Past Seminar Participant Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |

April 17-21, 2006, Seminar Participants

Younés Abouyoub

Younés is completing his Ph.D. at Denis Diderot University-Paris VII and Columbia University, writing about Arab-Americans and US foreign policy. He has a Masters in Sociology of Power/Political Sociology from Denis Diderot University, Paris and a Master's Degree in English and North American Literature from the University Hassan II in Casablanca. He has served as an interpreter for the UN and other multinational organizations, and has translated numerous articles for entities and publications in Europe.

Omar Brian Abou-Samra

From 2004-2006, Omar was a Reporting Officer with the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). He is an attorney who interned with Justice Steven Z. Perren, California Court of Appeal, Second District, Division Six, in Ventura, CA, and has a JD from Santa Clara University, School of Law. He also has a Bachelors degree from Emory University in Atlanta, GA.

Lorraine Ali

Lorraine is a distinguished journalist who writes about culture and entertainment for Newsweek magazine. Prior to joining Newsweek, she was a senior critic for Rolling Stone, a music columnist for the Los Angeles Times and Mademoiselle and a regular contributor to GQ Magazine, and has also written for The New York Times, The Village Voice, Entertainment Weekly, Harper's Bazaar and US magazine. She was voted 1997's Music Journalist of the Year. In 1996, she won Best National Feature Story honors at the Music Journalism Awards.

Kenwah Dabaja

Kenwah is an attorney serving in the Law Offices of James C. Thomas, P.C. in Detroit, MI. She has a JD from the University of Detroit - Mercy School of Law, and a BA in Business Administration from the University of Michigan, Dearborn. She has been active in Arab-American issues in Michigan, including as a Board member of the Arab American Institute- National Policy Council.

John Gareeb

John is founder and Managing Director of Kalene Industries Inc., an international investment and export company. Prior to establishing Kalene, he was Marketing Manager, Middle East/North Africa Division for ConAgra Inc., a major multinational corporation. He has served as a political advisor to former US Senator Spencer Abraham, and senior international advisor to former New Jersey Governor Christine Whitman. He has considerable media and political experience, and has been an Arab-American grassroots activist for many years.

Amy Joseph

Amy is a professional photographer based in North Carolina. Her work can be viewed on her website, www.amyjoseph.com. She is currently working on a documentary project on the Lebanese American community, starting with her own family.

Rana Kazkaz

Rana is a noted actress/writer/producer in the theater and other parts of the entertainment industry. She is currently developing a feature film entitled "Gibran," about the life of Khalil Gibran, which is already an official selection of the Tribeca Film Festival and the Royal Film Commission/Sundance Screenwriter Lab. She has produced and appeared in numerous productions including "Closet Land," "Venus," "Unexpected Journeys," and "Imagine: Iraq." Her work has been the subject of numerous articles and a book chapter, and she has been interviewed by media around the world, including "Late Night with Conan O'Brien." She has a Masters of Fine Arts degree from Carnegie Mellon University/Moscow Art Theater and a BA from Oberlin College.

Past Seminar Participant Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |