A Global Discussion on Global Issues

I know, I just posted, but you get to hear from me again!

One of the facets of our week is our weekly lecture series, consisting of Professor Lo finding someone to talk with us about various issues relevant to the Middle East in general, or Cairo in particular, or whatever other topic which could intrigue as students linked by our interest in Arabic and its culture. I know we've mentioned these lectures, and blogged about them (or, occasionally, forgotten to blog about them), but I want to say again that each one is different - on a different topic, by different kinds of people, in different places throughout Cairo.
Today, we ventured across the Nile to Giza, to the Arab & African Research Center, where various people associated with the center gathered to talk with us about how American politics are understood and portrayed in Africa and the Middle East.
Yeah, a heavy topic. But one which prompted some interesting questions and points of view on a broad range of related subjects. We moved from a discussion on America's involvement in the Middle East in the past which arguably prompted the problems of today to a discussion on how American politics work and how we view our current president to how to solve some of the major flaws in the Egyptian government and so much more beyond.
I can definitely say that at least some of these topics interested everyone attending - it's hard to take Arabic and not be curious about the Middle East. And, though there were practical problems during the talk, like people not remembering to speak into the microphone or the low whine occasionally emitted by said microphone, I think we all came away with a slightly heightened awareness of how exactly globalization and international politics affect other parts of the world. America really does have a special place on the global stage, whether it wants that place or not, and I think it was good to be reminded of this fact and to reawaken our awareness of how we are perceived not only as foreigners and Westerners but also as Americans.
I, of course, am overgeneralizing a bit - the students on this program are just too diverse for me to be able to speak for all of us, and I am just not able to condense the 3 pages of notes I took from this lecture into this blog post. But our meeting with the center prompted interesting discussion, both while we were there and afterward - which ultimately has been the goal of this lecture series.
And, personally, I enjoyed the discussion, as it bridged a lot of very relevant topics dealing with America and foreign relations in this region of the world as well as allowing us to get a different perspective on Egypt politically and globally. And it left me excited to see what next week (our last lecture!) will bring!