Events at SQCC

On Wednesday, 13 November, SQCC hosted the final Poetry & Prose Series lecture of 2019. The guest of honor was Dr. Emily Drumsta, Brown University, who delivered a lecture on Iraqi poet Nazik al-Malaʾikah. Many Arabic speakers, SQCC students and teachers, and friends of SQCC attended the session. A biography of the poet was presented…

From 15-17 November, SQCC exhibited at the Book Bazaar of the Middle Eastern Studies Association (MESA) Annual Meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana. The MESA annual meeting is the largest gathering of academics and researchers focused on the Middle East in the U.S. At MESA, SQCC promoted its new primary source database, An Ocean of Paper, which seeks…

SQCC hosted students from LaSalle-Backus Education Campus as part of EAP Program   The Sultan Qaboos Cultural Center hosted a fifth grade class from LaSalle-Backus Education Campus as part of the Embassy Adoption Program (EAP) on Tuesday 19 November. EAP is a special collaboration between Washington Performing Arts and D.C. Public Schools. Students toured SQCC’s permanent exhibition featuring examples…

SQCC traveled to Austin, Texas for the 2019 National Council for Social Studies (NCSS) conference on November 22-23. The SQCC exhibition booth promoted the Indian Ocean in World History (IOWH) website, which is a well-known resource among American teachers for teaching on Oman and the Indian Ocean region. SQCC staff also promoted the new An Ocean of Paper database…

The Sultan Qaboos Cultural Center Library hosted its inaugural session of the SQCC Book Club on 4 December, 2019. The club’s mission is to promote reading and discussion of literature from or about the Sultanate of Oman. The first meeting included a group discussion of selected stories from My Grandmother's Stories: Folk Tales from Dhofar…

On Wednesday, 4 December, SQCC welcomed adult continuing learning students from Frederick Community College. The students, joined by their professor and current SQCC fellow, Mrs. Linda Pappas Funsch, enjoyed a tour of the SQCC permanent exhibition which explored Oman's fascinating history. After the tour students listened to a cultural lecture about Omani culture and social norms…

On Thursday, 5 December, SQCC represented Oman at the 8th annual Winternational Celebration at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center. SQCC represented the Omani Embassy by showcasing a variety of cultural traditions from the Sultanate to entertain and teach throngs of curious visitors about Oman's rich history. SQCC's booth featured majmars, dates, frankincense, kumas, textiles, and…

Guests gathered at SQCC on Tuesday, 10 December for an early celebration of World Arabic Language Day. This year's theme was "The Arabic Language Through Music" which featured a public lecture with live demonstrations, musical performances, and a reception.  Dr. Rasmussen, Professor of Music and Ethnomusicology at William & Mary, led a discussion about the…

On Monday 16 December, SQCC visited Sitar Arts Center, a multidisciplinary arts education center for children and youth in Washington D.C. Students learned about Oman’s rich cultural heritage, handcrafts, history, geography, and beautiful scenery. Students were asked to find and mark Oman on a world map. Later on students learned how to write their names in Arabic and asked…

On Tuesday 17 December, SQCC visited 5th graders of LaSalle-Backus Education Campus School for the Embassy Adoption Program, a unique education and partnership program of the District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) and Washington Performing Arts. Students narrated what they learned in their first visit to SQCC on Oman’s culture, people, geographic location, and food. Students were also…