Experience Spanish and Portuguese food and culture at Oct. 14 luncheon
Afternoon Sabbatical: International Luncheon, “Portugal and Spain: Common Neighbors with an Uncommon Past,” by Dean Rhodes and Annette Johnson
Date and time: Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2014 at noon
Location: Church-Chapel Fellowship Hall
Cost: $20. Call 574-535-7565 to register. $5 late fee after Oct. 3.
Learn about the unique history of Spain and Portugal while enjoying the tastes of their cultures at the Afternoon Sabbatical international luncheon on Oct. 14. Dean Rhodes, associate professor of Spanish, and Annette Johnson, who has lived in Spain for the past 15 years, will present the program “Portugal and Spain: Common Neighbors with an Uncommon Past” at noon in the college’s Church-Chapel Fellowship Hall.
At the luncheon, Rhodes and Johnson will share their perspectives on the history of Portugal and Spain and modern life in these nations.
Rhodes, who has led several Goshen College courses and trips to the Iberian Peninsula, spent a sabbatical semester in 2013 researching at La Escuela de los Estudios Arabes, a school of Arabic studies in Spain. He will begin the presentation by explaining how the 800-year Muslim presence in medieval Portugal and Spain contributed to a history unlike any other in Western Europe.
“The ability of the three monotheistic religions—Judaism, Christianity and Islam—not only to coexist but to flourish in the Iberian Peninsula during the Middle Ages,” said Rhodes, “remains a testament for us today as we struggle to live peacefully with the growing Islamic presence in the world.”
In the second half of the presentation, Johnson will focus on some of the issues faced in modern Spain and Portugal.
Johnson has been living in Spain for the past 15 years. She and her husband, Jose Gil Gibaja, own Venture Forth Iberia, a small company that specializes in custom-designed travel arrangements for educational institutions and special interest groups. Johnson has extensive experience as a traveler and guide in Spain and Portugal.
The meal and program cost $20, with a $5 late fee for registering after Oct. 3. Call 574-535-7565 to register.
Afternoon Sabbatical is an annual series that connects the community and college through on-campus programs and bus tours that draw on the expertise of Goshen College faculty and community members.
Future programs in the 2014-15 Afternoon Sabbatical series include:
Saturday, Oct. 25, 2014, Fall Bus Trip is SOLD OUT
Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2014, 1 p.m., Music Center’s Sauder Concert Hall
“A Sampling of Broadway Musicals,” by Susan Hepler Long and Jennie Sophia
Free and open to the public
Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2014, 1, p.m., Music Center’s Sauder Concert Hall
“Drama and Fun: Tchaikovsky and Piazzolla,” by David Machavariani, cellist; Ketevan Badridze, pianist; and Jameson Cooper, violinist
Free and open to the public.
– By Kate Yoder