The three speakers in the morning session (Lucy Ellis Lounge, LCLB) are:
- Akram Khater, Director of the Khairallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies at North Carolina State University and leading historian of Lebanese immigration
- Therí Pickens, Professor of English at Bates College and specialist in the history of African American and Arab American relations
- Nouri Gana, Professor of Comparative Literature and Middle East Studies at UCLA and an expert on modern Arabic and Anglophone Arab literatures
The afternoon session (Authors’ Corner, Illini Union Bookstore) will feature readings by two noted writers:
- Mohja Kahf, poet, novelist, and Professor of Comparative Literature at the University of Arkansas
- Susan Muaddi Darraj, novelist, short story writer, and Professor of Creative Writing at Johns Hopkins University and Harford Community College
