Team Us!

The Thieves and the Tree Trunk

Here's a story that was collected by a Qatar University student. It has been edited:

The Thieves and the Tree Trunk

Setting:

A popular café in Doha, Qatar in the pre-oil era. Captain Abdulrahman, and his friend, Captain Musaed bin Abdullah are in the café drinking coffee and talking.

Abdulrahman: Abo Abdullah, would you like to travel with me to India?

Musaed: I am sorry Captain Abdulrahman my friend, but I have a meeting with Kuwaiti traders, God willing.

Abdulrahman: I hope your meeting goes well. Do you want anything from India?

Musaed: I only wish for  you to return safely.

Abdulrahman: God bless you friend.

Musaed: How long will you be gone?

Abdulrahman: About two weeks. I’ll be meeting traders from Bombay and Calcutta.

As the friends chatted and played a traditional game [research what traditional game might have been played] two thieves were listening to their conversation without Abdulrahman and Musaed knowing.

First Thief: Did you hear what I heard?

Second Thief: Yes, I did!

First Thief: When Abdulrahman leaves for India will rob his house.

They both laugh evilly.

Setting: Captain Abdulrahman’s house. Abdulrahman and his wife Fatima are discussing his trip.

Fatima: How can you leave me alone for so long? My parents are away on a pilgrimage, who will I turn to for help? I am a just soft, weak woman. Please do not leave me alone.

Abdulrahman: You are not alone, our daughter Dana is with you.

Fatima: But the house will be without a man, and I am afraid of thieves!

Abdulrahman: Don’t worry Fatima, I can be her,e and in India at the same time.

Fatima: What are you talking about? How can you be here and in India at the same time?

Abdulrahaman: (Lauging) Come to the yard with me and I will show you.

Abdulrahman leads Fatima to an old tree trunk standing in the middle of the yard.

Abdulrahman: Fatima, do you see this tree trunk?

Fatima: Yes, of course I see it.

Abdulrahman: This is the man of the house until my return. This tree trunk will protect you.

Fatima: This tree trunk? How will this old tree trunk protect me?

Abdulrahman: Bring my ghutra and thob and I will show you.

Fatima brings the clothing. Abdulrahman puts the thobe and ghutra on the tree trunk.

Abdulrahman: There! If thieves come they will think there is a man standing in the yard and they will stay away.

Fatima: Bless you husband, come back safely from your travels.

Setting: It is night, Abdulrahman has left for India. The thieves are at the wall around Abdulrahman’s house. The first thief is peeking through a hole in the wall.

First Thief: Are you sure he has left?

Second Thief: Yes, I am positive. He is gone!

First Thief: Then tell me, how can be gone and also be standing in his yard?

The second thief pushes the first thief aside and looks through the hole.

Second Thief: How can this be? His trip must have been delayed. We will come back tomorrow.

The thieves go to Abdulrahman’s house every night for 2 weeks. Every night they see him standing in the yard so they leave.

Setting: The vegetable souq. Fatima is talking to her friend Mariam while shopping for vegetables. The thieves are lurking nearby and listen in on the conversation.

Mariam: Fatima, how are you not afraid with your husband so far away?

Fatima: My husband is very clever. He dressed a tree trunk in a thobe and ghutra so thieves would believe that there is a man standing in the yard.

Mariam: Your husband truly is a wise man!

First Thief: Did you hear that!? We have been fooled by a tree trunk!

Second Thief: We’ll the trick ends now!

Setting: The next night. The Thieves are standing next to the tree trunk.

First Thief: Well, hello man of the house. What do you have to say for yourself now?

Second Thief: You are not so scary now, are you Mr. Tree Trunk?

The thieves start kicking and hitting the tree trunk, laughing and carrying on.

Abdulrahman runs into the yard and begins to beat the thieves.

First Thief: You! What are you doing here!?

Abdulrahman: I returned this morning. It seems my trunk man did his job!

Abdulrahman subdues the thieves and he and Fatima tie them up. Their daughter Dana looks on with pride. 

Story transcribed and translated by Aisha Al Obaidli, Qatar University
Edited by Patty Paine

Yet More!

Peter C. has nominated this project to participate in the student research exhibition on May 14-15. I'll have more details soon, but please let me know if you can participate in the event. I think it would be great to have at least 3 students at the event.

Graphic Novels in the Middle East

CAIRO: For the moment, the Arabic-language comics industry is still very small: the number of graphic novels originally written in Arabic (rather than translated from other languages) can almost be counted on one hand. However, that looks likely to change in the next few years, as writers and illustrators from the region are finding new creative outlets and developing comics as a popular art form, not only for YA readers, but increasingly for adults.

Comics Artists Convene in Cairo

Reflecting this emerging interest was the recent three-day workshop held in Cairo on comics and other books for teenage readers in Arabic, co-organized by the Goethe-Institut and the European Union-funded NGO Literature Across Frontiers. The workshop, titled “A Difficult Age: Books for Teenagers between 13 and 18 Years,” drew illustrators, writers, and children’s authors from across the Arab world. The organizers have already planned a second workshop this fall, scheduled for September 29-October 1.
Thirteen authors and illustrators from Egypt, Lebanon, the West Bank, and the UAE attended the workshop from June 23-25, where sessions were run by children’s authors Jukka Parkkinen of Finland, Fatima Sharafeddine of Lebanon, and Rui Zink of Portugal, as well as graphic novelist Barbara Yelin of Germany. One of the participants was Rania Amin, the Cairo-based author and illustrator of a popular series of illustrated children’s books featuring a girl named Farhana.
What Amin found most beneficial from the workshop was learning how to make “a graphically illustrated page so much more different and developed than the original text, and not merely a plain illustration of the text.” Amin described herself as “very much interested” in expanding into writing a graphic novel for teenagers and adults, and had already begun working on one before the workshop. As a child, she read a lot of comics, mentioning Tintin, Asterix, Lucky Luke, and Charlie Brown as favorites, “but what really got me interested in the world of comics were the stories I have started reading only recently as an adult, that were more serious in nature,” citing as influences a number of French- and English-language graphic novels, including Chris Ware’s Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth, Art Spiegelman’s Maus, Adrian Tomine’s Sleepwalk and Other Stories, Daniel Clowes’ Ghost World, Frederik Peeters’ Blue Pills, and Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis, which has been published in an Arabic edition.
Jana Traboulsi, a Beirut-based children’s books and comics illustrator (an example of whose work is displayed above), also credited “the work of more independent artists,” particularly from the major French comics publisher L’Association, rather than the comics she read as a child, for drawing her to comics. “There is definitely an audience for them among the youth,” she adds. “I think that readers are looking for works that talk about issues of concern locally, instead of being ‘imported,’ and are mainly looking for work of good quality.” The Goethe-Institut/Literature Across Frontiers workshop “allowed me to get a taste of a few writing narrative techniques — something I have no professional training in,” she points out, while allowing her to expand her network of contacts with like-minded artists and writers in the Arab world.
Another attendee, Egyptian children’s book author Amal Afify, credited the comics she read as a child for getting her interested in reading, which is why she thinks comics and graphic novels are crucial for younger readers: “they encourage them to read and enjoy books in today’s world where the internet and electronic games are taking over. In the Arab world we definitely don’t have enough of this type of publication. In general we have very few publications that area aimed at teenagers. It’s always either children’s books or books for adults.”
While comics have long been popular among children in the Arab world (two of the biggest series are the venerable “Mickey Mouse” and the Egyptian-based “Aladdin” comics), there is a new spark of interest in adult comics in the region. “In the last two years, there’s been a kind of synchronicity in Egypt, Lebanon, and Emirates for graphic novels,” says artist and writer Magdy El Shafee. In March, for example, the young Emirati author, Qais Sedki, won the prestigious Shaykh Zayed Book Award for his graphic novel Siwar al-Dhahab (Gold Ring), the first Arabic-language manga comic.

Samandal Inspires Others

Also participating in the Cairo workshop was one of the leaders of Lebanon’s growing field of comics authors, Fadi Baki (who goes by the moniker “the fdz”.) He is one of the publishers of the Beirut-based Samandal, which bills itself as “a multilingual comics magazine” with the aim of “produc[ing] a comic book revolution that will herald a new era of peace and understanding between cultures in the Middle East and the rest of the world.” On a more practical level, Baki and his co-editors see Samandal as “a showcase for comics we find interesting…We hope that this gallery will coalesce into a distinctive identity with serialized stories and returning artists and thus become a conduit between them and a wider public thirsty for comics that speak their realities.”
Baki cheekily describes himself as a product of “a childhood rife with comics, telly, and Nutella,” and like his co-editors, he is a graduate of the American University of Beirut. Samandal publishes comics in Arabic, French and English in each issue: with sections switching between left-to-right and right-to-left scripts, they hit upon the innovation of what they call a “flippy page” — a page instructing the reader to flip the magazine upside-down to continue reading the next section.
The magazine accepts submissions from all over the world, although the majority of writers tend to come from Lebanon and other Arab countries. Their audience is specifically adult: “Comics in the Middle East are still an undiscovered art that… is quickly lumped with kids’ reading. We hope that by publishing mature stories that can spark the imagination of adult readers we can turn comics into a popular medium in the region.”
A number of workshop participants mentioned Samandal as an influence and an inspiration: “As an illustrator,” says Jana Traboulsi, “it really is because of Samandal that I started drawing comics.” Magdy El Shafee calls Samandal “Fadi’s fascinating experiment,” one that “has taken an experimental dimension that doesn’t make it that easily accessible on the street, but it is very artistic, and includes a lot of talented people.”

Illustrations

Hi all :)

I just want to share this series of illustrations that I found. I think it has a nice story book feel to it.

Chapter One - Twenty Years, One Autumn

We're Famous!

Photo Shoot for Qatar Foundation Magazine Feature

Wednesday February 23rd. 1:30 in our workspace

Please be on time. Several seniors need to go to a meeting at 1:40 so we need to do this as quickly as possible.

Bloomsbury QF World Book Day

I found this web post from one of the QF emails we received. I think there is some good information regarding interest in children's book in the region. The article sites a few authors names and popular books from the UK that have had an international success.

Web Project that Records Qatari Stories

The below article is from Digital Qatar: http://www.digitalqatar.net/2011/01/17/recording-qatar’s-oral-history/


There is no question that the Qatar of today is shockingly different than the Qatar of 50 years ago, or even just 10 years ago. Yes, there was a Qatar well before the skyscrapers, giant malls and endless line of luxury cars, and the story of that Qatar is one that three driven, young Qatari college students want to capture for future generations.
Mariam Dahrouj, Sara Ibrahim Al-Khalfan and Shatha Hassan Farajallah, students at Qatar University recently presented their truly remarkable project, Swalif, to their classmates and some people from the community, including me. Swalif, which loosely means “every day stories” in Qatari Arabic, is an ambitious project that aims to record the oral stories of everyday Qataris who have lived through the country’s transformation, and then share these stories online through a clean, simple website. Already the website has more than 60 audio-stories featured from 12 different Qataris. They cover a wide range of compelling and often touching topics, including a woman’s reflections from her wedding day, an old man’s description of traditional pearl diving, and another woman’s account of the first time she wore a batula (a traditional veil or mask worn by some Muslim women). The Swalif Website: www.QatarSwalif.org
The three young women developed the website, designed the logo, conducted all the interviews and recording for the oral stories, and then edited and translated the stories. An incredible amount of work, and if this project is going to grow, they will certainly need some committed volunteers to help. If they can find away to enable people to contribute interviews through phone recordings or an online platform, I think it would help build the database greatly. As Swalif continues to develop, I would love to see the site incorporate some social media elements so the stories can be shared more easily and hopefully spread virally. It would also be great if there were videos of the actual interviews – facial expressions often add to a story – however the team was very honest about some of the cultural issues they faced in even getting people to agree to have their story recorded and shared. Swalif also seems like a perfect project to take advantage of Creative Commons. If all the oral stories are made available under a Creative Commons license that allows for reuse and remix, these stories could be woven into songs, movies, poetry and other forms of art, thus expanding their reach and bringing Qatar’s unique voice to even more people. I applaud Mariam, Sara and Shatha on their impressive start and hope they continue their work on Swalif. If you or a relative have a story to share, contact them. Encourage your parents and grandparents to lend their voice to this project and help create a truly rich platform that tells the incredible story of Qatar directly from those that have lived it. ___________________________________________________________________  


I think this project is fascinating, and is in a similar vein as our project. I wonder if there is a collaborative possibility here. Check out the site, and comment on what you think.

Interesting NYTimes Article

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/02/weekinreview/02wright.html?_r=1

Note that a professor at Parsons school of design is creating a course that studies the emergence of oral culture online.

This article gives a bit of explanation to my theory that perhaps Qatar leap-frogged the book and went straight into digital mode--digital social networking in some ways replicates an oral tribe situation. Fascinating!

Three names were mentioned that are worth looking up on the bibliographic trail: Lance Strate, Michael Wesch, and Irwin Chen.

Resources on the Oral Tradition

The link below is to the journal Oral Tradition. "Oral Tradition" is the academic field that aligns with our project. There are many variant fields within the study of oral cultures or societies, but "Oral Tradition" seems to come to the closest to our context and academic background.

See Wikipedia entry on "Oral Tradition:" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oral_tradition

Here is the link to the journal: http://journal.oraltradition.org/

Happy reading!

Transmitting Oral Culture to the Page: the Emergence of Innuit Children's Books

I read an interesting article this morning that discussed some of the ramifications of the transition of an oral to a print culture among the Inuits, who are the indigenous peoples of Northern Canada. The article is fairly short, but it offers some interesting comparison points for thinking about our project and reflecting on oral vs. print cultures.

"In the wake of the enormous shifts that have happened to Inuit society in the 20th century, the oral tradition has been dramatically undermined and as a consequence, the status of the book, still in its infancy, is rising as a conveyor of culture."

Though I believe that the first part of the sentence applies to Qatar, the second one is more problematic. In the wake of the seismic socio-cultural-economic shifts in Qatar over the course of the last century or so, is the book replacing orality as a conveyor of culture? From my own personal experiences (as an outsider, of course, with all the limitations, pre-conceptions and biases that apply--in short, my de-limiting cultural horizon), it seems to me that Doha has hippity-hopped over the codex as a modernizing phase of literacy and has dove right into the digital world. However, the transition from oral to print still holds. But isn't the medium the message as McLuhan taught us? It is not just about print, it is print consumed and composed in digital form.

Big, unanswerable, fundamental question: How do we know how much reading is actually being done by Qataris in Doha? And through which sort of mediums? Let's start with how much reading I actually witness in public by Qataris. If you compare the "cafe culture" of the U.S. and Qatar, then my conclusion is that there are significantly less Qataris reading in Qatar compared the places that I've lived or visited in the U.S. and in the U.K. Yet this is a very narrow way, fraught with biases, to measure the reading levels of an entire culture, because after all reading in a coffee shop is a type of "public reading," and it is public reading in a distinct sort of space, i.e. a certain style coffee shop located in certain parts of the city. My assumption developed in my own culture is that if I don't see many locals reading in public spaces, then that culture doesn't appear to value reading very much and consequently probably doesn't read all that much. But what if we ask: how much reading is going on privately rather than publicly? Or perhaps in public spaces that I do not tend to inhabit for one reason or another?

When one does think broadly and experientially about the reading behavior and patterns often witnessed in coffee shops that I do frequent, I see many Qataris either reading a newspaper or reading something on their phones or laptops. So, what am I to conclude? Well, all that I can conclude at the moment is that the few Qataris (always men, by the way) who do read in western-style coffee shops in Doha either read the newspaper or some other light reading material on their phones or laptops. Not much of a conclusion. I guess my point (and I lost the thread some time ago) is that I question the extent to which the traditional narrative progression of the phases of literacy applies to Doha. For the Inuits, modern communication meant going from from oral to print (i.e. book); for Qataris, my theory at the moment is that it has gone from oral to mostly digital. The transition from oral to print is still valid, but the form of print is different.

Another interesting bit of the article that prompted some reflection on our project: "Not only is the transition to print inevitable at this point in time, as a result of these dramatic changes, but ironically the book is the vehicle which will preserve and pass on the traditional stories to future generations of Inuit children as well as opening windows to a non-Inuit audience. How to transmit the oral culture to the page and retain its meaning and power is the fundamental challenge to Inuit writers. And then, how to create readers in a traditionally non-reading culture is the concurrent challenge that faces the Inuit in the contemporary reality of their altered society."

A couple points for cogitation here: I believe that part of the purpose of our project is to disseminate and make accessible these traditional oral stories to non-Qatari audiences. One of the problems in Doha currently is a definite lack of cross-cultural understanding between Qataris and Non-Qataris, and this gap is only going to widen as 2022 approaches. Also, the question of how to translate these stories into visual form without losing the power of their orality will also be interesting. The problem here, for me at least, is that I've never actually listened to these stories being told live and direct. This is a big problem. Must address somehow. Perhaps, perhaps . . . . could we set up a performance? An oral storytelling performance at VCUQatar? The stories could be told in Arabic, and non-Arabic speakers could wear head-phones and it could be translated, or not. Perhaps it would be cool to just watch these being told in Arabic. I might not understand the literal meaning of the sounds, but it would be fun to process everything else, extra-linguistic. Children, of course, would be the main audience, but students and adults could attend as well. Where do we find such willing performers? Qatari students: find them!!

The last bit of this quote equally applies to our project: how does one create a reading culture from the ground up? Tough to do, indeed. To engender reading in a non-reading culture.

Here are a few more quotes worth responding to in depth, but I'm just don't have enough time.

"For the Inuit though, the book must pale in comparison to the heady, almost sensual experience of oral storytelling. Compared to the power of a community gathering or an intimate telling while a blizzard rages outside, a book must seem like a static object that has little connection to the visceral experience."

"In the days of oral storytelling, the voice was like a wave, unique to each speaker, filled with the cadence of emotional nuance. The body was a gesture, a palpable visual articulation of meaning, and the environment was all consuming, holding the teller and the listener in its fold."

"If the voice is the vehicle, how does the story convey itself without it? If the relationship between storyteller and listener conveys meaning, how does the private act of reading affect the understanding of the story? If weather and time of day act to create atmosphere for the story, how can words on a page replace that context? These are the questions that oral cultures must struggle with as they move toward telling their stories in print."

Resources

As mentioned in the meeting, I think it will be important for the illustrations to explore different styles, on and off the computer, some more 'graphic' some more 'illustrative', colors, textures, flat, dimensional, collage, conceptual, realism, etc. As well has exploring the content (for example, a illustration of a car does not have to mimic a real car, but you can translate that image many ways using different techniques, cropping and details).

Here are some 'graphic design' based illustrators I have come across in the past and enjoy their work. Also, there are some links to various 'graphic' based illustrator resources.

Nicholas Blechman (Creator of Empire Nozone, I have a copy from the vcuq library)

Mc Sweeney's and specifically the Quarterly

Flashback (examples of 'graphic' illustrations in contemporary design, I have this if you want to look through it)

Secrets of Digital Illustration (good resource, I have it check out from the library)

Great Blog Resource (you can find 1000's of examples using the tags on the right side)

Another Resource of Illustrators on CargoCollective

Another great resource I found in our library is 'Will Eisner, Graphic Storytelling and Visual Narrative'. I currently have it checked, but plan to return it after break. You can find more info about the book here. The book focuses on the 'visual narrative' of everything you put on the page, similar to the semiotics of image making. For example, when you illustrate something as simple as a knife, it could be viewed as good or bad, belong to the hero or villain, used for killing, protection or cutting fruit. And when you put the knife for cutting fruit in the hands of the hero who accidentally kills someone... then a narrative comes to life. A night sky could be serine and beautiful or scary, depending on how you draw it, colors, texture, etc. I think it would be good to consider these aspects on a subconscious level when developing visual ideas.

Hamda and the Fairy Fish

Hamda and the Fairy Fish

Once upon a time, in a far away village, a fisherman lived in a house near the sea. He had one daughter named Hamda. Hamda’s mother died when she was very young, and soon after, her father married a woman who had two daughters of her own.

One day, Hamda brought her stepmother a basket of fish. The stepmother counted the fish and said to Hamda: “There are 7 fish in this basket. Go wash the fish and be sure to keep them all safe. Especially this one!” she said, while lifting the largest fish from the basket. “If anything happens to this fish I will beat you with a stick!”

Hamda went to the beach and began cleaning the fish. While she cleaned the fish Hamda cried softly because she missed her mother and hated her evil stepmother who treated her so cruelly. When she lifted the largest fish it wriggled in her hand. “Hamda…. Hamda…” The soft voice of a woman whispered into Hamda’s ears. When she realized that the whisper was coming from the fish Hamda jumped with fear. She was about to run away from the basket when the fish said. “Don’t run Hamda! Return me to the sea, and I will make you rich beyond your dreams. I will give you anything you wish for. Please don’t be afraid, Hamda. I am your friend.”

“But I am afraid of my stepmother,” Hamda replied. “She will beat me if I let you go.”

“Put me back in the water, and nothing will happen to you,” the fish promised. “Please, Hamda, help me.”

Hamda’s heart softened toward the poor fish so she put her back in the water. She watched her swim off until she disappeared in the waves. When she returned home her stepmother scolded her for losing the biggest fish and sent her away without lunch.

A few days later a woman came from the Sultan’s palace to invite them to a huge ball to be hosted by the Sultan. The stepmother told Hamda she would not be allowed to go to the ball. “But, I want to go to the ball,” Hamda cried!

“You cannot go you wretched child! You will stay and do all the chores while we go to the ball!”

On the day of the ball Hamda watched as her stepmother and stepsisters got ready. They put on their best jewels, and had their hands painted with henna. She begged her stepmother to let her go, but again her stepmother refused and said “How on earth could you go to the ball!? You don’t even have the proper clothes!”

Hamda ran to the beach and fell to the sand crying. Suddenly, the big fish appeared and asked Hamda why she was so sad. Hamda told the fish about the ball and how her terrible stepmother refused to let her go. The big fish called all her friends from the depths of the sea. Hamda smiled and laughed when she saw the marine creatures emerge from the sea holding jewels, perfumes, henna and beautiful clothes. They all ran up the beach and began to make her ready for the ball. They dressed her in a red traditional dress that was embroidered with golden stitches. Oysters popped open their shells to reveal the most beautiful pearls Hamda had ever seen. An octopus draped the pearls around Hamda’s neck, and hung them from her ears.  Then the biggest fish presented Hamda with a pair of gold slippers studded with precious jewels. As she put the slippers on Hamda’s feet she told her “ you must leave the party before it ends, you must get home before your stepmother, and no matter what happens, do not tell anyone your name. Do not forget what I have told you, Hamda!” Hamda promised she wouldn’t forget and ran off to the party.

When she arrived at the party she so impressed the women at the party with her jewels and beauty that they wondered who she was, and where she came from. [Although it’s not in the story, there should be a few frames of Hamda having a wonderful time at the party.] As she promised, just before the party ended, Hamda rushed to return home before her stepmother and sisters arrived. As she ran across the palace lawn near a pond her slipper flew from her foot and was lost in the pond.

The next morning, Nasser, the Sultan’s son sat down at the table to have breakfast and heard his parents talking about the party and about the beautiful girl with the gorgeous dress, jewels and slippers who no one knew. After breakfast he went into the yard and saw something sparkling at the bottom of the pond. He remembered what his parent’s said at breakfast and realized that the slipper must belong to the mysterious girl. He thought to himself “If it is God’s will, this girl will be my wife.”

After telling his parents his intentions, the sultan told one of the women in the palace to go search for the girl. He gave her the slipper and told her “the woman whose foot fits this slipper will be my son’s wife.” The woman took the slipper and went to look for the girl. She looked and she looked until there was but one house left in the country: the fisherman’s house on the shore.

When Hamda’s stepmother learned about the arrival of the woman from the Sultan’s palace she locked Hamda in the oven. The stepdaughters tried on the slipper, but it didn’t fit. Right before the woman from the Sultan’s palace left she heard a sound coming from the oven. She flung open the door and found Hamda. Despite the stepmother’s protests the woman slipped the shoe on Hamda’s foot. It fit perfectly.

The woman asked Hamda to be the wife of Nasser, the sultan’s son, and the wedding was the next day. Before the wedding Hamda went to the sea and thanked the biggest fish for everything she had done. As a final gift the biggest fish dressed Hamda in a spectacular green dress and gave her a basket of pearls.

Hamda and Nasser had a long, happy life together.

Story transcribed and translated by Kamam Al Ghanem, Qatar University
Edited by Patty Paine

UREP Time-Line

• Mid-Project Report Due: May 26th, 2011

• Final Project Report Due: January 31st, 2012

Meeting Agenda 2/14

From Orality to Image: Meeting Agenda

Monday: 1:30 t0 2:30

Third Floor Work Area

1. Role of the Mentors:

Patty, Jesse and Don will be involved in all aspects of the project, but each mentor will also have specific roles.

Jesse will:

• Document the process of creating the anthology.
• Place the project in a scholarly context.
• Edit the stories, and work with the students on defining the story’s meaning and narrative arc.

Patty will:

• Manage the grant 
• Document the process of creating the anthology
• Edit the stories, and work with the students on defining the story’s meaning and narrative arc.
• Place the project in a scholarly context

Don will:

• Serve as a consultant for the illustration process.

Michael has been kind enough to voluntarily help with this project. He will also serve as a consultant for the illustration process.

We will also ask other professors who are interested and willing to help as needed.

Mentoring Mission Statement: The UREP is meant to create a collegial relationship between the student scholars and mentors. As mentors we recognize that the mentor/student scholar relationship is different than the professor/student relationship. Our responsibility is to facilitate, not dictate, the student’s scholarly and creative activity. We recognize that as mentors we must support the decisions that the student scholars make.

2.  Current Progress: The Golden Cow:

• Where are we with this story?
• Discuss the process behind the work already done.

3. Future Strategy:

• Do we want to continue to work as a team to create the stories, or can we now have individuals working on individual stories?
• If we take a more individual approach, we can use the team methodology to calibrate how the individual work is progressing.
• Creative license

4. Identify students who are not currently involved in/interested in illustration.

5. Tasks for students not involved/interested in illustration.

• Collect more Qatari Oral Folktales (Jesse and I will also be collecting more stories in our classes)
• The more stories we have, the more choices we will have.

Research Tasks:

• Conduct research on graphic novels in the Middle East
• Conduct research on folk stories and comics/graphic novels
• Compile a list of books of and about graphic texts that we should have as a reference library

Please work with a library specialist to help facilitate your research

6. Time-Line:

• Possible time line: complete 3-4 stories to show BQ by June 15th. This would give BQ a chance to see what we're doing while still leaving plenty of time to for us to address their feedback/suggestions
• Internal UREP time line: completing 3-4 stories by May 30^th would also work well in terms of having significant work to report for the UREP mid-term report.

6. Project Blog

• I have set up a private blog to help us communicate /record.
• Invitations will be sent to all participants. Please accept as soon as possible.

7. Open Discussion

8. Distribute new stories.