WEST PLAINS, Mo. – The silk is spun and the spices ground in advance of a special community event the evening of Feb. 25 that will serve as the capstone for the February Film Series hosted annually by the University/Community Programs (U/CP) Department at Missouri State University-West Plains.
“Journey Through the Mideast and Central Asia” is a free reception that will feature ethnic food and a fashion show highlighting traditional attire from these two regions on loan from community members. The traditional clothing, including many items from India, Afghanistan, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Oman, will be modeled by students in the William and Virginia Darr Honors Program at Missouri State-West Plains.
“When we first came up with this idea, we didn’t know how many pieces of traditional attire we’d be able to track down and borrow,” said Jennifer Moore, coordinator of theater and events for the U/CP Department. “Amazingly, we’ve located stunning silk gowns, intricate beadwork and even a burqa like those worn by Afghani women we see in the news – all coming from people living in West Plains and the surrounding area who have either worked or lived abroad. Their stories will be part of the presentation. It’s going to be a true community event.”
On the tasting menu will be vegetable samosas with a coriander and mint sauce (India and Pakistan), hummus and pita wedges (Arab world), Chicken Tikka (India), spiced potato fritters (Afghanistan), with hot masala chai tea and pomegranate juice to drink.
The reception will be held in the lobby of the West Plains Civic Center at 5:30 p.m. and will be immediately followed by the screening of the final film in this year’s series, “The Kite Runner,” rated PG-13, in the civic center theater at 6:30 p.m. Both events are free and open to the public.
“The film series committee chose the theme of ‘Central Asia and the Middle East’ for this year’s series based on the university’s selection for its Common Reader, which was The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini,” Moore said. “It’s been great to see the honors students get so excited about taking part in this. It’s a great educational opportunity for them, and for the rest of us, as well.”
Earlier in the day, the U/CP Department will host a book reading and Q and A session with Dr. Tarif Bakdash, a Syrian-American physician whose book, Inside Syria – A Physician’s Memoir: My Life as a Child, a Student, and an MD in an Era of War, recounts his experiences growing up in the country, becoming a physician in the United States and returning to the region to help refugees from his war-torn homeland. The free event, “Understanding Syria: A War Doctor’s Memoir,” will begin at 2 p.m. in the civic center theater and include the book’s co-author, Dr. W. D. Blackmon, head of the Department of English at Missouri State University in Springfield. The reading will be the world premiere signing event for the book.
Bakdash, who works for Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin, came to the U.S. to train as a neurologist at Harvard University and The Cleveland Clinic. He returns periodically to the Middle East on humanitarian missions to treat Syrian refugees displaced by the country’s civil war.
For more information about these and other events sponsored by the Missouri State-West Plains U/CP Department, call 417-255-7966 or visit the department’s website.