Academic clubs collaborate to bring students together

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Two student clubs associated with academic departments collaborated recently on their version of dinner and a movie.

The Sociology and Anthropology Club hosted a special dinner of Middle Eastern food before one of the movies sponsored by the Middle Eastern Studies and Islamic Civilization Club.

Mariza Rocha ’09, leading member of the SOAN Club, organized the Dec. 2 event. She said it was a fun way to facilitate discussion and reach out to students whose studies might be based in a different academic department.

Theresa Kevorkian ’09 and Andrew Atkinson ’11, who organize the film series, said it is a vehicle to spread interest in Middle Eastern studies on campus.

The two choose films that give students insight into different Middle Eastern cultures.

Students enjoy a Middle Eastern dinner at Olin Hall before watching a movie that was part of the Middle Eastern Studies and Islamic Civilization film series. (Photo by Seth Greene ’11)

The film the club screened on Nov. 2 was Kandahar, a Persian- language film about an Afghani-Canadian woman who travels to Afghanistan to find her sister.

Having a catered dinner was a nice addition to the screening, and allowed students to gather together beforehand to talk and mingle.

This past semester the club also has shown films in Arabic and Turkish, all of which have English subtitles.

The collaboration between the SOAN and MIST clubs represents another example of the movement on campus to help students explore interests in different disciplines in both formal and informal ways.

Those interested in finding out more about the MIST film series can e-mail Kevorkian at tkevorkian@students.colgate.edu.

To learn more about the SOAN Club, which also sponsors coffee breaks and discussion groups in the café at Case-Geyer Library, contact Rocha at mrocha@students.colgate.edu