ST. MARY'S CITY, Md. - On Monday, Nov. 5, at 7:30 p.m., there will be a screening of the documentary film Arabs and Terrorism in Cole Cinema of the Campus Center at St. Mary's College of Maryland. Bassam Haddad, who produced and directed the film, will lead a follow-up discussion.
This event is free and open to the public.
This documentary critically examines the perceptions in the West, particularly in the U.S., about the hypothetical relationship between Arabs and terrorism. It has been researched in six languages and filmed in 11 different countries. It involves 95 experts and politicians as well as hundreds of street interviews conducted in the U.S., Europe, and the Middle East.
A technique used in the film called "nested interviewing" utilizes two cameras, recording the physical responses of interviewees as they watch the recorded video statements of their opponents on screen. The intent is to use technology to bring together political adversaries who rarely, if ever, interact with each other face-to-face.
Bassam Haddad is an assistant professor in the Department of Political Science at St. Joseph's University and visiting adjunct professor at Georgetown University. He is also a Scholar in Residence at the University of Pennsylvania. Bassam serves as editor of the Arab Studies Journal, a peer-reviewed research publication and is co-producer and director of the award-winning documentary film, About Baghdad. He is currently working on his first book on Syria's political economy. Bassam is also the co-founder of Quilting Point, the company that produced Arabs and Terrorism.
This event is made possible through a grant from the College's Lecture and Fine Arts Committee, and is co-sponsored by the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies and The Center for the Study of Democracy.