Monday, October 3, 2005
On Monday October 3, 2005, the Near East Section of the African and Middle Eastern Division hosted a luncheon program on the Bibliotheca Alexandrina (BA) in Egypt. The program was co-sponsored by the United States-Egypt Friendship Society, Contrack International, Inc., and the Baltimore-Luxor-Alexandria Sister Cities Committee. Dr. Ismail Serageldin, the Director of the library, made a presentation entitled "Bibliotheca Alexandrina: Catalyzing Civil Society and Dialogue on Reform in Egypt and the Eastern Mediterranean." He emphasized the importance of the role of the library as a nexus for dialogue among the peoples of the Mediterranean and the world, and a catalyst for reform in Egypt and the region.

Before becoming Director of the library of Alexandria, Dr. Ismail Serageldin was World Bank Vice President for Environmentally and Socially Sustainable Development (1992-1998) and later for Special Programs (1998-2000).He is a Distinguished Professor at Wageningen University in the Netherlands, and has written over 50 books and 200 articles on a variety of topics including biotechnology, rural development, and the value of science to society. He holds a B.Sc. in engineering from Cairo University, and an M.A. and a Ph.D. from Harvard, and has received 18 honorary doctorates. He serves as Chair and Member of a number of advisory committees for social, economic and scientific research.
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Wednesday, September 7, 2005
The African and Middle Eastern Division Library of Congress invited you to a presentation by H.R.H., Queen of Buganda Nnabagereka Sylvia Nagginda, "A Modern Queen in a Traditional Role"
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Monday, July 18, 2005
LC HEBRAICA RESEARCH SEMINAR "SHAPING THE IMAGE OF MAIMONIDES IN LATE MEDIEVAL JEWISH
HISTORIOGRAPHY" IN HEBREW, by Dr. Shimon Shtober, Bar-Ilan University
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Thursday, May 12, 2005
The Hebraic Section Library of Congress cordially invited you to the Sixth Annual Myron M. Weinstein Memorial Lecture
on the Hebraic Book Bitter Women: The Relationship Between Joel Ben Simeon's Washington Haggadah and the Maraviglia Tefillah by Professor Evelyn M. Cohen, Stern College for Women, Yeshiva University.
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Thursday, April 28, 2005
The Near East Section African and Middle Eastern Division, Library of Congress presented The 12th Annual Vardanants Day
Armenian Lecture. Edward Alexander, U.S. Foreign Service (Ret.) Diplomacy and the Armenian Factor
(View Flyer in PDF) (View Press Release) (Previous Vardanants Day Lectures)

Tuesday, March 29, 2005
The Library of Congress African and Middle Eastern Division, Music Division and American Folklife Center, invited you to a concert featuring Persian classical music in celebration of the arrival of spring and the age old tradition of NOWRUZ. Performance by The Chakavak Ensemble Directed by Dr. Nader Majd, who will play the Santur (Dulcimer) accompanied by
Ali Jafari on Tar (long-necked lute), Patricia McInturf on Kamancheh (spike fiddle), Alireza Analouei on Tombak (a goblet drum), Nahid Nasseri on Setar (lute), Leila Abtahi on Violin and Mark Taylor on Cello.
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Monday, March 21, 2005
The Library of Congress African Section and the Office of Scholarly Programs in collaboration with The Africa Society of the National Summit on Africa, The African Presidential Archives & Research Center, Boston University,The Nigerian Peoples’ Forum,The United States Institute of Peace, and The Watson Institute for International Studies, Brown University presented a seminar on Examples of Reconciliation: Africa’s Contributions to the Global Community
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March 8, 2005

The Near East Section of the African and Middle East Division, Library of Congress, and the Iraq Memory Foundation co-sponsored a symposium:"The New Iraq - Memory and National Identity". The keynote speaker was the Mayor of Baghdad: the Honorable `Ala' al-Tamimi.

The symposium focused on the importance and the preservation of millions of documents from the Baathist archives of Iraq, uncovered after the war in 2003. Kanan Makiya, the Iraqi born President of the Iraq Memory Foundation who is in charge of preserving these documents in Baghdad, discussed the role and significance of memory. The Mayor of Baghdad talked about the importance in the life of Iraqis of the "The Museum of Remembrance" that will house those documents, while Dianne van der Reyden, the LC Director for Preservation, made a presentation on different threats to those documents and ways to preserve them for future generations. Other speakers included Deanna Marcum, who made the opening remarks, Roger Owen, the Director of the Middle East Center, Harvard University, Peter Sluglett, Professor of History, University of Utah, Falih Jabar, Director of the Iraq Institute for Strategic Studies in London, Hassan Mneimneh, Director of the Documentation Project of the Iraq Memory Foundation, and Carole Basri, Professor of Law, University of Pennsylvania. Mary-Jane Deeb, the Head of the Near East Section, moderated the symposium panels.

.First Panel
Second Panel

Tuesday, February 22, 2005
The Library of Congress Armenian Seminar of the Near East Section, African and Middle Eastern Division invited you to a presentation by John M. Evans, United States Ambassador to Armenia, Report From Armenia: 2004 with Robin Philips
US/AID Armenia Director.
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