São Paulo – Brazil’s Arab Culture Institute (ICArabe) started on Thursday (25) the course “Contributions of the Arab-Islamic Civilization to the Humankind in a Historical Perspective,” which is ed by the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce (ABCC), the ABCC’s Arab House, and the Sleep Institute. The first class featured ICArabe cultural director Natalia Calfat, as well as ABCC president Rubens Hannun and cultural director Silvia Antibas.
Hannun congratulated ICArabe’s initiative. “This course is very important for showing the Arab-Islamic contributions to the humankind. The Arab community in Brazil is made up of 12 million people that are proud of their origins and will be even more so after this course,” he said. Antibas added the course has raised interest in Arabs and non-Arabs, having over 700 ed viewers for the first class. “It’s a pleasure to show the beauty of the Arab culture, science and tradition,” she said.
The initiative aims at spreading the richness of the Arab culture in its various forms and during different historical periods. “We’ll make a trip through medicine, math, physics, chemistry, philosophy, poetry, and cuisine,” said Calfat. The fist class was themed “The Arab Contribution to Medicine” and was taught by professor Murched Omar Taha from the Federal University of São Paulo (Unifesp).
Registration for the online course is free. Classes are made via Zoom and streamed on ICArabe’s YouTube channel. Certificates will be issued, but they must be paid for. The course will continue for 20 classes, once a week. Registration is open for the first seven. Find out more.
Translated by Guilherme Miranda