00.000-07:00

See below the events for this week. The bold ones are part of the Iraq Week series of programs:

Mon 4/18 (2PM) - Guest Speaker: A former American soldier who served in the recent Iraq War

Mon 4/18 (3PM) - Open Forum on the Iraq War: Come discuss your feelings and opinions on the US invasion of Iraq in 2003

Tues 4/19 (3PM) - Presentation on the Aboriginal People of Australia by Mourad Brahmi

Tuesday 4/19 (4PM) - Slide Show on the Politics, Geography, History, and Culture of Iraqi Kurdistan by Ravi Kaneriya

Wed 4/20 (3PM) - Rand al-Jadir from Iraq, speaking about the perspective of an Iraqi civilian who lived through the war

Thurs 4/21 (3PM) - Film: "The Hurt Locker" (Best Picture winning film about the Iraq War)

Fri 4/22 (1:30PM) - Presentation on Earth Day and the Environment by iWatch

Fri 4/22 (3PM) - Presentation on the Baha'i Religion by 2 members of the Baha'i community in Tunis

AC Closed Tomorrow

2011-04-14T08:56:00.001-07:00

AC is closed for Friday. We will reopen as normal on Monday.

Week of 4/11 Events

2011-04-12T05:03:00.000-07:00

Mon 4/11 - Conversation Hour on Women After the Revolution

Tues 4/12 - Presentation on Indian Culture by Eymen Gamha

Wed 4/13 - Guest Speaker: Ahmed Jehani, Libyan refugee from Benghazi

Thurs 4/14 - Conversation Hour: Changing Demographics in America\

Fri 4/15 - AC Closed due to special embassy events

There IS Theater Club tomorrow at 1PM in the AMIDEAST main building conference room.

2011-04-08T06:41:00.000-07:00

There IS Theater Club tomorrow at 1PM in the AMIDEAST main building conference room.

AC Closes Early Tomorrow

2011-04-04T08:59:00.000-07:00

AC is closing early tomorrow (4/5) at 1:30PM-5PM for an event at the embassy.

Events Week of 4/4

2011-04-01T06:22:00.000-07:00

* Note that Theater Club on Saturday 4/2 is CANCELLED

Schedule of Events Week of 4/4. All events start at 3PM in the AC unless otherwise noted:

Mon 4/4 - Guest Speaker: Faeez Safedin on South Africa's Transition to Democracy

Tues 4/5 - Guest Speaker: Todd Fine on Ameen Rihani (starts at 2:30PM at the US Embassy. You must notify me at least 1 day in advance if you want to attend)

The 100th Anniversary of the First Arab-American Novel: Ameen Rihani's Uncanny Message in The Book of Khalid

2011 brings the centennial anniversary of the first Arab-American novel: Ameen Rihani’s The Book of Khalid (1911). The story of two Arab boys who immigrate to New York City, the novel ambitiously confronts issues that concerned Rihani’s era and still confound our own: the ideal relations between Americans and Arabs, the problem of religious conflict in the Arab world and beyond, and the rightful position of Arabs within the great American story of immigration. Because of the novel’s extreme merit, historical importance, and contemporary relevance, a group of esteemed scholars and public figures have come together to establish Project Khalid, a coordinated effort to commemorate this important milestone in the history of Arab-American life and literature. Activities include preparing a new edition of the novel for schools and managing its distribution, hosting a public forum at the Library of Congress on March 29, 2011 and at the New York Public Library of October 25, and using online and traditional media to promote the novel and Rihani’s legacy throughout the anniversary year.

Todd Fine, the project's director, will introduce The Book of Khalid and will argue that the work, in addition to its extraordinary merit, has great relevance to the contemporary crisis in the Arab-American relationship and to the present situation in the region.

****

Todd Fine, the director of Project Khalid (www.projectkhalid.org), is a Magna Cum Laude graduate of Harvard University and holds a Master’s Degree in International Relations from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University. He is the editor of a new critical edition of The Book of Khalid under advance contract with Syracuse University Press. At Harvard, Mr. Fine worked for Samuel P. Huntington as a research assistant for two years on his book on American identity and immigration, entitled Who Are We? (Simon and Schuster, 2004). He also organized and developed the Global Zero campaign on nuclear weapons, which launched in Paris, France in December 2008.

Wed 4/6 - Tunisian-Egyptian Virtual Summit to discuss post-revolution cooperation between Egyptian and Tunisian youth. This event will be held along with the AC in Cairo.

Thurs 4/7 - Guest Speaker: Palestinian-American Comedian Maysoon Zayid

Fri 4/8 - Documentary + Discussion: "The Cove"

Events Week of 3/28

2011-03-25T09:25:00.000-07:00

All events start at 3PM in the AC unless otherwise noted:

Mon 3/28 - Conversation Hour: Arab Unity

Tues 3/29 - Web Conference Discussion with al-Jazeera Reporter Aymen Mohyeldin (12PM)

Tues 3/29 - Conversation Hour: Sexual Harassment in Tunisia

Wed 3/30 - Debate Club: Gun Control (3:30PM)

Thurs 3/31 - The Pan-Arabian Convention

Participants will simulate a Constitutional Convention for a united Arab country.

Fri 4/1 - Film: "Slumdog Millionaire"

** Also Theater Club for Saturday 3/25 is canceled.

Events Week of 3/21

2011-03-19T14:49:00.000-07:00

Monday 3/21 - AC Closed for Youth Day

Tuesday 3/22 - Cultures of America: The Mormons

Wednesday 3/23 - Guest Speaker: General Youssef Ahmed Tyara of Chad on the Geopolitical Dimensions of the Darfur Conflict

Thursday 3/24 - Guest Speaker: Sara Dakka on Palestinian Culture

Friday 3/25 - Film: "Lion of the Desert" about Libyan resistance to Italian occupation

*All events are at 3PM in the AC

AC Theater Club Canceled for this Saturday

2011-03-18T13:57:00.000-07:00

AC Theater Club is canceled for this Saturday because the instructor will be on vacation.

AC Early Closing

2011-03-16T14:48:00.000-07:00

The AC will close early tomorrow (Thursday). We will close at 1PM (maybe 15 minutes before).

The events slated for Thursday will be canceled and rescheduled for a later date.

Week of Feb. 28 Events

2011-02-27T07:56:00.000-08:00

All events at 3PM in AC:

Mon Feb 28 - Conversation Hour: Focus Group on Democracy Literature
Tues Mar 1 - Conversation Hour: American Women's History Month Quiz Contest
Wed Mar 2 - Conversation Hour: TBD
Thurs Mar 3 - Conversation Hour: TBD
Fri Mar 4 - Film: "Real Bad Arabs" (about Arab stereotypes in Hollywood films)

AC Stand-Up Comedy Show!!!!!

2011-02-25T03:48:00.000-08:00

This event got postponed due to the revolution. So now we are rescheduling it. The AC Comedy Club Show consists of AC members performing stand-up comedy acts for a maximum of 15 minutes for an audience of their peers and AC members.

If you would like to participate, you can come to the AC to sign up or just e-mail me your name, e-mail, and phone number (at rkaneriya@amideast.org). Please only sign up if you will definitely participate. There will be awards and prizes at the event!

The show will take place on Sunday March 13 from 1PM-3PM. You can come to participate or just to watch.

Social Entrepreneurship and NGO Start-Up Contest

2011-02-25T03:35:00.000-08:00

The American Corner will be hosting a contest to encourage the development of civil society organizations in Tunisia. We will host a Social Entrepreneurship and NGO Start-Up Contest.

For this, students will work in teams to work on and pitch ideas for new NGOs, associations, or for-profit business that serve a socially-oriented purpose or help advance social goals.

The teams will then present their ideas to an expert in the field of NGO management or social entrepreneurship, and the winning team will receive a grant of 400TD as prize money that can be used towards their idea. This contest will take place on Sunday March 13 at 3PM in the American Corner.

Spectators may attend this event to watch the teams' presentations and offer opinions on which team has the best ideas.

This will be similar to our business competition in November but for ideas that have social goals and the ideas don't have to necessarily be for-profit businesses although they can be.

Also, on Wednesday, March 9 at 3PM at the American Corner, Wiem Melki, an alumnus of a social entrepreneurship exchange program to the USA, will present a workshop on social entrepreneurship to help lead teams through the process of starting up an NGO or other social enterprise. Anyone interested in presenting their ideas at the final contest on March 13 should plan on attending this workshop with Wiem.

If you want to participate, please send me your name, e-mail, and phone number as well as those of your teammates. My e-mail is rkaneriya@amideast.org.

Ravi Kaneriya
American Corner Coordinator

AMIDEAST-Tunisia
Bridging Cultures, Building Understanding

AC Comedy Club Show!!!!!

2011-02-24T03:41:00.000-08:00

When: Sunday, March 13 from 1PM-3PM

Where: American Corner

What:

This event got postponed due to the revolution. So now we are rescheduling it. The AC Comedy Club Show consists of AC members performing stand-up comedy acts for a maximum of 15 minutes for an audience of their peers and AC members.

If you would like to participate, you can come to the AC to sign up or just e-mail me your name, e-mail, and phone number. Please only sign up if you will definitely participate. There will be awards and prizes at the event!

Week of 2/21 Schedule

2011-02-18T03:20:00.000-08:00

All the events below start at 3PM:

Mon. 2/12 - Conversation Hour: Civil Rights in America

Tues. 2/13 - Guest Speaker: John Berry on His Experiences as Part of the Civil Rights Movement

Wed. 2/14 - Guest Speaker: Mary Burns on the Impact of the Arab Diaspora on American Literature

Thurs. 2/15 - Guest Speakers: Neila and Intissar on "The Case for Creationism"

Fri. 2/16 - Film + Discussion: "Intelligent Design on Trial" (making the case for Darwin and evolution)

AC Membership Fees Change

2011-02-14T14:24:00.000-08:00

Hello all. Please be aware that starting March 1st, the AC will be increasing its membership fees to 20TD/year in order to support the many new activities, programs, and services that we now offer.

Week 2/14 Schedule

2011-02-14T02:34:00.000-08:00

Mon. 2/14 @ 4PM - Conversation Hours: Tunisian-American Relations

Tues. 2/15 - AC Closed for Moulid

Wed. 2/16 @ 3PM - Conversation Hour: Valentine's Day

Thurs. 2/17 @ 3PM - Guest Speaker: Radwan Masmoudi from the Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy

Fri. 2/18 @ 3PM - Film: "The Golden Compass"

FREE TUNISIA WEEK AT THE AC!

2011-01-31T04:41:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone. Congratulations on the success of your revolution, and best wishes for its future success as you transition to a new era of liberty, opportunity, and democratic government.

In honor of your monumental achievement, I have designated both this week and the next one as "Free Tunisia Weeks" here at the AC. During these weeks, each day, we will hold discussions, film screening, and activities relevant to the Tunisian Revolution. During these weeks, I am also organizing a democratic election simulation in which groups of AC members will form teams that represent actual political parties. You must work with your "political party" to write up a platform, put together an election campaign, designate your choice of ministers, and even participate in debates with the other political parties. At the end of this simulation, we will hold an election at the AC. The winning parties will then negotiate a governing coalition and will write laws on key issues that will be put to a vote by the parliament.

Here is a schedule of the next 2 weeks' events:

Mon 1/31 (4PM)- Open Forum on the Revolution and Meeting on How We can Help Rebuild Tunisia
Open Forum to Discuss Your Feelings, Hopes, Dreams, Fears, etc. about the Tunisian Revolution. This is your time to say or discuss anything you want about recent events. We will also talk about ways to contribute to helping and building a new Tunisia, so please come if you have any such ideas.

Tues 2/1 (4PM)- Open Forum on the Revolution and Meeting on How We can Help Rebuild Tunisia
Open Forum to Discuss Your Feelings, Hopes, Dreams, Fears, etc. about the Tunisian Revolution. This is your time to say or discuss anything you want about recent events. We will also talk about ways to contribute to helping and building a new Tunisia, so please come if you have any such ideas.

Wedn 2/2 (4PM)- Tunisian Constitutional Convention
We will hold a session to change and amend the Tunisian Constitution. You will have the opportunity to change Tunisian term limits, election laws, freedom of speech laws, and anything else you want. The final version of the Constitution will be put to a vote, and we will apply the voting and election rules you write to the election simulation that will take place for the rest of the next 2 weeks.

Thurs 2/3 (2PM) - Forming Political Parties, Holding Internal Party Elections, & Writing a Party Platform
Students interested in participating in the election simulation should attend this. People will form teams that represent different real-life political parties (ex: PDP, Ennahda, Communists, Harakat at-Tajdid, Congress for the Republic [Moncef Marzouki's party], etc.). Then each team will nominate of its members to run for a different ministry in the government or for the presidency. Finally, teams will work together to write up a platform for their party composed of the 5 most important things they hope to accomplish. Each team will present their platforms to the others.

Fri 2/4 (1PM) - Film + Discussion: Burma VJ
We will watch a documentary about the protests and demonstrations for democracy in Burma, which failed, and discuss similarities and differences between the Tunisian and Burmese Revolutions.

Mon 2/7 (2PM) - Campaign Flyer, Logo, and Campaign Advertisement
Political parties will work with their teams to design a party logo and campaign poster that will be hung around the AC. Each party will also work on a campaign advertisement that it will perform as a skit at the end of the session.

Tues 2/8 (2PM) - Political Party Debates Part 1
Each party's Education Minister, Foreign Minister, and National Security Advisor will face off in a debate about their vision for Tunisia's future in their respective domain.

Wed 2/9 (2PM) - Political Party Debates Part 2
Each party's Economic Advisor and Presidential candidate will face off in a debate about their vision for Tunisia's future in their respective domain.

Thurs 2/10 (2PM) - Election Results, Coalition Building, and Drafting Laws
We will hold elections for the new government based on the campaigning and debates of the past few days. I will announce the election results, and the parties will have to put together a government coalition and appoint ministers from the ruling coalition to different ministerial posts. After this is done, each party will write a law about one issue that is important to it. On Friday (the next day), we will debate those laws.

Fri 2/11 (2PM) - Special Debate Club: Debating Mock Tunisian Parliament's Laws
Laws written up by the parties yesterday will be put to the whole group for debate, amendment, and a final vote to see if they pass or not.

I will explain at each session how things will work, so if everything is not clear from this message, I will explain more then.

AC Reopening!!!!!

2011-01-30T11:56:00.000-08:00

The AC will reopen tomorrow with normal hours: 10AM-6PM.

We will have a 4PM conversation hour on the Tunisian Revolution, and all of this coming week will be Tunisia Week, and we will hold different activities and discussions on issues pertaining to post-Ben Ali Tunisia.

AC is closed Thursday

2011-01-26T11:35:00.001-08:00

AC is closed Thursday

AC Closed Wednesday

2011-01-25T10:07:00.001-08:00

AC is Closed Wednesday 1/26/2011

AC Closed Wednesday

2011-01-25T10:07:00.000-08:00

AC is Closed Wednesday 1/26/2011

AC Closed Tuesday and Comedy Events Postponed

2011-01-24T12:14:00.000-08:00

Bad news. AC has been ordered to stay closed Tuesday. I'll let you know tomorrow regarding Wednesday's situation.

Also, we had a Stand-Up Comedy Event planned for later this month as well as a visit to the AC by Arab-American comedian Ahmed Ahmed. However, in respect for the gravity of the events of this month, I think a comedy event is not the most appropriate.

We will reschedule both events for February or March, however.

AC Staying Closed Monday :-(

2011-01-23T08:50:00.000-08:00

Guys, bad news. In spite of hopeful signs for a Monday opening, it turns out that AMIDEAST just messaged me to say that we are staying closed on Monday. :-(

I'll let you know when we can reopen. I hope it is soon.

Actually AC is Closed Tomorrow - Ignore the Last Message

2011-01-18T12:30:00.000-08:00

Sorry guys. Just got a notice a few minutes ago that AMIDEAST's global head wants to keep AMIDEAST closed until further notice. Thus, we will stay closed tomorrow and until further notice, and the meeting planned for tomorrow is also cancelled.

AC Will Reopen Tomorrow and Meeting on Tunisian Post-Revolution Reconstruction Efforts

2011-01-18T09:07:00.000-08:00

The AC is reopening tomorrow (Wednesday) from 9AM-2PM. This will be the case until further notice.

At 1PM tomorrow, we will have a meeting in the AC for all people interested in helping to rebuild Tunisia. We will discuss how we can best do this and organize for this purpose. All are welcome to attend.

AC Closed Monday and Volunteering to Rebuild Tunisia

2011-01-16T10:12:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone,

The AC is closed on Monday. I will message you tomorrow with what we are doing for Tuesday although probably we will be closed then as well.

Also, if you are interested in volunteering to help clean up the mess left by looters in your neighborhood post-revolution, please ask the army in your area for permission to bring volunteers to your neighborhood. Agree with them on a day and time that people can come to clean up. Then simply send me that information with your name, e-mail, and phone number, and I will send out a call to the AC Facebook group for interest volunteers to meet at the place and time indicated. Please make sure that your neighborhood is safe for volunteering before sending me information to place a call for volunteers.

Also, there is a need for blood donors to give blood to those injured in this revolution and its aftermath. The blood bank is located in Bab Saadoun near the big archway, so please organize yourselves in groups of up to 3 to go and donate blood if you are able.

Ravi Kaneriya
American Corner Coordinator, Tunis

Mobilizing People to Help Tunisia Rebuild

2011-01-15T07:59:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone. Hopefully, once the dust of this revolution settles, Tunisia will be tasked with the job of cleaning up the mess and rebuilding and transitioning to a free and democratic society. I would like for the American Corner's members to be part of Tunisia's reconstruction, and I would like for our members to work with local Tunisian organizations to help make this happen. If you think this is a good idea and would like to participate, please let me know.

Ravi Kaneriya
American Corner Coordinator
Tunis, Tunisia

Update: AC Closure Today and Friday; Iraq Week Activities Cancelled

2011-01-13T04:42:00.000-08:00

Guys, we are closed now and all day tomorrow. We will open again on Monday regular hours unless I message you otherwise. However, all Iraq Week activities for next week will be postponed.

AC is Open

2011-01-12T06:45:00.000-08:00

Dear AC visitors,

As of right now, the AC is open tomorrow, Thursday, and Friday. We will be holding our regular events and activities.

Please be aware, however, that the Thursday and Friday events have been canceled and postponed because the presenter is leaving Tunis in light of current events. We will reschedule our evolution-themed events for a future date. We will hold some other programs for Thursday and Friday, however.

Week of 1/3/2011 Events

2011-01-05T01:53:00.000-08:00

First of all, HAPPY NEW YEAR!

This week's events:

Wed. 1/5 - Debate Club: US Foreign Policy in Afghanistan
Thurs. 1/6 - Cultures of America: The Quakers
Fri. 1/7 - Film: "The Lives of Others"

Other upcoming events:

Third week of January = Iraq Week

January 31 = AC Comedy Club Event (sign up in advance if you want to perform a comedy act as part of this event)

We will soon be starting a partnership with Soliya and be accepting applicants to participate in Soliya's Connect Program, which facilitates virtual discussions between people in the Arab/Muslim world and the "West". More info to come on this later.

Tunisian Comedy Club Event - Sign Up Now!

2010-12-23T05:22:00.001-08:00

Attention American Corner visitors,

Do you like telling jokes? Do you have a good sense of humor? Can you make your friends roar with laughter? Do you see the funny side of everything? If so, this is the event for you:

The American Corner is organizing a stand-up comedy event called Tunisian Comedy Club. This event will take place on Monday January 31, 2011 at 4PM at AMIDEAST.

As part of this event, budding, young, amateur comedians will perform their comedy acts for an audience of other members of the AC. Each comedy act must be around 10-15 minutes in length. This is a great way to make a start in the field of comedy and to give your peers the laugh of their lives. We may even have some prizes for the funniest comedians… ;-)

I am also working to trying to get members of the famous "Axis of Evil"comedy group to speak to the AC and give comedy tips and techniques to AC patrons as part of this event.

If you are interested in participating in this Comedy Club event, please e-mail me (rkaneriya@amideast.org) your name, e-mail, and phone number. And start working on your comedy acts!

AC CLOSED for Christmas Break

2010-12-22T03:07:00.000-08:00

FYI: The AC will be CLOSED between December 24 and January 3.

We will open again on January 3rd at 2PM (so a half-day open), and then we will continue our regular schedule.

Theater Club will also be canceled during this break. It will start up again after.

Week of 12/20 Events

2010-12-19T11:54:00.000-08:00

Mon 12/20 - 4PM Conversation Hour: Dean Obaidallah and Comedy about the Arab World

Tues 12/21 - 3PM-6PM America Corner Christmas Party!!!!!!!!!! - featuring gingerbread house design contest, Christmas quiz competition, AC Theater Club skit, and Secret Santa gift exchange (buy a gift around 20TD if you want to participate in Secret Santa)

Wed 12/22 - 4PM Debate Club: Sex Education in Schools

Thurs 12/23 - 4PM Conversation Hour: Animal Rights

Fri 12/24 - AC is CLOSED for Christmas break

Sat 12/25 - THERE IS NO THEATER CLUB MEETING DUE TO CHRISTMAS BREAK

American Corner Christmas Party!!!!!!!!!!!

2010-12-14T06:25:00.000-08:00

When: Tuesday 12/21 from 3PM-6M
Where: AMIDEAST main building basement (Central Park Room)

You know you have been waiting for this, and it's coming: the American Corner Christmas party!!!!!!!!

This party will include either a snowflake design or a gingerbread plus a Christmas quiz contest plus a small Christmas skit performed by the AC Theater Club plus plenty of socializing, merriment, and fun!

We will also be holding a Secret Santa Gift Exchange that is voluntary. If you want to participate, you must buy a gift that will be given to someone else. This gift must cost around 20-25TD, and you must wrap the gift but not put your name on it. We will place all the gifts together in a pile. Each person participating in Secret Santa will receive a number. The person with # 1 will choose a gift and open it. People who go after can either steal the gift of someone who has already opened a gift or pick a new gift from gifts pile. No gift may be stolen more than twice. You can only participate in Secret Santa if you have purchased a gift for someone else. At the end, participant will have a gift. Google "Secret Santa" if you want to know more about how this game works.

See you there and feel free to bring any food or gifts for your own friends if you want! Hope you will have a wonderful time!

Amazing New Resource Available at the AC for Research

2010-12-13T06:48:00.001-08:00

With the help of the US State Department, the AC has obtained access to the Virtual Library Database. This website allows you to access dozens of different databases ranging from topics like music, arts, history, English language learning, culture, environment, business, American society, and many more (pretty much anything you can think of).

Please feel free to come by the AC and use this new database for your academic and research purposes. You must come to the AC to access it.

12/12 Week Events

2010-12-13T06:10:00.000-08:00

Mon Dec 13- Conversation Hour: Imagining the World in 200 Years @ 4PM in AC

Tues Dec 14- AC Debate Club: Abortion @ 4PM in AC

Wedn Dec 15- Guest Speakers: Abdullah Yildiz and Oumima Guesmi present about Turkey @ 4PM in AC

Thurs Dec 16- Cultures of America: Alfredo Mehia presents on the Guatemalans @ 4PM in AC

Fri Dec 17- Film: District 9 @ 3PM in AC

Sat Dec 18- AC Theater Club @ 1PM in AMIDEAST Main Building Basement

Week of 12/6 Events

2010-12-03T09:57:00.000-08:00

Monday 12/6: 3PM - Henry Mendelsohn presents a lecture entitled "Beyond Google, Searching the Internet Effectively" (*** This event will move to Tuesday if Ras al-Am is on Monday)

Tuesday 12/7: Closed for Ras al-Am

Wednesday 12/8: 4PM - Debate Club: Racism is Tunisia

Thursday 12/9: 4PM - Natalie Brown will facilitate a discussion on women's empowerment

Friday 12/10: 3PM - Screening and discussion of the documentary "Jesus Camp"

Saturday 12/11: 1PM - AC Theater Club in AMIDEAST main building basement

Saturday 12/11: 2:20PM - Meet in front of AC to head as group to see the film "Amreeka" at Hotel Africa. First 15 people get discounted tickets at 1.5TD and others pay 2.5TD.

Sunday 12/12: 2:20PM - Meet in front of AC to head as group to see the film "Freedom Riders" at Hotel Africa. First 15 people get discounted tickets at 1.5TD and others pay 2.5TD.

American Corner Partners Sought

2010-12-03T01:25:00.000-08:00

The American Corner is starting a new initiative called "American Corner Partners". As part of this initiative, the American Corner is looking for interested student clubs, associations, schools, institutes, and other civil society and non-governmental organizations with which it can form collaborative partnerships to help bring the American Corner experience to people all over Tunisia, whether they live in Tunis, Sfax, Gabes, Gafsa, Djerba, or anywhere else.

How would these partnerships work? As a first step, the American Corner will collaborate with official American Corner Partners to provide discussion topics and conversation hour articles, activities, and ideas. This means that other organizations around Tunisia can now bring the conversation hour experience to their local constituencies. Want to attend the American Corner's discussion hour on American foreign policy or the Ground Zero Mosque controversy but can't come all the way to Tunis to attend because you live in Kairouan? Well, if there is a local organization is Kairouan that is an official American Corner Partner, we will provide them with the relevant article that was discussed during our conversation hours, and now a local organization in Kairouan can put on a similar event for residents of Kairouan. This is the kind of idea sharing that the AC hopes to achieve by developing partnerships with organizations across Tunisia.

As a second step for the future, I hope to find ways that we can broadcast guest speaker events from the American Corner-Tunis to partner institutions across Tunisia. This would mean that if the AC hosted a major business leader for an event at the AC, we would show that event live, and any partner organization could bring that guest speaker event to its local members via the Internet. This really depends on the technology and the ability to find a web conferencing application than can perform such tasks. Therefore, this may take some time, but I hope to explore making this a reality as soon as possible.

There could also be other potential benefits and opportunities for collaboration that could result as things progress and our relationships with other groups develop.

If you are interested in becoming an American Corner Partner, please send me your name, your e-mail address, and the name of your organization/institution.

Please be aware that ONLY ORGANIZATIONS CAN BE AMERICAN CORNER PARTNERS. Individuals cannot be partners. They must be representing organizations. The only exception to this rule is English language teachers who want to bring AC-type discussions into their classrooms.

Thank you!

Ravi Kaneriya
American Corner Coordinator

This Week's Events

2010-11-29T04:37:00.000-08:00

Mon. 11/29 - 4PM English Conversation Hour
Tues. 11/30 - 4PM English Conversation Hour
Wedn. 12/1 - 4PM AC Debate Club (Topic: Globalization)
Thurs. 12/2 - 4PM Guest Speaker Melkar Muallem (the actor who plays Fedi in the film "Amreeka"
Fri. 12/3 - 3PM Film Screening of the movie "Ghosts of Girlfriends Past"

Have you heard of the “OPPORTUNITY GRANT”?

2010-11-25T06:22:00.000-08:00

The Opportunity grant, funded by the U.S. Department of State, is designed to support the application process to U.S. higher education institutions for students who are highly qualified but are unable to cover expenses related to the application process. To be eligible for funding, students must be applying to degree programs (BA/BS, LLM, MA/MS, MBA, Ph.D., etc.). The Opportunity grant offers no guarantees of acceptance or financial aid at U.S. institutions.
The OG funding may cover expenses including, but not limited to: test preparation classes, test fees, application fees, postage expenses, visa fees, travel to the US, settling-in allowance. All awards decisions are made on a case by case basis.

For more information, please contact:
AMIDEAST Tunis, 22 rue Amine El Abassi, Cités Jardin, 1002 Tunis - Tél: 71 790 563/799 024
Email : lzahmoul@amideast.org

Nov. 22-26: Internation Education Week Events

2010-11-18T04:32:00.000-08:00

Monday Nov 22 – Exchange Program Day
4:00 – 5:00: Presentation of study abroad programs available to Tunisian high school and university students for study in the United States
5:00 – 6:00: Exchange Program Alumni Social Hour (come meet students who participated in these very programs)

Tuesday Nov 23 – American University Admissions Day
3:00 – 3:45: Presentation on three branches of university-level study in Humanities, Engineering, and Business (Amideast Villa)
3:45 - 4:30: Workshop on How to Write a College-level Essay and Statement of Purpose
4:30 – 5:30: Presentation by the US Embassy on the Process of Obtaining a US Visa for study in the US

Mecredi Nov 24 – Extracurricular Activities Day
4:00 – 5:30: Presentation on extra curricular activities that contribute to a diverse experience at an American University (Topics include student groups (Fraternities, Sororities, Campus Government), clubs for international students, Music and Dance Groups, and Toastmasters (public speaking))
6:00 – 8:00: Film screening followed by discussion

Thursday Nov 25 – Thanksgiving Day
4:00 – 4:45: Presentation on the history of Thanksgiving and the modern day traditions in America
4:45 – 5:30: Interactive Thanksgiving Day quiz

Friday Nov 26 – Career Day
3:00 – 4:00: Workshop on How to Compose an American CV/resume and the Process of Obtaining Letters of Recommendation
4:00 – 5:00: Interactive Session on Professional Job Interviews
5:30 – 7:30: Panel Presentation “The Effect of a Study Abroad Experience on a Professional Career”, bi-lingual in English and French (Amideast Main building)

*All events will be held in the American Corner of the Amideast Complex unless otherwise noted

Diversity in America Events

2010-11-18T04:00:00.000-08:00

Diversity and the American Experience

What is diversity? How is does it manifest itself in 21st century America? And what is its relevance in a globalized world? Join us for a two-day conference and film event as we situate diversity within the American context and explore its possibilities and challenges. Professor Linda Voh, professor of Asian American Studies at University of California-Irvine, will be the keynote speaker and discuss the Asian American experience.

When: Monday, November 22 at 17:00 and Tuesday, November 23 at 19:00
Where: AMIDEAST Conference Room (Nov 22) and American Corner (Nov 23)

Film Viewing and Discussion

In collaboration with the Diversity conference, we will hold a film viewing and discussion of the film “Amreeka” with Dr. Anna Everett, professor of Media and Film Studies at University of California-Santa Barbara.

“Amreeka” chronicles the adventures of Muna, a single mother who leaves the West Bank with Fadi, her teenage son, with dreams of an exciting future in the promised land of small town Illinois. In America, as her son navigates high school hallways the way he used to move through military checkpoints, the indomitable Muna scrambles together a new life cooking up falafel burgers as well as hamburgers at the local White Castle.

When: Tuesday, November 23 at 16:00
Where: AMIDEAST Conference Room

Guest Speaker: Naif Mutawa of "The 99" Islamic Comic Series

2010-11-11T06:26:00.000-08:00

Key Info:

Friday, November 19
2:30pm - 4:30pm
In the AC

Naif Mutawa is the internationally renown Kuwaiti creator of "The 99", an Islamic themed comic book series with Muslim superheroes from around the world who are based on the 99 names of Allah. He will speak via Skype to AC patrons about his inspiration in creating an Islam-oriented comic book series and the significance of his work. After his talk, Naif will take questions from AC patrons.

Some information on Naif and "The 99":

www.al-mutawa.com

www.the99.org

Ravi Kaneriya
American Corner Coordinator

Business Planning Workshop with Tahar el-Mili from ENDA

2010-11-11T06:22:00.000-08:00

Key Info:

Tuesday, November 18
3PM-5:30PM
In the AC

This workshop is being held to help teach young entrepreneurs how to write business plans for new start-up companies. Tahar el-Mili, from ENDA microfinance bank, will be running this training.

Attendance at this session is limited to 20 people. The event is being held foremost for people who are participating in the Tunisian Entrepreneurship Competition who need assistance putting together a business plan for their presentation...s on their business ideas.

If you are not participating in the Tunisian Entrepreneurship Competition and would still like to participate in this training, please e-mail me about your interest in attending. Any seats left after competition participants have had their chance to sign up for this will be given to other interested Tunisians on a first come, first serve basis. I will e-mail you on November 17th to let non-competition participants know if they can attend or not.

**** If you are not informed that you can attend this event, then please do not come as space is limited. There will be no normal conversation hour on this day as well.

Upcoming Events

2010-11-09T02:42:00.000-08:00

These events are at 4PM in the AC:

Tuesday Nov. 9: Shannon Zimmerman speaks about American theater

Wednesday Nov. 10: Watch documentary "Among the Righteous: The Holocaust in Arab Lands"

Thursday Nov. 11: Ajay Jhurry does a workshop on astrology and numerology

This event is 3PM in the AMIDEAST administrative building basement (Central Park Room):

Friday Nov. 12: Star Academy Season 3 Karaoke Event

Holocaust Awareness Week

2010-10-30T13:17:00.001-07:00

This coming week at the AC will be Holocaust Awareness Week. We will hold several events around the theme of the Holocaust. The purpose of these events has nothing to do with taking a side on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but simply to educate people about the genuine human tragedy that was the Holocaust. If you think that the Holocaust never happened or was not as bad as it seems, I especially hope that you will attend. Whatever you believe, it is important to keep an open mind and expose yourself to all the information before reaching a conclusion.

The events we have planned are:

Monday and Tuesday at 4PM: The conversation hours will be open forums on the Holocaust. What do you know about the Holocaust? Do you believe it really happened? How bad was it? Do you think the Holocaust was a hoax created to occupy Palestine? How do Tunisians view Hitler? These are some of the types of questions you can ask and discuss.

Wednesday at 4PM: Faiza Abdul Wahab, a Tunisian Muslim woman, will come to the AC to speak about her father, Khaled Abdul Wahab, a Tunisian hero who has been honored by several organizations for saving 24 Jewish Tunisians during the Nazi occupation of Tunisia

Thursday at 4PM: Moshe Gimlan, a Holocaust survivor, will speak to the AC virtually from the USA about his experience during the Holocaust. After speaking about his life, Moshe will take questions and comments from the audience. Moshe is a Jewish-American, originally from Poland.

Friday at 3PM: We will watch the Academy Award winning film, "Schindler's List", based on the true story of Oskar Schindler, a Nazi businessman who eventually ended up saving hundreds of Jews during the Holocaust.

This will be a great week, and we have some amazing speakers, so please come and don't miss this opportunity.

Guest Speaker: Charles Hall on English Language in American Culture

2010-10-21T09:50:00.000-07:00

• Date: Monday, October 25, 2010
• Time: 16:00
• Topic: English Language in American Culture

Dr. Charles Hall, Associate Professor of Applied Linguistics, Department of English, completed his Ph.D. in Linguistics at the University of Florida in 1983 and joined the faculty at the University of Memphis in 1984. He served as Coordinator of ESL and the M.A. Concentration in TESL/TEFL in the Department of English from 1990-1997. He is being recognized with the CASDRA in the area of Engaged Scholarship.

Dr. Hall has also been recognized at the University of Memphis with a Distinguished Teaching Award in 1989 and 2006. He also received the Outstanding Faculty Award from Student Disability Services in 2009. He has received a Senior Fulbright Lecturing Award for the Czech Republic/Czechoslovakia twice (1989, 1993).

Charles Hall has done teacher training sponsored by various organizations, such as the U.S. Department of State and the United Nations, in almost 30 countries. Hall has held two Senior Fulbright awards. He has been coordinator of University of West Bohemia's Summer TEFL training courses in the Czech Republic since 1990 and was founder and director of TEFL summer training at Peking University for several years. Hall's newest book is the co-authored American Legal English (2nd ed. University of Michigan Press, 2007). He was the 2005 Chair of the ESP Interest Section for International TESOL.

In his letter of nomination, Dr. Eric Link writes, “For over a decade, Professor Hall has been building communities in the legal English field….he has created legal English curricula, courses, workshops, and training programs in countries such as Armenia, Kosovo, Croatia, Serbia, Lithuania, Estonia, Russia, Romania, Albania, Sudan, and Iraq….Dr. Hall is the very model of the professor who is not content to conduct his scholarship behind the closed and narrow confines of an academic building. He has built his career on opening doors to English language literacy in countries around the world.”

Announcing: Tunisian Entrepreneurship Competition

2010-10-11T15:53:00.000-07:00

Dear budding Tunisian entrepreneurs of the future,

The AC is organizing a Tunisian Entrepreneurs Competition for those of you who are interested in starting up your own micro-businesses. Interested Tunisians can work alone or in groups. You will work on a specific business idea and will put together a presentation about your idea. This presentation must include a business plan, where you outline your projected revenues, costs, and profits.

Key aspects of this competition:

1) The winning person/team will receive a 500 TD interest-free loan from the AC. You must develop an idea within the constraint of 500 TD.
2) All persons/teams participating must sign up at the AC by October 31.
3) Once persons/teams have signed up to participate, we will visit the offices of ENDA (Tunisia's largest micro-finance bank) where you will be taught in how to create a business plan for your idea.
4) The winning idea will be judged by a panel of experts, likely including someone from ENDA.
5) The competition will take place in late November (exact time and date to be announced later), and it will take place on a Sunday so that everyone can attend, regardless of work or school schedules.

My goal is to give Tunisian entrepreneurs an outlet to use their creativity and ingenuity and to bring their ideas to fruition. We have hosted some speakers at the AC who have talked about risk-taking and entrepreneurship and gotten people fired up about it. Now, it's time to make something happen, rather than just dreaming about it. I hope that we can have as many people participate as possible, and I encourage many of you to take part in this competition.

Please stop by the American Corner to sign up if you are interested and to ask any questions you may have.

Ravi Kaneriya
American Corner Coordinator

Conversation Cafe: Fayrouz (the 2nd try)

2010-10-11T10:39:00.001-07:00

Last time we went, Fayrouz was closed, so we will go again on Saturday. Take Rue Ahmed Tlili off of the Monoprix area in Menzah 6 and walk for 10 minutes. Fayrouz is on your right.

When: 2PM, Saturday October 16

Guest Speaker: Michael Cracknell

2010-10-11T10:38:00.000-07:00

Michael Cracknell is co-founder of Tunisia's largest microfinance bank, ENDA. He will come speak about microfinance, ENDA's growth, and ENDA's impact on development in Tunisia. I hope you will come. This will be an interesting event!

When: Thursday, October 14, 4PM
Where: American Corner

Conversation Cafe This Sunday at 2PM in Fayrouz Restaurant, Menzah 5

2010-09-29T11:08:00.000-07:00

We will be holding the 2nd AC Conversation Cafe event this Sunday at 2PM. It will be at Fayrouz Restaurant close to Matador (where we went last week). To get to Fayrouz, go to the Monoprix in Menzah 6. Avenue Ahmed Tlili branches towards Fayrouz and Menzah 5 from that area. Walk on Ahmed Tlili Avenue for about 7-10... minutes and you will see Fayrouz on your right.

Star Academy AMIDEAST - Season 2!!!!!!

2010-09-28T07:35:00.000-07:00

Come join us for this karaoke event! Sing your heart out or watch others sing! We have new songs to choose from!

When: This Friday October 1 at 4PM

Where: American Corner room

Guest Speaker: Yvonne Davis from Davis Communications

2010-09-21T03:53:00.000-07:00

Where: AC

When: Thursday, September 23

Some background on Yvonne:

Yvonne R. Davis is an internationally recognized business and leadership development coach, speaker, and award winning journalist. She is an expert in cross-cultural and global emerging markets, working with government, private sector, and non-governmental organizations to bring insight and viable solutions. Throughout her remarkable 20-year career, she has spearheaded initiatives that produce social and political change, both domestically and internationally. Ms. Davis has visited 56 countries and is passionate about critical economic and socio-political issues in the Middle East & North Africa Region, Africa, Central and South Asia, the Balkans and Eastern Europe.

With an impressive background in communication theory, application, leadership and business ethics and comparative politics, Ms. Davis drives crisis management and negotiation strategy initiatives that are utilized by the public and private sectors. It was through her highly intuitive capabilities and relationship building that she gained great respect as the first woman to teach negotiation skills to Palestinian women leaders. She brings this same ability to her business as a coach and consultant where she works closely with high level officials and key stakeholders to create a unique vision, develop strong leadership, and effect sustainable results.

Ms. Davis worked with the White House from 2001 to 2005 on housing, small business, HIV/AIDS, the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), global trade, welfare reform and women's issues. She travels regularly under the U.S. Department of State Speaker's Bureau Program. Ms. Davis planned, organized and executed a major trade mission to Senegal, Mali, Ghana, Cote D’Ivoire and Nigeria in support of Africa Growth and Opportunities Act (AGOA).

Ms. Davis has won several business and journalism awards, and is a columnist for the Huffington Post and Arab News. Her work has been featured in The New York Times, The Jerusalem Post, The Palestinian Times, and Black Enterprise Magazine. She is a member of board of directors for the Connecticut World Affairs Council and a member of the Board for the Al Waref Foundation (A Middle Eastern Policy and Public Affairs think tank in Washington, DC, Lebanon and Morocco).

A doctoral candidate at the Thierry Graduate School of Leadership, Ms. Davis holds an M.S. in Leadership and Business Ethics from Duquesne University. She earned an M.A. in Political Science from the University of Connecticut and a Bachelors of Arts in Political Science and Mass Communications from the University of Connecticut (Magna Cum Laude). She completed The Art Practice of Leadership at the John F. Kennedy School of Government Executive Leadership Program at Harvard University.

Piloting English Conversation Hours on Monday and Wednesday!!!

2010-09-20T05:40:00.000-07:00

Hello AC patrons,

At the request of some of our patrons, we are going to offer additional conversation hours on Monday and Wednesday over the next 3 weeks to test out the idea. If enough people attend the additional conversation hours, we will keep doing them. If not, then we will cancel doing that.

The way it will work will be as shown below:

Monday at 4PM: Discussion Topic A
Tuesday at 4PM: Discussion Topic A
Wednesday at 4PM: Discussion Topic B
Thursday at 4PM: Discussion Topic B
Friday at 3PM: Film Showing (sometimes with discussion afterwards, sometimes without depending on the length and nature of the film)

As you can see, the same topic will be discussed on Monday/Tuesday and a different topic will be discussed on Wednesday/Thursday. The purpose of this is to allow a different group of students to come on Tuesday if the cannot attend on Monday to talk about the same issue that students discussed the previous day. Of course, if you want to talk about the same subject on 2 different days with different students present, you could attend on both Monday and Tuesday too.

We will start the Monday and Wednesday conversation hours this Wednesday September 22, and this test phase for the additional conversation hours will end on October 6. Thereafter, I will look at the attendance numbers and if enough people are coming to the additional conversation hours, we will continue doing them.

Ravi Kaneriya
American Corner Coordinator

PS - I reserve the right to cancel Monday or Wednesday conversation hours in case it conflicts with other responsibilities that I have or errands that I have to run, but I will let you know in advance through the FB group or blog if that is the case. Otherwise, assume that conversation hour is happening.

2nd Film Screen With Discussion - Topic: Going Forwards and Backwards in Time

2010-09-16T04:47:00.000-07:00

We will be having a second film screening followed by a discussion of the film. The film this Friday is Click, a comedy about a man who can make time go backwards or forwards with a magical remote control.

After the film (which is 1 hour 40 minutes long), we will have an hour of discussion about the film.

The topic of t...he discussion will be: What Would You Do If You Could Go Backwards and Forwards in Time?

You are welcome to join for either the film or movie or both. Hope to see you there!

When: Tomorrow (Friday, Sept. 17) from 3PM-6PM

Where: American Corner

Photo Exhibition and Talk with Aicha Skandrani

2010-09-14T06:11:00.000-07:00

What: Photo Exhibition

When: 2PM, Saturday, September 18

Where:
Galerie d'Art et d'Essai "Le Damier" (near the German Embassy in Mutuelleville)
12, Avenue Haroun Errachid, Mutuelleville, 1082 Tunis

Description of Event: Welcome to the AC's first ever weekend get-together and event! To kick off our weekend meetings, we have a very special event planned.

Budding photographer Aicha Skandrani is having an exhibition of her work at the gallery. Interested AC members will begin by viewing her photography. This will be followed by an English discussion with Aicha about her work. Aicha will explain the significance of some of her artwork and her goals in her work. She will also field questions and comments that the audience may have.

Please only accept this invitation if you are serious about attending so that we can get an accurate head count.

People who are interested in coming can meet as a group in front of the German Embassy in Mutuelleville at 1:40PM sharp, and we will head to the gallery together as a group. Otherwise, you can come to the gallery directly on your own by 2PM sharp. Please do not be late. This event will begin promptly at 2PM at the gallery, and if you are late, you will miss the start of the event.

If you need to call the gallery for directions, their number is 21-700-258.

Guest Speaker: Stephen Ashby Speaking About the First Amendment

2010-09-14T06:08:00.000-07:00

What: Stephen Ashby, consular officer from the US Embassy, will speak about the First Amendment of the US Constitution (freedom of speech). In light of the Qur'an burning attempt and Ground Zero Mosque controversy, this is a very timely and relevant subject. I hope you will attend.

When: 4PM, Thursday, September 16.

Where: American Corner

AC Times Changes and Upcoming Events

2010-09-11T13:22:00.000-07:00

Hello all. Please note the following time changes starting on Monday:

AC Open Hours: 10AM-6PM (Mon.-Fri.)
English Conversation Hours: 4PM (Tues. and Thurs.)
Friday Film: 3PM (Fri.)

Also, we will soon begin organizing AC weekend conversation socials. On select weekends, inviduals interested in practicing English in a casual setting will get together at a set location (park, cafe, restaurant, etc.) and socialize and participate in English-speaking activities. These weekend socials are meant to accomodate those visitors of the AC who may not be able to attend normal conversation hours or AC activities during the weekdays due to school, work, or class conflicts. Of course, anyone interested in making friends and practicing their English in an English-speaking environment is welcome as well.

Some other things to look forward to in the next few months:

We have the following speakers that will be coming to the AC:

1) A representative from the US embassy will be coming to speak about the 1st Amendment of the US Constitution (Free speech) next week on Thursday.

2) Naif Mutawa, the creator of the Islamic-themed comic series "The 99" will be speaking in November.

3) Joe DiFilippo, a US commander who served in Iraq, will speak to the AC.

4) Michael Cracknell, founder of ENDA, Tunisia's largest microfinance bank will speak in October.

5) We will have several speakers from AMIDEAST come to speak about different ethnic and religious groups in America as part of a lecture series called "Cultures of America". So far, representatives of the Irish-American, Mormon, and Indian-American communities are slated to speak at the AC about the history, challenges, and accomplishments of their groups in America.

6) We will have a Star Academy Season 2 Karaoke event in the last Friday of September at AMIDEAST.

7) And many more surprises in store!

- Ravi Kaneriya

Slideshow on Palestine and Israel: 13:00 Tuesday September 7

2010-09-06T03:19:00.000-07:00

What: Sam, an American teacher in Tunis, will do a slideshow on his journey through Palestine and Israel. He will share his insights and revelations from the trip, and attendees will be invited to ask questions and provide comments during this discussion.

Where: American Corner

When: 13:00 Tuesday September 7

Special Film Friday: September 3

2010-08-31T03:22:00.000-07:00

What: We have a special film viewing. On this Friday, we will watch a documentary for 1 hour. That will be followed by another hour of discussion of the film. The film we will be watching and discussion is a 20/20 documentary, entitled Race and Sex: What We Think But Don't Say.

Where: American Corner

When: 12:00, Friday, September 3