Tag: Iraq

The Narcicyst’s “Phatwa” (Political Hatred Attracting the Wrong Arabs)

I have previously written about the unique challenges of flying as a Muslim. This week, I heard a fantastic interview with the musician “The Narcicyst” aka Yassin Alsalman, a Canadian hip hop artist whose family’s originated in Iraq. Alsalman was detained for 5 hours US border patrol at the airport in Toronto. You may be thinking – ok, so what, lots of people are stopped at the border? But this particular Canadian is a popular musician who wrote a song called “Phatwa” and made a music video ABOUT being stopped at the US border.

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New Fulbright Visiting Scholars Program for Iraq

The U. S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs has announced a competition to identify potential host institutions for the inaugural 2010 Fulbright Visiting Scholar Program for Iraq. This 10-week program will bring cohorts of Iraqi scholars in select fields to U.S. institutions for faculty development, research, and other guided study activities. The program is designed to equip grantees with knowledge and tools to build the capacity of universities in Iraq and to advance the education of future generations of Iraqis. The program will lay the foundation for Iraqi scholars and their U.S. hosts to develop long-term institutional relationships and areas of cooperation that can be sustained after the grant period. The Council for International Exchange of Scholars (CIES) will administer the program on behalf of the Department of State and is pleased to offer this opportunity for U.S. institutions to apply to host the scholars in the summer of 2010.

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