UNE Center for Global Humanities presents “Shakespeare in the Arab World”

UNE Center for Global Humanities presents “Shakespeare in the Arab World”

Through the 1960s, translations, adaptations, and performances of Shakespeare’s works in the Arab World remained faithful to the canonical Shakespearean tradition we know in the West. But since then, there has been a gradual transformation in terms of how Shakespeare is presented and received in Arab countries. Fueled by a postcolonial revision of power dynamics, Arab stages have come to offer diverse representations of Shakespeare, sometimes changing his works to the point where they would be barely recognizable to Western viewers. Today, these Shakespearean adaptations make powerful statements upending traditional power constructs while at the same time captivating audiences.

So will argue scholar Khalid Amine at the University of New England Center for Global Humanities in a lecture titled “Shakespeare in the Arab World” on Monday, October 7 at 6:00 p.m. at Innovation Hall at the UNE Portland Campus.

Amine, who is senior professor of performance studies at Abdelmalek Essaadi University in Tétouan, Morocco, also teaches courses on Moroccan society and culture at UNE’s Tangier Campus. A past winner of the Helsinki Prize of the International Federation for Theatre Research (IFTR), he is also the founding president of the International Centre for Performance Studies (ICPS) in Tangier and convener of its annual international conference. Among his many books are such titles as Moroccan Theatre Between East and West, Fields of Silence in Moroccan Theatre, and Dramatic Art and the Myth of Origins. Amine is also the editor of the Arab Journal of Performance Studies (AJPS).

This second lecture of the 2019-2020 season for the Center for Global Humanities will be followed by nine more between now and April 2020. On the day very next day, in fact, Amine will present an encore presentation of his lecture at the UNE Biddeford Campus.

As always, Center for Global Humanities events are free, open to the public, and streamed live online. For more information, please visit: https://www.une.edu/calendar/2019/shakespeare-arab-world

About the Center for Global Humanities

The Center for Global Humanities offers lectures by leading scholars to help us better understand the challenges besetting our civilization and outline new solutions for nations and peoples to live together without prejudice. Global in perspective, the Center’s lectures are streamed live on the Internet, allowing our speakers to answer questions from any country. Because the Center believes in the vital necessity of a humanities culture to civic and democratic life, it works closely with the local community to encourage reading, discussion, and debate. The Center was founded in 2009 by UNE scholar Anouar Majid, Ph.D., who serves as its director.

Khalid Amine, senior professor of performance studies at Abdelmalek Essaadi University in Tétouan, Morocco
Khalid Amine, senior professor of performance studies at Abdelmalek Essaadi University in Tétouan, Morocco

About the University of New England

The University of New England is Maine’s largest independent university, with two beautiful coastal campuses in Maine, a one-of-a-kind study abroad campus in Tangier, Morocco, and an array of flexible, accredited online degrees. In an uncommonly welcoming and supportive community, we offer hands-on learning, empowering students to make a positive impact in a world full of challenges. The state’s top provider of health professionals, we are home to Maine’s only medical college, Maine’s only dental college, a variety of other interprofessionally aligned health care degree programs, as well as nationally recognized programs for marine science degrees, natural and social sciences degrees, arts and humanities degrees, and business degrees.