Apr 27 2025

Arab American Graduation Haflah 2025

April 27, 2025

4:00 PM - 7:00 PM

Location

Illinois Room, Student Center East

Address

750 S Halsted St, Chicago, IL 60607

Calendar

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White flier with red thin border along the top and bottom. Top left has Center logo in red and top right has an image of a graduation cap in gold colors. Background for two thirds under that has a grey silhouette of caps, degrees, ringing bells, and sparkles. Text is in red and light blue. A square light grey box is on the bottom right with green text. A logo of a music band in black is middle left and a photograph of a person with black hair and beard wearing a dark maroon jacket over a black shirt next to the cover of a book in purple with text in yellow.

ANNUAL ARAB AMERICAN GRADUATION HAFLAH - 2025

Join us to celebrate the accomplishments of UIC students as they graduate in 2025 helping them mark a milestone in their lives. Come share in their experiences of UIC and give them a proper send off as they embark on the next phase of their academic and professional careers.

Event will feature:

Keynote: Poet Mosab Abu Toha

Music: Arab Blues

Graduating Student Speakers: Sarah Kidane and Hadeel Ali

Mosab Abu Toha is a Palestinian poet, scholar, and librarian who was born in Gaza and has spent his life there. A graduate in English language teaching and literature, he taught English at the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) schools in Gaza from 2016 until 2019, and is the founder of the Edward Said Library, Gaza’s first English-language library. Things You May Find Hidden in My Ear is his debut book of poems. In 2019-2020, Abu Toha was a Visiting Poet in the Department of Comparative Literature at Harvard University; a Visiting Librarian at Harvard’s Houghton Library; and a Religion, Conflict, and Peace Initiative Fellow in the Harvard Divinity School. In 2020, Abu Toha gave talks and readings at the University of Pennsylvania, Temple University, and the University of Arizona. He also spoke at the American Library Association (ALA) Midwinter Meeting held in Philadelphia in January 2020. In October 2021, University of Notre Dame’s Literatures, Annihilation, Exile, and Resistance lecture series hosted Abu Toha to speak about his poetry and work in Gaza. Abu Toha is a columnist for Arrowsmith Press, and his writings from Gaza have also appeared in The Nation and Literary Hub. His poems have been published on the Poetry Foundation’s website, in Poetry Magazine, Banipal, Solstice, The Markaz Review, The New Arab, Peripheries, and other journals.

The Arab Blues traces a trajectory between tradition and innovation, we embody the call of tradition and the response of the diaspora. The synthesis Rami and Karim create is an auditory expression of not only the power and persistence of tradition but equally the validity of its transformation under the unique cultural conditions we inhabit. Chicago teaches us tenacity, while our Arab homelands offer us a deep well of inspiration and reverence.  Our reaction to xenophobia, dehumanization and prejudice towards our beloved people can be heard in our performance.  Music offers us the amplification to broadcast our unique story, rebut the stereotypes and shush the negativists. The basis of our work is the Turath, the canon of classical Arab compositions and improvisational techniques. This rich heritage consists of melodic and rhythmic exposition and instrumental interaction at countless levels of depth. We interpret the Turath in the context of the equally lush traditions of Blues and Jazz in Chicago. This marriage of forms is fruitful because of the emotional range of the Blues and the improvisational flexibility and ingenuity of Jazz. The Arab Blues was developed by Lebanese-Egyptian oud and guitar player Rami Gabriel through a research fellowship at the Center for Black Music Research, two Illinois Artist grants, and a decade of experience as a jazz and blues musician in Chicago. Native Egyptian percussionist Karim Nagi, a 2-time beneficiary of the Doris Duke Building Bridges grant is an accomplished teacher and performer who completes this duo with his energetic & lyrical approach to rhythm on Riqq, Tublah and assembled drum-set. Karim also designs the artwork and graphics, funneling their music into a visual stamp.

Event space is accessible by wheelchair. For accessibility and other questions, email us: arabamcc@uic.edu

Contact

Arab American Cultural Center
312-413-3253
arabamcc@uic.edu

Date posted

Mar 17, 2025

Date updated

Mar 17, 2025