ORWELL — The term “Middle East” is a changing geopolitical concept. Throughout recent history, this term referred to a political, a cultural, and a geographical region with no clear boundaries. Mohamed Defaa, an Arabic instructor at Southern New Hampshire University, will give a multi-media presentation on the term at the Orwell Public Library on Wednesday, Feb. 19, at 7 p.m., at the Orwell Public Library.
The term “Middle East” serves to generate stereotypes and misunderstanding. This multimedia presentation provides an analytical framework to understand the histories, social identities, and cultures behind this complex concept of “Middle East.”
Mohamed Defaa is certified by the International Center for Educational and Cultural Consulting in Lyon, France. He earned an M.A. in Communication and Expression at the University Mohamed V in Rabat, Morocco, and a B.A. in French Language and Literature from the University Ibn Tofail in Kénitra, Morocco. Defaa has served as an assistant professor of Communication and Cultural Expression at the University Hassan the Second in Casablanca, Morocco, and a college instructor in New Hampshire and Massachusetts. He is also a French and Arabic teacher at Merrimack High School, in Merrimack, N.H.
Defaa’s lecture is a Vermont Humanities Council Speakers Bureau lecture, locally supported by the First National Bank of Orwell.