Events
Join Us
Throughout the 100th anniversary year of the publication of The Book of Khalid, there will be talks and events about the novel in the United States, Europe, and the Arab world.
As the director of the anniversary campaign in the United States called Project Khalid, Todd Fine has been traveling to universities and institutions speaking about Rihani and about The Book of Khalid. If you are interested in having him speak at your organization or school, please email him at toddfine@projectkhalid.org or call +1 857.234.0920.
Past events:
Princeton University, 4 October 2010
Syracuse University, 5 October 2010
University of Sydney, 25 November 2010
Yale University, 25 January 2011
Department of Education Training for New Jersey Teachers, 25-26 March 2011
Library of Congress, 29 March 2011
American University (Washington, D.C.), 13 April 2011
American University of Beirut, 26 April 2011
Lebanese American University, 27 April 2011
Notre Dame University (Lebanon), 28 April 2011
Gulf University for Science and Technology (Kuwait), 5 May 2011
Wright State University (Dayton, Ohio), 10 May 2011
Women’s National Republican Club, 24 May 2011
Salaam Club (New York City), 25 May 2011
Georgetown University, 1 August 2011
The Interchurch Center (New York City), 9 September 2011
Bibliotheca Alexandrina, 27 September 2011
New York Public Library, 25 October 2011
Future events:
Lebanese-American University Alumni Club, 13 November 2011
Arab-American Club of Youngstown, Ohio, 19 November 2011
Common talk description:
The 100th Anniversary of the First Arab-American Novel: Ameen Rihani’s Uncanny Message in The Book of Khalid
2011 brings the centennial anniversary of the first Arab-American novel: Ameen Rihani’s The Book of Khalid (1911). The story of two Arab boys who immigrate to New York City, the novel ambitiously confronts issues that concerned Rihani’s era and still confound our own: the ideal relations between Americans and Arabs, the problem of religious conflict in the Arab world and beyond, and the rightful position of Arabs within the great American story of immigration. Because of the novel’s extreme merit, historical importance, and contemporary relevance, a group of esteemed scholars and public figures have come together to establish Project Khalid, a coordinated effort to commemorate this important milestone in the history of Arab-American life and literature. Activities include preparing a new edition of the novel for schools and managing its distribution, hosting a public forum at the Library of Congress on 29 March 2011 and at the New York Public Library on 25 October, and using online and traditional media to promote the novel and Rihani’s legacy throughout the anniversary year.
Todd Fine, the project’s director, will introduce The Book of Khalid and will argue that the work, in addition to its extraordinary merit, has great relevance to the contemporary challenge in the Arab-American relationship and to the present situation in the region.
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Todd Fine, the director of Project Khalid (www.projectkhalid.org), is a Magna Cum Laude graduate of Harvard University and holds a Master’s Degree in International Relations from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University. He is the editor of a new critical edition of The Book of Khalid under advance contract with Syracuse University Press. At Harvard, Mr. Fine worked for Samuel P. Huntington as a research assistant for two years on his book on American identity and immigration, entitled Who Are We? (Simon and Schuster, 2004). He also organized and developed the Global Zero campaign on nuclear weapons, which launched in Paris, France in December 2008.
