I hope you all had a lovely and enjoyable Eid weekend. The weather was certainly in our favor, so I hope some of you were able to get outdoors as well. This year, the Muslim Student Union (MSU), Office for Religious Life (ORL), and the Markaz planned special activities to commemorate Eid, including care packages for students and families living on campus, several campus locations chalked with Eid messages (pictures included below), and a photo booth at the White Plaza. We hope those who were able to participate enjoyed themselves, and that we can celebrate the next Eid together in person. Eid Mubarak!
Sincerely,
Abiya Ahmed
Associate Dean & Director, The Markaz Resource Center
AFTERZOOM CHAI: EID LETTER WRITING! Tuesday, May 26 at 3:30 PM PST
This week at AfterZoom Chai, come join us for an opportunity to write your Eid Mubarak letters for your friends all over the country (albeit late letters). We will be providing prompts, inspiration, and great company as we all write to our loved ones! Join in for a relaxing and thoughtful break this week 8! See you there :) Zoom link here.
NEWS FROM AROUND CAMPUS
ALIMIRE & VO ELECTED ASSU EXECUTIVES
Congratulations to Munira Alimire ’22 and Vianna Vo ’21 who were elected to be the next Associated Students of Stanford University (ASSU) executives in results announced on Friday! Read the full article here.
SHELTERING AT STANFORD
As borders closed and stay-at-home orders were imposed in response to COIVD-19, Stanford's international undergrads, including Markaz community members Nadin Tamer, Nour Mary Aissaoui, and Nesrine Mbarek were faced heightened uncertainty. Read more about how their experiences and reflections on navigating sheltering at Stanford and adjusting to their new normal.
GRADUATE SCHOLAR AWARD: CALL FOR NOMINATIONS
In partnership with the Vice Provost from Graduate Education (VPGE), the Markaz is excited to open nominations for the Markaz Graduate Scholar Award. This award recognizes and honors the contributions of a current graduate student who, in addition to demonstrating excellence in academic and intellectual achievement, has served as a community mentor and role model, inspiring other grad students and/or undergrads. The student can be in any year of their graduate program, in any of the seven schools, excluding co-terms. Submit your nomination here.
UPCOMING MARKAZ EVENTS
MARKAZ CREATIVE WRITING WORKSHOP: Thursday, May 28 at 4 PM PST
This Creative Writing Workshop led by Shah Noor Hussein creates a dynamic space for utilizing liberatory pedagogies and creative inquiry to support storytelling in a collaborative and brave-safe environment. This space will engage with the critical thinking and black feminist origin of Octavia Butler to aid attendees in developing their writing skills through free-writing activities to help channel their creativity. They will learn constructive, effective methods for critiquing and improving their art practices via experiential learning. We will include activities such as meditation, collective readings, free writing, group discussions, art critique sections, and one-on-one peer review. RSVP here.
SENIOR SPOTLIGHT: Saturday, May 30 at 1 PM PST
Join us for this week's Senior Spotlight! Leenah is a senior from Khobar, Saudi Arabia, studying Symbolic Systems (HCI) and minoring in History. RSVP here.
COMMUNITY CREATIVE ARCHIVE: NEW SELECTIONS
SUBMIT TO THE COMMUNITY CREATIVE ARCHIVE: We are accepting poems, visual art, music, and essays on themes of home, explorations of physical and digital space, and otherwise thinking on community in times of quarantine. Submissions added to the digital Markaz website will receive a $50 gift card. SHARE YOUR SUBMISSION!
derbeke by Ryan Choeb
"a poem about learning how to catch your breath again and learning how to breathe when you forget"
To preserve its artistic impact, this poem has been posted in full to the archive. Read here.
Ryan is a sophomore prospectively majoring in Biology. (IG@artbyreyan)
detachment theory by Dana Chiueh
"written in the thick of uncertainty at the end of winter quarter. I was thinking a lot about my attachments to spaces and their attachments to me, and connections forged that stay with us whether or not we want them to."
To preserve its artistic impact, this poem has been posted in full to the archive. Read here.
Dana is a freshman. (IG@danachewy)
VIRTUAL COMMUNITY RESOURCES
OFFICE HOURS WITH DR. RANIA AWAAD
The Office of Religious Life is sponsoring 1:1 zoom sessions with Dr. Rania Awaad to discuss anything you would like. In previous years, students have used these confidential sessions to discuss self-care, mental wellbeing, spiritual life questions, life-study-activism balance as some examples. The ORL encourages you to make use of this time-limited opportunity to check-in! There are 6 slots available per week, click hereto sign up for a session.
TELEHEALTH SESSIONS WITH DR. DAKWAR
Book a 30-minute appointment between 3:15 - 4:45 PM on Thursdays with Dr. Enas Dakwar. These telehealth sessions are designed to provide all members of the Markaz Community, wherever you are, with support. Due to legal restrictions, zoom video will be provided for students within the state of California. If you are out of state or country, only zoom audio will be provided.
MARKAZ STAFF OFFICE HOURS ON ZOOM
Office hours are a time to hang out in the digital markaz with professional and student staff, check-in, and be with community. Come by and chat about ideas for the Markaz, classes, family or whatever is on your mind! Zoom link here. Find more information on the meet the staff section of our website.
COMMUNITY OPPORTUNITIES
May is Mental Health Awareness Month! This month is an opportunity for people to come together as a community, reflect on our mental health, and help ourselves and loved ones access the care they need. During this especially trying time, taking moments to learn more about mental health and ways to support each other can be unbelievably impactful. Whether you’re helping to destigmatize seeking help, supporting a friend, or exploring what mental health means to you, Mental Health Awareness Month is an opportunity to reprioritize our mental health and well-being. Upcoming mental health and well-being events can be found here. Educational videos for CAPS here.
Depictions of Disability in Bollywood: Music. Song. Dance. This is what Bollywood means to so many. Yet in a genre so dominated by song and lip-syncing, how is deafness portrayed? How do standard forms of Hindi cinema shift when the protagonist is deaf? Join on Saturday, May 30th at 1:00 pm PST for a discussion with Dr. Roanne Kantor, Assistant Professor of English. Drawing from clips from Barfi! and Koshish, Professor Kantor will discuss how the challenge of a deaf protagonist informs the dialogue, normative family structures, and song sequences of Bollywood films. Register at this link if you would like to attend.
Take a class on Contemporary Islam and Muslims in America over the summer: What is really going on for American Muslims in a post 9/11, Trump-era America? How are they managing their identities and commitment? What role do racial and gender dynamics, ideological differences, and politics play in this process? This course (RELIGST 26S), taught by Abiya Ahmed, will explore these questions (and more) and help develop a critical perspective on the American Muslim experience, particularly as a case of how one diverse religious community negotiates religion in a complex sociopolitical setting.
A NOTE ON MARKAZ EVENTS
During Spring quarter, Markaz events will continue to be ways that we learn, engage and relax together. We know that we are a diverse and global community, however, for consistency, all events will be scheduled on PST. We hope that you will be able to join us as much as you can. We recognize that this will be most difficult for our international students and ask that you please let us know what times would be best for alternate events.
For all students, help us plan events that are meaningful to you by taking a few minutes to complete this form.
