The Kahlil Gibran Chair for Values and Peace
at the Center for Heritage Resource Studies
The University of Maryland

Interim Report
November 2006

Essays on the Alliance of Civilizations

In support of the UN initiative, the Alliance of Civilizations, Professor Suheil Bushrui (University of Maryland) and Professor David Cadman (The Temenos Academy) will serve as general editors of a series of papers to be published under the auspices of the Center for Heritage Resource Studies at the University of Maryland.

The editors inaugurated the series—Essays on the Alliance of Civilizations—with a paper by His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales entitled “Religion: The Ties That Bind,” published with his gracious permission. Subsequent essays will be released approximately every six months.

Lebanon’s Dialogue with the West: Ameen Rihani and Arab Civilization

On June 7, 2006, Professor Bushrui delivered a lecture on Ameen Rihani and East-West relations organized by the Ameen Rihani Institute and American University’s Center for Global Peace.

Professor Bushrui addressed many themes in the lecture which are highly relevant to our increasingly globalized world, including inter-religious reconciliation, inter-cultural dialogue, and the role of literature and the arts in producing understandings that lead to peace. In particular, the address offered a discerning résumé of the life and work of Ameen Rihani.

Meeting of the Kahlil Gibran International Advisory Board

On June 14, 2006, members of the Kahlil Gibran International Advisory Board met at the Harrington Hall Hotel in London. At that meeting, the January 2006 Interim Report was distributed and discussed as well as plans for the completion of the endowment of the Kahlil Gibran Chair for Values and Peace at the University of Maryland.

The Enduring Legacy of Kahlil Gibran

On June 19, 2006, at the Temenos Academy of London, Professor Bushrui delivered a lecture in honor of the seventy-fifth anniversary of the passing of Kahlil Gibran entitled “The Enduring Legacy of Kahlil Gibran.” In addition to Professor Bushrui’s commemorative address, the evening, organized by the Temenos Academy and the British Lebanese Association, featured a special tribute to Kathleen Raine and readings by Tom Durham from The Essential Gibran (Oxford: Oneworld), due later this year and edited by Professor Bushrui.

 

Walenstadt, Switzerland: International Seminar 2006

From July 8-15, 2006 Professor Bushrui participated in the annual seminar organized by the International Academy for Human Sciences and Culture in association with the Center for Heritage Resource Studies. This year’s theme was entitled, “Unity in Diversity as a Foundation for Peace and Security.” As a featured speaker, Professor Bushrui delivered lectures on a number of topics including: “The State of the World,” “The Role of Education,” and “The Ethics of Globalization.”

Arab-American Historical Foundation (Los Angeles, California)

The Arab-American Historical Foundation has invited Professor Bushrui to speak at the first Arab-American History Conference on October 21, 2006 in Los Angeles. Professor Bushrui has been asked to present a paper on the Arab-American literary heritage.

“Min Ajl Loubnan” Task Force

On October 29, 2006, a select group of individuals from the Lebanese-American community were invited by Professor Bushrui for a special dinner meeting. At that meeting, plans were discussed for laying the foundations of programs in universities to promote and disseminate the work and thought of Ameen Rihani and Kahlil Gibran.

Sultan Qaboos University (Muscat,Oman)

From March 21-22, 2007, Professor Bushrui has been officially invited to serve as a plenary keynote speaker at the first international conference held by the English Department (College of Arts), Sultan Qaboos University, Oman. The title of the conference is “Building Bridges: Integrating Language, Linguistics, Literature and Translation in Pedagogy and Research.”

International Association for the Study of the Life and Works of Kahlil Gibran

The International Association for the Study of the Life and Works of Kahlil Gibran was established on the 10th of April 2006 - the seventy-fifth anniversary of the passing of Kahlil Gibran, with Professor Suheil Bushrui as the Founder-President.

A legally constituted Steering Committee, whose main function is to prepare for theFirst Annual General Meeting sometime in the near future, will soon be formed. The Poet Henri Zoghaib, Director of the Center for Lebanese Heritage, has been invited to act as Co-Coordinator with special responsibilities for Lebanon and the Arab world.

Enthusiastic responses to the announcement of this initiative were received immediately and individuals in Australia, France, Italy and throughout the Arab world have expressed their eagerness to join and support the Association.

PUBLICATIONS

The Essential Gibran. Compiled by Suheil Bushrui. Oxford: Oneworld, December 2006.
A volume of selected passages representative of Gibran’s style and thought, The Essential Gibran has been compiled to commemorate the seventy-fifth anniversary of the passing of Kahlil Gibran.

The Prince Speaks: Selected Speeches of His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales. Edited by Suheil Bushrui and David Cadman. The University of Maryland: Center for Heritage Resource Studies, 2006.

Gibran on Love. Compiled by Suheil Bushrui. Oxford: Oneworld, February 2007.
Designed to reach a wide readership, this special anthology which covers the different aspects of love that Gibran refers to in his works, will have 20,000 copies printed and distributed as part of Oneworld Publications’ St. Valentine’s Day project.

al-Amir Yattahadath [The Prince Speaks], a selection of the speeches of His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, translated into Arabic by Suheil Bushrui. The University of Maryland: Center for Heritage Resource Studies, 2007.

The Spiritual Heritage of the Human Race. Suheil Bushrui and Mehrdad Massoudi. Oxford: Oneworld, 2006.
In addition to being a comprehensive survey of the divine and non-divine
spiritual traditions of humanity, represented as a prolegomena and foundation for interfaith studies, the book also serves as the main textbook for the University of Maryland Honors Course under the same title.