Note of presentation
Program
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Note of presentation

In a post 9/11 world where war still rages in Iraq and festers Afghanistan, and terror has birthed the notion of a global war, some have come to wonder if a dialogue between cultures is still possible.

Paradoxically it would seem more than ever that the answer to the question at the heart of this conference is “yes”, for there is now a greater urgency in the need to reach out to the other, in an attempt to share ideas, to further mutual understanding in an attempt to work together to build a less cruel and more just world.

Countless sites of conflict throughout the world remind us each day that violence can only engender more violence. Our difference is something we should celebrate, but to do so there must be mutual respect and acceptance of our differences so as to enrich and preserve diversity on a global scale.

Building on its long tradition of openness and tolerance as a land of crossroads, Morocco is proud to host this conference which will be held at the Kingdom’s Royal Academy, December 11-13, 2003. Through the participation of scholars, politicians, writers, and journalists from East and West with divers and often diverging perspectives, we hope that this conference will be the occasion for debate regarding different visions and ideas of the world. We intend to create a space of dialogue in the anticipation that prejudices will be dissipated, positions of one and the other will be clarified, and culture will be raised to the level of shared universal values, regardless of their place of origin. From this newly established space we hope to give birth to the notion that the culture of the other is something one will naturally accept as a part of one’s own through the realization that our global culture is a composite of all our differences.

The transcript of the proceedings of this conference will hopefully become a document of reference, but most important will be the simple and profoundly human act of coming together to recognize oneself in the other, in his worries, doubts, certainties, and questions.

Program

Thursday, December 11, 2003 : (Morning)
8 a.m. : Registration

Opening Session:
Dialogue of Civilizations: What Blue Prints for Tomorrow?
Moderator:___________
Participants:

9 a.m. : Address by
MOHAMED ACHAARI, Moroccan Minister of Culture
9:15 a.m. : HARIS SILAJDŽIC
Must Civilizations Clash?
9:30 a.m. : ANDRÉ AZOULAY
Clash of Ignorances vs. Clash of Civilizations, a Different Reading of the Dialogue between Cultures, as seen from Morocco
9:45 a.m. : FÉDÉRICO MAYOR
Cultural Diversity, the Cornerstone of Another Possible World
10:00 a.m. : ASSAYED YASSINE
The Global Dialogue between Cultures: an Arab Cultural Vision
10:15 a.m. : Reception
10:45 a.m. : Q&A
12:00 a.m. : Visit of museum exhibits:
“The Andalusian Triangle” and
“The Gold Road” at the Oudaya Kasbah

Thursday, December 11, 2003 : (Afternoon)

First Session:
Dialogue between Cultures: Where Do We Stand Today?
Moderator : ______________
Participants :

3:00 p.m. : ALI OUMLIL
Cultural Face-Off: the Obstacles to Understanding and the Conditions for a Possible Dialogue
3:15 p.m. : FRANÇOIS BURGAT
The Dialogue between Cultures: Scope and Limits of a Concept
3:30 p.m. : MOURAD WAHBA
Legacy and Enlightenment in Arab and Western Cultures
3:45 p.m. : SAÎD BENSAID EL ALAOUI
Clash of Civilizations or Dialogue of Cultures?
4:00 p.m. : EDMOND AMRANE EL MALEH
An Attempted Response
4:15 p.m. : Q&A
4:30 p.m. : Coffee Break

Second Session :
Dialogue between Cultures: Where Do We Stand Today?
Moderator: ________________
Participants:

5:30 p.m. : YVES VARGAS
Reflexions on Intercultural Dialogue
5:45 p.m. : RIDWAN AL-SAYYID
Arab Discourse on the Dialogue and Clash of Cultures
6:00 p.m. : BENSALIM HIMMICH
Dialogue of Cultures and Obstacles to Realization
6:15 p.m. : ALAIN JOXE
Strategic Conditions for a Peaceful Dialogue between Cultures
6:30 p.m. : Q&A

Friday, December 12, 2003 : (Morning)

Third Session:
Dialogue of Civilizations: Case Studies
Moderator:___________
Participants:

9:00 a.m. : MOUSTAPHA ABDEL-GHANY
The Voice of the Other in Contemporary Western Culture: Study of Archives and Reports of Western Intellectuals After September 11th
9:15 a.m. : FERIAL JABOURI GHAZOUL
The South-South Dialogue
9:30 a.m. : MOHAMED MOUSTAPHA EL KABBAJ
Dialogue of Cultures or Dialogue of Intellectuals, the Dialectics of Both a Theoretical and a Concrete Dialogue
9:45 a.m : ALBRECHT BETZ
The Roots of European Culture
10:00 a.m. : CHÉRIF KHAZNADAR
Did You Say “Dialogue between Cultures”?
10:15 a.m. : Coffee Break
10:30 a.m. : Q&A

Friday, December 12, 2003 : (Afternoon)

Fourth Session :
Dialogue Between Cultures: Present Challenges in a New World
Moderator: ___________
Participants:

3:00 p.m. : MICHEL ROCARD
Dialogue between Cultures
3:15 p.m. : RIFAÂT SAYED AHMED
Case Study: Arab Challenges Facing the Dialogue between Cultures
3:30 p.m. : GEORGES LABICA
Globalization - the Threat to Cultures
3:45 p.m. : EDWARD J. NELL
The Economic Causes of the Rise of Religious Fundamentalism
4:00 p.m. : JEAN ZIEGLER
New Global Society and the Role of Collective Memories
4:15 p.m. : JOHN BRADEMAS
Education and Culture: Forces for Peace in a Troubled World
4:30 p.m. : Q&A
5:45 p.m. : Coffee Break

Fifth Session :
The Meeting of Religions: Crossroads of Past and Present
Moderator: _____________
Participants:

5:30 p.m. : NASR HAMID ABU ZAÏD
Theological Polemic between Islam and Christianity at the Time of the Formation of Arab Culture in the Seventh and Eight Centuries of the Christian Era
5:45 p.m. : GUNTER MULACK
Dialogue with Islam
6:00 p.m. : BERNARD LEWIS
The Meeting of Islam and Christendom
6:15 p.m. : NOAH FELDMAN
The Meeting of Mobile Ideas: Islam, Democracy, and Ibn Rushd
6:30 p.m. : HICHEM DJAÏT
The Contribution of Orientalism in Research on the History of Islam
6:45 p.m. : HASSAN AOURID
What Direction for a Dialogue between Cultures?
7:00 p.m. : Q&A

Saturday, December 13, 2003 : (Morning)

Round Table I:
Exchange and Communication: What Unites Us All
(Simultaneous with Table II)

Moderator: _____________
Participants:

9:00 a.m. : ALAIN CHANLAT
Before Cultural Diversity, What We Share in Common as Human Beings
9:15 a.m. ALAIN BADIOU
The Shared Poem
9:30 a.m. : THOMAS DE KONINCK
Friendship between Cultures
9:45 a.m. : OMAR AKTOUF
Dialogue of Cultures and Dialogue of Civilizations: Have We Forgotten Aristotle?
10:00 a.m. : DANIEL LINDENBERG
Mohammed Asad: a 20th Century Bridge between Orient and Occident
10 :15 a.m. : JACQUELINE VALANTIN
French-Maghrebi Transfers and Exchanges: from Conformity to Divergence
10:30 a.m. : Coffee Break
10:45 a.m. : Q&A

Round Table II :
Translation as a Strong Vehicle for Exchange and Communication
(Simultaneous with Table I)
Moderator: _____________
Participants:

9:00 a.m. : AHMED MOATASSIME
Linguistic Communication and the Basis for Cultural Dialogue: a Mediterranean North-South Perspective
9:15 a.m. : ISABELLA CAMERA D’AFFLITTO
The Translation of Contemporary Literature as a Means of Mutual Understanding
9:30 a.m. : HARTMUT FAHNDRICH
Translating Against the Clash of Civilizations
9:45 a.m. : IBRAHIM EL KHATIB
Letters of Americo Castro to Juan Goytisolo: On the Role of Arabs in the History of Spain
10:00 a.m. : Coffee Break
10:15 a.m. : Q&A

Saturday, December 13, 2003 : (Afternoon)

Seventh Session :
Dialogue between Cultures: Lessons from the Past
Moderator: ______________
Participants:

3:00 p.m. : PAUL BALTA
Yes, the Dialogue between Cultures Is Possible – What the West Owes the Orient
3:15 p.m. : MALEK ALLOULA
Beyond the Colonial “Dialogue”: Some Thoughts on the Algerian Example
3:30 p.m. : MARÍA ROSA MENOCAL
The Cultural Dialogues of Medieval Spain
3:45 p.m. : MOKHTAR GHAMBOU
Wandering Civilizations: The Intellectual Legacy of the Cain-Abel Story
4:00 p.m. : Q&A
5:00 p.m. : Coffee Break

Eighth Session :
Towards a World of Greater Solidarity
Moderator: _______________
Participants:

5:15 p.m. : HAMID DABASHI
The Rise and Fall of Civilizational Thinking
5:30 p.m. : JEAN DANIEL
Universal Values and Cultural Diversity
5:45 p.m. : MOHAMMED ARKOUN
Beyond the Clash of Civilizations: Towards a More Supportive History of Peoples
6:00 p.m. : JAMEL EDDINE BENCHEIKH
Beyond Differences: A Path Towards Hope and a Bulwark Against the Dangers of the Century to Come
6:15 p.m. : Coffee Break
6:30 p.m. : Q&A
7:30 p.m. : CLOSING
8:00 p.m. : Tribute to Edward W. Saïd