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As part of its ongoing lecture and workshop series, the Department of Art & Graphic Design (GDES) at AUK invited cartoonist and designer, Khalid Al-Baih, to conduct a workshop on the basics of cartooning and lecture on his work as a political cartoonist. The visit was held on Tuesday, 21st of November, 2017 and was open to GDES students and the public. The twofold event was facilitated through the department's collaboration with The Promenade Cultural Centre (PCC), to support the Art and Graphic Design Lecture Series initiative. The PCC is managed and directed by a 2010 AUK design graduate, Othman Al Othman, who is working with the GDES department to bring world renowned speakers to Kuwait. Some of the lectures are held on campus and some will be held at the Promenade Culture Center.

The day kicked off with Al-Baih conducting his "Cartooning 101" workshop with GDES students where they looked at headlines in the news, then voted on a certain topic to brainstorm visual ideas on. After that, they drew political cartoons, which consisted of an image describing their thoughts on that political situation. With their focus on the growing diplomatic tensions between USA and North Korea, their artwork proved to be impressive.

The workshop was followed by Al-Baih's lecture in which he outlined some of his political cartoon works that made him go viral, such as documenting the 2011 Arab Spring uprising, Colin Kaepernick's gesture, as well as the Doha Fashion Fridays which inspired the Kuwait Fashion Fridays that photographs migrant service workers on their days off, showing their fashion sense outside of uniform. In discussing his works, Al-Baih also played a clip from a video installation he did, where he had compiled shots of Syrian refugees trying to migrate by sea, with depictions of drowning and rescuing from overcrowded rafts which greatly moved the audience. The event concluded with a Q&A session and brief discussions on various topics.

In describing the event's significance, Associate Professor William J. Andersen, Chair of the Department of Art and Graphic Design, commented, "Guest lecturers are important for students' and even our faculty's education as it helps broaden our understanding of the world, politics, life, and art. Education isn't just going to classes, but partaking in extra cultural activities." Similarly, Assistant Professor Clark Stoeckley, who organized the event, added, "The students that did attend really appreciated it, and that if you are really interested in bettering yourself as a graphic designer, or an artist, then these are great opportunities to check out."

This event comes as part of the monthly GDES lecture and workshop series entitled Mind Matter, which is held in collaboration with the PCC. Organized by Professors Marcella Kulchitsky and Clark Stoeckley, it aims to bring in figures who have made a career and impact in art and design commercially, politically and socially. In attending these events, the students get to witness various perspectives that could expand their horizons beyond what the classroom offers, as well as be able to experiment with different styles and fields of art.

Khalid al Baih is a Sudanese artist and political cartoonist that was born in Bucharest, Romania in 1980. He currently lives and works in Copenhagen, Denmark. He publishes his cartoons on social media under "Khartoon!," a word play on cartoon and Khartoum, the capital of Sudan. Albaih has published his cartoons widely in international publications including The Atlantic, PRI, and NPR, in addition to his published written social and political commentary in publications such as The Guardian and Al Jazeera. His work has been exhibited in group exhibitions worldwide.

General Images from the Workshop

The American University of Kuwait held its semi-annual President's Honor Roll and Dean's Honor List ceremony to celebrate the accomplishments of top student achievers. The ceremony was held in the AUK Auditorium, where AUK President and college deans presented students with awards for their achievements in different categories. The event was attended by parents, faculty members, university staff and students.

The ceremony commenced with opening remarks from President Sullivan, in which he expressed his pride in celebrating the academic achievements of AUK's top students, "The University is proud of ALL of our students, for what they have achieved and for what they will do in the future. Tonight, however, we are honoring students for particularly high academic accomplishments. Tonight, we applaud 121 students for their academic excellence, and it gives us a great sense of pride to recognize every one of them. In a few years, or maybe months, this group of students will start their careers or pursue graduate studies. I am sure they will continue to be the top in any walks of life because they genuinely want to make a difference. Congratulations to all."

Top achieving students from the different categories were called to accept their awards from President Sullivan and the college deans.

26 students were awarded a place on the President's Honor Roll by the President, a high distinction exclusively awarded to those who maintained a 4.0 GPA for the term, while 121 students were recognized for achieving the Dean's Honor List; a distinction awarded by the College Deans to students who maintained a minimum GPA of 3.7. Dr. Ali Charara, Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences (CAS), and Dr. Ralph Palliam, Dean of the College of Business & Economics (CBE) presented the recipients with their awards.

President's Honor Roll Awardees

Dean's Honor List Awardees

College of Arts & Sciences

College of Business & Economics

The Department of Music and Drama at AUK presents next week the musical West Side Story. A modern-day Romeo and Juliet set in New York City, West Side Story pits two rival gangs in a territory battle exploring themes of love, hate, and belonging. West Side Story's soaring melodies, tense turf wars, and touching love story have ensured its legacy as one of the world's most popular musicals. You'll be sure to be humming its award-winning music long after the show is over. AUK students will perform the show with accompaniment from a professional faculty orchestra. The show is directed by Dr. Yasmine Jahanmir, with musical direction by Anna Karadimitrova.

The shows will take place at the Auditorium of the American University of Kuwait, Salmiya Campus at the following dates:

• 13 December 2pm

• 14 & 15 December 7pm

• 16 December 3pm

Show Synopsis: The Jets are the top gang in this little corner of New York's west side. However, The Sharks, a gang comprised of recent immigrants from Puerto Rico, have started to invade the Jets home turf. Despite the tense atmosphere, a romance blossoms at the dance between the teenagers, Tony and Maria, each unknowing that they belong to opposite gangs. Their love increases the drama between the two gangs. Knives are drawn and bullets fly as this timeless story comes to its tragic end.

Director Biography: Dr. Yasmine Jahanmir is an Assistant Professor of Drama at the American University of Kuwait and has directed, choreographed, acted, stage managed and performed as a professional synchronized swimmer in NYC, California, and Arizona. Some favorite productions include: Three Sisters Who Are Not Sisters by Gertrude Stein, Come and Go by Samuel Beckett, Venus by Suzan-Lori Parks and The Servant of Two Masters by Carlo Goldoni. She holds a PhD in Theater and Performance Studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara.

The winning collection will be translated into English and French

AUK hosted events for the second cycle of AlMultaqa Prize for Arabic Short Story that ran from the 4th to 5th of December.

The events commenced with an award ceremony where Syrian author Shahla Al-Aujaili was declared winner of the second cycle. The ceremony started with a short video that showed how the AlMultaqa Prize came to be and what it aims to achieve in the Arabic literary world. AlMultaqa founder Mr. Taleb Al-Rifae stated in the video, "Kuwait is proud to support the art of Arabic short story writing, and be the landmark for all Arab authors to meet every year in celebration of this craft." During his opening remarks in the ceremony, Al-Rifae credited the tremendous support of the Minister of the Amiri Diwan Affairs, Sheikh Nasser Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah for highlighting the AlMultaqa Prize within the Arabic literary culture. Al-Rifae also stated, "I hope that the celebration of the Prize's second cycle will further solidify its integrity within both Arabic and foreign literary cultures since the winning collections will also be translated into multiple languages." Al-Rifae concluded his speech by thanking AUK and Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences (KFAS) for supporting the art of Arabic literature.

Head of the AlMultaqa judging panel Dr. Hassan Al-Naami also gave a speech during the ceremony where he remarked, "The judges need to face a challenge in evaluating each story, and that challenge was achieved where each individual story was unique, and the search to find a common thread within the collection was intellectually stimulating." Al-Naami also announced Shahla Al-Aujaili as the winner of the second cycle for AlMultaqa Prize for her short story collection entitled ‘Sareer Bint Almalek', published by Thafaf.

The remainder four shortlisted authors were also honored during the ceremony with certificates and small trophies presented by AUK President Dr. Tim Sullivan, Mr. Taleb Al-Rifae and Dr. Hassan Al-Naami.

After receiving her award, winning author Shahla Al-Aujaili thanked AUK, the AlMultaqa Prize and the judges for reading and holding her collection in such high regard as a piece of literature that awakens both our emotional and intellectual psyches. She also stated, "As a woman, I hope that this win will reaffirm our presence in literature throughout history."

Among the events of the second cycle of AlMultaqa prize is a literary forum that was held on the 5th of December where all 5 finalist authors discussed their collections along with a lecture entitled, ‘Arabic Literature and Translation'. Participants of the forum included Farouq Merdem Bek, Dr. Saeed Binkrad, and moderated by writer Mohammed Khudair.

About AlMultaqa Prize
AlMultaqa Prize was launched in December, 2015 as a joint initiative by the Cultural Circle's Founder and Manager, Mr. Taleb Al-Rifae and the American University of Kuwait to promote and encourage writers to pursue and master the art of writing Arabic short stories. In its first year, AlMultaqa received 189 entries from all around the Arab world. In its second year, AlMultaqa entries reached a total of 239 short story collections. Every year, the author of the winning short story receives USD 20,000 (Twenty Thousand US dollars), a trophy and a certificate of recognition, as well as a grant towards the translation of the prize-winning short story into English.  


Mr. Taleb Al-Rifae, Founder of AlMulataqa Prize for Arabic Short Story


Dr. Hassan Al-Naami, Head of the AlMultaqa Prize Judging Panel


AlMultaqa Prize Second Cycle Winner Shahla Al-Aujaili


Author Shahla Al-Aujaili addressing the audience after her win


AlMultaqa Prize Second Cycle Winner Shahla Al-Aujaili


Winning author Shahla Al-Aujaili receiving her award
From Left: AlMultaqa Founder Taleb Al-Refae, winning author Shahla Al-Aujaili, AUK President Dr. Tim Sullivan, Head of the AlMultaqa Prize Judgine Panel Dr. Hassan Al-Naami


Shortlisted author Tamim Hunaidy receiving his trophy and certificate from President Sullivan
From Left: AlMultaqa Founder Taleb Al-Rifae, Shortlisted author Tamim Hunaidy , AUK President Dr. Tim Sullivan


Shortlisted author Mahmoud Al-Rahby receiving his trophy and certificate from President Sullivan
From Left: AlMultaqa Founder Taleb Al-Rifae, Shortlisted author Mahmoud Al-Rahby, AUK President Dr. Tim Sullivan


Shortlisted author Louay Hamzah Abbas receiving his trophy and certificate from President Sullivan
From Left: AlMultaqa Founder Taleb Al-Rifae, Shortlisted author Louay Hamzah Abbas, AUK President Dr. Tim Sullivan, Winner Shahla Al-Aujaili


MC Esraa Al-Johar addressing the audience during the ceremony


Audience members standing for the Kuwaiti National Anthem


Group photo of shortlisted authors with the judges


Images From the 2nd Day Cultural Events


Images From the 2nd Day Cultural Events


Images From the 2nd Day Cultural Events

The AlMultaqa Short Story Prize will celebrate the end of its second cycle by announcing the winner in a ceremony held at the American University of Kuwait on Monday 4th of December, 2017. The following are the finalists who are up for the final prize:

Head of the judging committee Dr. Hassan Al-Na’mi, will announce the winner during the ceremony; the winner will receive a cash prize of $20,000 (USD), a trophy, and certificate in addition to having the winning collection translated to English for further publication. The remainder shortlisted authors will each receive a cash prize of $5,000 (USD), a trophy, and a certificate.

AUK will also host a series of literary forums on Tuesday 5th of December, 2017 entitled, “Arabic Literature and Translation” in which Farooq Merdem Bek, head of Dar Akt Sood publishing house—the first publishing house in France to publish Arabic books, literary critic Dr. Saeed Binkrad, and Iraqi author Mohammed Khudair will be in attendance. All shortlisted authors will also provide personal testimonies for each of their collections that were submitted for the prize.

The table below shows the agenda for the AlMultaqa Prize Second Cycle ceremony and literary forum:

All events mentioned in the agenda are open to the public and will be held on the University campus. Discussions will be conducted in Arabic, with translation available.

Event Schedule
Click on the image for a PDF download

AUK's IRC and AUKAUSE club members Rashed Sulaiman, Yousef al Ajmi, Bandar Al Enezi, Homoud Ben Naser, Taif Al Bahar and Rawan Al Daihani recently attended the fourth Volunteering Youth Forum which was held in Doha, Qatar, in October 2017. Representing Kuwait and AUK, the students showcased their community service initiatives amongst university delegates from Qatar and Oman.
 
The Forum, held annually by Qatar University, is one of the most highly regarded university volunteer forums in the area. Featuring several prominent community service representatives and media figures, the forum includes panel discussions, workshops and presentations by participants and guest speakers.
 
Dean of Student Affairs, Dr. Hanan Muzaffar acknowledged the students’ participation in the Forum and stressed on the importance of student engagement in community services, “We at AUK are honored to represent Kuwait at forums of this scale and influence. We look forward to continuing our community service journey and volunteer initiatives at AUK. This reflects our commitment to supporting Kuwait’s youth and future generations in becoming more consciously aware and lending a helping hand in as many volunteer and community service initiatives as possible,” she said.  

The group of AUK students that attended the forum have returned inspired to make a change and to participate in more community service initiatives, with new tools and techniques gained at the forum.

Left to right - Bandar - Razan

Left to right - Homoud - Bandar - Rashed - Yousef

Left to right- Rashed - Bandar - Taif - Jayda - Razan - Homoud - Yousef

Left to Right - Homoud - Yousef - Taif - Razan - Bandar

Two AUK Teams are expected to compete this week in the 2017 Arab Collegiate Programming Contest (ACPC) which is organized and conducted yearly under the auspices of The Association of Computing Machinery (ACM). The contest, which will take place in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt will bring together teams of university students from all over the Arab world. Winning teams will fly to Beijing in April, 2018 to represent their countries in the world finals.

Teams "Syndicate-AUK" and "Great Coders-AUK" qualified to the competition last October by winning 2nd and 7th position in the local round of the competition (ACM-KCPC) held at Gulf University for Science and Technology (GUST). The teams were coached by Dr. Iyad Doush and Dr. Mounib Khanafer.

During the actual competition, each team-comprising of three students using one computer-will be given a set of programming questions to answer within a five-hour period. Winners are determined by the number of correct answers submitted in C++ or Java program during the shortest period of time. The AUK teams have been preparing for the finals and honing their skills by solving different sets of programming problems.

The ACM programming contest provides college students an opportunity to demonstrate and sharpen their problem solving and computing skills. The contest is a multi-tiered competition among teams of students representing institutions of higher education. The winning teams of the national contests advance to the regional contests, and the winning teams of the regional contests advance to the contest finals. This year marks the 5th time that AUK has participated in the regional competition.

The two teams representing AUK and Kuwait this week in the competition are:

1. Syndicate-AUK : Batool Hasan, Ali Kelkawi, and Yara El Quorashy.
2. Great Coders-AUK: Abdulaziz Karam, Ahmad Khalifa, and Anwar Asad.

AUK wishes its teams all the best in the 2017 ACM Arab Collegiate Programming Contest (ACM-ACPC). 

AUK teams in local rounds

The Center for Gulf Studies (CGS) at AUK invited Dr. Shafeeq Ghabra, Professor of Political Science at Kuwait University and founding President of the American University of Kuwait, to address the Gulf Crisis and how it is influencing the current regional geopolitical situation. The lecture was held on Tuesday, 7 November, 2017, in the AUK Auditorium and was open to the members of the AUK community and the public.

 In his talk, Dr. Ghabra discussed some factors that are affecting the region, such as the need to correctly define "terrorism", the separation of militant groups from the Muslim Brotherhood, and the accessibility to instant information through the internet and media. "You ended up asking what the definition of terrorism is. It doesn't reside in an entire group, rather in radical factions. You cannot exile an entire group of people from politics and society. You have to let them participate in elections, you cannot decide that yourself from a high position of power because then you are creating a humanitarian issue." Around the world the evolution of technology and the media impacted not only everyday life, but the political realm, "The world has changed, people talk and discuss. There is the internet and television; there is no way to control all of these channels for the spread of information," he added.

 Mohammad Al-Awadi, CGS Program Coordinator, described the Center's inaugural event as a success. "Speaker, Dr. Ghabra, addressed the audience on his perspective regarding the Gulf Crisis and brought an anecdotal approach to his analysis by sharing his experience living in Qatar in the midst of the crisis," he explained.

 Dr. Shafeeq Ghabra has been a Professor of Political Science at Kuwait University since 1987. He is the former founding President of the American University of Kuwait (2003-2006). He also served as the Director of the Kuwait Information office in Washington DC from 1998 to 2002, and the Director of the Center of Strategic Studies at Kuwait University (2002-2003). Dr. Ghabra earned his BA from Georgetown, MA from Purdue University, and his PhD from the University of Texas Austin.