An-Najah English Department Students Begin Discussion Series via Video-Conference with Counterparts at Ithaca College
On Tuesday, March 5th, students from An-Najah’s English Department held a video conference with counterparts from Ithaca College in New York.
English major, Dana Yaseen headed the discussion circle with co-leaders Tasnim Salhi, Israa Salman, and Hayat Taym. The An-Najah participants connected with students from Ithaca who are studying in a political justice course in order to talk about the novel, Autobiography of an Ex-colored Man. Dr. Nabil Alawi, Ph.D. in American Literature and Professor of English at An-Najah and Dr. Beth Hares from Ithaca supervised the discussion.
The novel, Autobiography of an Ex-colored Man, revolves around a central character who is bi-racial; his mother was black and his father white. Through this character, the novel examines the connection between race and identity, looking particularly at the relationship between the white majority and the black minority in the U.S.
Main themes in the conversation included identity and education. Palestinian students saw parallels between aspects of the novel and the cause of the Palestinian people suffering under occupation.
Tuesday’s video-conference was the initial session in a series of conferences planned for the current semester. The discussion sessions aim to exchange perspectives and to build relationships with partners and peers around the globe. In addition, through such activities, students hope to share the Palestinian cause with the world.
