SWAG��Ƶ

Anouar Majid, Ph.D., associate provost for global initiatives and director of the SWAG��Ƶ Center for Global Humanities, provides commentary for a documentary film titled “Desert in the Coffeehouse” by Dr. Pamela Nice, Center for Faculty Development, University of St. Thomas. The film was aired on Twin Cities Public Televison, St. Paul, Minn., on March 19, 2011 and is scheduled to air again on April 25th.

This film has two basic themes: What do Americans think about the Middle East, and do they see America as an empire? Nice interviewed about 100 people in more than 20 coffee shops across the Twin Cities for this 30-minute film. It has been shown in film festivals across the United States, and in Germany, Canada, Australia and Amman, Jordan, as well as in screenings in Cairo, Egypt, and Fes, Morocco.

In a St. Thomas press release, Majid explains that "almost a decade after 9/11, and after numerous publications and films, I have yet to see a documentary that matches Pamela Nice’s treatment of Americans’ perceptions of Arabs, Islam and the Middle East. By allowing average Minnesotans to voice their opinions, Nice’s ‘Desert in the Coffeehouse’ brings America’s mainstream views – unedited and without embellishments – into focus and lets us wrestle with our prejudices and hopes.”