Following are the online recordings (webcasts) of recent public programs pertaining to the Library’s international collections. To discover more videos, visit the four area studies divisions here: African and Middle Eastern, Asian, European, and Hispanic.
African and Middle Eastern Division
- Title: The Lost Library: The Legacy of Vilna’s Strashun Library in the Aftermath of the Holocaust
- Summary: Author and attorney Dan Rabinowitz discussed his book, “The Lost Library,” the story of the Strashun Library, which was among the most important Jewish public institutions in Eastern Europe prior to its destruction during World War II.
- Event Date: March 28, 2019
- Running Time: 58 minutes, 31 seconds
- Title: Author Makena Onjerika
- Summary: Kenyan writer Makena Onjerika spoke about her life and work. The event was co-sponsored by the Africa Society of the National Summit on Africa, the Caine Prize for African Writing, the Center for African Studies at Howard University, the Lannan Center for Poetics and Social Practice and the Department of English at Georgetown University.
- Event Date: March 14, 2019
- Notes: Author Makena Onjerika is winner of the 2018 Caine Prize for African Writing, an annual literary award for the best original short story by an African writer, whether in Africa or elsewhere, published in the English language.
- Running Time: 55 minutes, 31 seconds
- Title: Ottoman Princess Brides
- Summary: Betül Basaran discussed Ottoman princess brides, Princess Niloufer in Hyderabad and a visual journey of exile.
- Event Date: March 12, 2019
- Notes: Betül Basaran is associate professor of religious studies at St. Mary’s College of Maryland.
- Running Time: 1 hours, 8 minutes, 38 seconds
- Title: Conversation on the Omar Ibn Said Collection
- Summary: Scholars discussed the autobiography of Omar Ibn Said, the only known autobiography by a slave written in Arabic in the United States. It is a historically unique and important primary source for those trying to understand the connections between the Muslim communities in Western Africa and the slaves who continued to practice Islamic faith after being captured during the Atlantic slave trade.
- Event Date: February 05, 2019
- Notes: Mary Jane Deeb is chief of the African and Middle Eastern division at the Library of Congress.
- - Ala Alryyes is a visiting associate professor of English, Queens College, CUNY.
- - Sylviane A. Diouf is a visiting professor at Brown University.
- - Adam Rothman is professor of history at Georgetown University.
- Running Time: 4 hours, 3 minutes, 4 seconds
- Title: Israel’s Theatrical Scene: Welcome to Theaterland
- Summary: Renowned Israeli actor Roy Horovitz discussed Israeli theatre, speaking directly to the experience of his recent staging of “The Timekeepers,” a play which explores themes of homosexuality during the Holocaust.
- Event Date: February 04, 2019
- Running Time: 58 minutes, 43 seconds
- Title: Preserving Omar Ibn Said’s Words: A Slave Narrative
- Summary: The Library has preserved, digitized and made facsimile copies of “The Life of Omar Ibn Said,” the only known extant narrative written in Arabic by an enslaved person in the United States. In 1831, Omar Ibn Said, a wealthy and highly educated man who was captured in West Africa and brought to the United States as a slave, wrote a 15-page autobiography describing his experiences.
- Event Date: February 01, 2019
- Related Resources: Omar Ibn Said Collection:
- Running Time: 2 minutes, 30 seconds
- Title: Shores Beyond Shores: From Holocaust to Hope
- Summary: Irene Hasenberg Butter, child Holocaust survivor and professor emerita of public health at the University of Michigan, will speak about her experiences during World War II as recounted in her book, “Shores Beyond Shores: From Holocaust to Hope.” She appeared with her co-authors, Kris Holloway and John Bidwell. The event was cosponsored with the Rabin Chair Forum at George Washington University in commemoration of the 80th anniversary of Kristallnacht.
- Event Date: November 14, 2018
- Running Time: 53 minutes, 30 seconds
-
Asian Division
- Title: I Spy a Spy: Social Anxiety & Farce in North Korean Comedy Film
- Summary: Immanuel Kim discussed social anxiety and farce in North Korean comedy film. His presentation plays out against a ghostly landscape of North Korean society, much of which is tragic: the Korean War, economic crises, tensions along the DMZ, and famine.
- Event Date: April 11, 2019
- Notes: Immanuel Kim is a professor of Korean literature and culture studies in the department of East Asian languages and literature at George Washington University in Washington D.C. He is a specialist in North Korean literature and cinema.
- Running Time: 52 minutes, 2 seconds
- Title: Lessons Learned from the Repatriation of Mongolian Dinosaurs
- Summary: At the 13th Annual International Mongolian Studies Conference, Bolortsegtseg Minjin discussed cultural heritage protection using the examples of dinosaur fossils and their protection under new Mongolian laws.
- Event Date: February 15, 2019
- Notes: Bolortsegtseg Minjin is president and founder of the Institute for the Study of Mongolian Dinosaurs and research associate at the American Museum of Natural History.
- Running Time: 1 hours, 40 minutes, 4 seconds