Blog

Seeking Civil Discourse Fellows

detroitcivildiscourse

Starting this fall, the DCCD will begin the Civil Discourse Fellowship at Wayne State University. We will select 10-16 WSU Students from diverse backgrounds who will receive a $1,000 stipend for participating. They will meet bi-weekly to engage with each other, hear enriching lectures, and go on occasional field trips.

Applications are to be submitted by email, either as a typed or handwritten (print legibly) attachment to arianamentzel@gmail.com no later than April 30th, 2019.

For further details or to download our application, please click this link:

DCCD Fellowship Application

“Making Sense of Yemen: Past, Present, & Future”

detroitcivildiscourse

On Monday, February 4th, the Detroit Center for Civil Discourse hosted a panel discussion on the situation in Yemen called, “Making Sense of Yemen: Past, Present, and Future,” at Wayne State University, cosponsored by American Jewish Committee/Jewish Community Relations Council of Michigan, the Michigan Muslim Community Council, the Jewish Student Organization of Wayne State University, the Yemeni Student Association of Wayne State University, and the Muslim Student Association of Wayne State University.

40 people attended the program, featuring a mixture of hijabs and kippot, Muslims and Jews, and students and community members.

DCCD founder and director Rabbi Asher Lopatin introduced the panel, connecting it with the mission of DCCD, which is to bring different groups together to solve shared challenges. He also announced the DCCD’s Civil Discourse Fellowship for Wayne State Students starting in September 2019. The fellowship will accept students of all backgrounds, though it will focus on bringing Muslim and Jewish students together.  

The panel began with Prof. Howard Lupovitch, Director of the Cohn-Haddow Center for Judaic Studies at Wayne State University. He spoke about the pride that Jews of Yemeni descent have in their Yemeni culture. He also noted that, while their practices are largely similar to those of other Jews, Yemeni-Jewish tunes, pronunciation, and other customs are distinctive of their unique, Yemenite heritage.  

Prof. Saeed Khan, professor of Near East and Asian Studies at Wayne State University spoke next, presenting a geopolitical history of Yemen and a brief overview of the current conflict in Yemen.

The next panelist to speak was Ashley Attar, Community Activist and child of Yemeni Immigrants to Israel. Ashley added a personal dimension to Prof. Lupovitch’s discussion of Yemeni-Jewish culture and history, accompanied by pictures of her ancestors in Yemen. She spoke about her family’s foods and dress, as well as their immigration to Israel.

Emad Shammakh, the Vice-President of the Yemeni American Leadership Association and a student at Wayne State University was the final speaker.  He addressed the current civil war in Yemen and how a sizable percentage of the people of Yemen are malnourished and have no access to medical care. He also spoke about the importance of different religions coming together as human beings to solve this crisis.  

After all panelists spoke, they took questions from the audience, many of which sought further details about the conflict.

The program concluded with a Kosher reception sponsored by the JCRC-AJC and the Ravitz Foundation, which enabled an extra hour of personal discussions, frequently between Muslims and Jews, or Arabs and other Muslims,

Here is a link to the video of the panel:

https://www.facebook.com/Detroitcivildiscourse/videos/540055269849093/

Here are some pictures:

 

Making Sense of Yemen: Past, Present, and Future–This Monday!

detroitcivildiscourse

–Dialogue and Partnership between Diverse Groups and Individuals: It can happen!”

The Detroit Center for Civil Discourse is an organization working towards bringing diverse individuals and communities together to promote mutual understanding through shared interests.

As part of this mission, the DCCD, in conjunction with other local Muslim and Jewish groups will present a program this Monday, February 4th, at 4:00 P.M. in the Wayne State University Student Center 5221 Gullen Mall Rooms Hilberry B & C. Program partners include the JCRC-AJC, the Michigan Muslim Community Council, the Wayne State University Jewish Students Organization, and the Wayne State University Yemen Students Association.A panel of scholars and students seeks to educate and raise awareness about the current situation in Yemen.

The greatest human disaster in the world right now is in Yemen, where 14-20 million civilians are starving to death because of the country’s civil war. Yemen is halfway around the world from the United States, making it difficult for making it difficult for us to focus on its challenges. Yet, United States government’s support for the war involves us as well in this catastrophic situation.

The program will begin with brief initial remarks by DCCD founder Rabbi Asher Lopatin and a welcoming address by Consul General Republic of Yemen Mokhtar Algaadanithe. Following these introductions, there will be a panel featuring a Jewish professor (Professor Howard Lupovitch, Director Cohn-Haddow Center for Judaic Studies), a Muslim Senior Lecturer (Professor Saeed Khan, Near East & Asian Studies), a Muslim Yemeni student (Emad Shammakh, Vice President Yemeni American Leadership Association) and a Jewish woman of Yemeni extraction (Ashley Attar, Community Activist & Child of Yemeni Immigrants to Israel). Bringing together these different backgrounds, voices, and perspectives together towards a common goal demonstrates the values of the DCCD.

This event will launch the Wayne State University Civil Discourse Fellowship starting in September.  While the fellowship will be open to all WSU students, it will particularly seek Muslim and Jewish students to build civil discourse amongst these communities.

A Kosher and Halal reception will follow the program.

For further questions, please contact Rabbi Lopatin (motownrabbi@gmail.com).

Here is a link to the Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/events/277078636306265/