Readers > Everybody Reads > 2006 > Related events > Lectures/Literary
Lectures/Literary
(All addresses in Portland.)
A Tale of Two Countries: Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner
The Kite Runner weaves together personal, family, and national history into a memorable and vivid tale of contemporary Afghanistan. In providing an imaginative account of Afghan life before and after the Soviet invasion and the Taliban regime, Khaled Hosseini allows readers to explore the connections between personal morality and national destiny. In doing so, he illustrates the ways in which the novel can make the unfamiliar familiar and bring distant and strange parts of the world close to readers' hearts. Join Christopher Zinn, executive director of the Oregon Council for the Humanities, for a talk on these themes.
Tuesday, February 7, 6:30 p.m.
Central Library, U.S. Bank Room
801 S.W. 10th Ave.
Afghanistan: Politics, History, and Culture
This panel discussion will be led by Portland State University scholars Grant Farr, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and Sociology; John Damis, Middle East Studies Center and Political Science; Jon Mandaville, History; and Masoud Kheirabadi, Geography.
Thursday, February 9, 11 a.m. and 7 p.m.
Portland State University, Room 296, Smith Memorial Student Union
1825 S.W. Broadway
The Kite Runner: Literary Criticism and Cultural Studies
This panel discussion will be led by Portland State University scholars Lee Medovoi, English; Pelin Basci, Foreign Languages and Literatures; Maude Hines, English; and Marie Lo, English.
Thursday, February 16, 11 a.m. and 7 p.m.
Portland State University, Room 296, Smith Memorial Student Union
1825 S.W. Broadway
A Journey in Today's Afghanistan
In 2003, journalists Angie Chuang and Stephanie Yao (of The Oregonian) traveled to Kabul and rural Afghanistan with members of a Portland immigrant family. They reported on reconstruction efforts and the everyday lives of Afghans, particularly women, post-Taliban. Join Jamila Wahab, who accompanied them in Afghanistan, and her brother Aziz Wahab, for virtual slideshow journey to Kabul and beyond, looking into the lives of Afghans where The Kite Runner left off.
Wednesday, February 22, 6:30 p.m.
Central Library, U.S. Bank Room
801 S.W. 10th Ave.
The Kite Runner and the Myth of Afghanistan
Sponsored by the Portland Center for Cultural Studies, this lecture will be presented by Amardeep Singh, assistant professor of English, Lehigh University.
Friday, February 24, 7 p.m.
Portland State University Library, Second Floor
1875 S.W. Park Ave.
Afghanistan Four Years After the Invasion: A Success Story or Squandered U.S. Credibility?
Sponsored by the Portland Center for Cultural Studies, this lecture will be presented by M. Nazif Shahrani, professor of Anthropology, Central Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, Indiana University.
Monday, February 27, 7 p.m.
Portland State University Library, Second Floor
1835 S.W. Park Ave.