Thursday, April 6, 2006, 4:00 - 5:30 PM

Featured Speakers:

• Her Royal Highness Princess Dana Firas
• Alina L. Romanowski, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Professional and Cultural Exchanges
• Lina Attel, Founder and Director General, The Performing Arts Center of The Noor Al Hussein Foundation in Jordan; Co-Director of Arabian Tales
• Kim Peter Kovac, Director for Youth and Family Programs, John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts; Production Manager of Arabian Tales

Moderated by:

• Mara Rudman, Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress

Recent headlines have underscored how quickly important issues such as how best to secure U.S. ports can become diverted by reactions laced with elements of cultural stereotyping. At the same time, many Americans have had little opportunity to appreciate the richness and diversity of Arab culture. Arabian Tales: Walking the Winds is a story-turned-theatrical musical. From its origins as a joint production between Jordan’s Noor Al Hussein Foundation’s Performing Arts Center and the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, we also may learn how public and private sector support for educational and cultural exchanges could make a world of difference for the United States.

Biographies:

Her Royal Highness Princess Dana Firas was born in Amman, Jordan on October 27, 1970 as Dana Nabil Toukan. She was educated in Amman before receiving her BA in International Relations and Economics from Boston University, an MS in International Development from the London School of Economics and Political Science in 1992 and an MPA in Public Policy and Development from the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University in 2002. In 1993, Princess Dana worked with Her Majesty Queen Noor on projects that promote sustainable development and the environment, women’s participation in development, youth health and education, and programs that promote peace and international understanding. From 1999-2000 she participated in the establishment of the King Hussein Foundation, a nonprofit, nongovernmental organization working to promote King Hussein’s vision and legacy for international peace and the promotion of leadership for human development. In 2004, Princess Dana joined ResCare, Inc. a publicly traded, Kentucky-based company. ResCare, Inc. provides education, training and employment services for at-risk youth, disadvantaged populations, and people with disabilities in the United States and internationally to empower them to build better lives. Princess Dana’s spouse, His Royal Highness Prince Firas bin Ra’ad, is currently a board member of King Hussein Foundation International. They have two daughters, Safa and Haya.

Ms. Alina L. Romanowski currently serves as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Professional and Cultural Exchanges in the Department of State’s Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs. She came to the Department of State in June 2003 to establish a new office to oversee and manage the President’s Middle East Partnership Initiative and served as Director. For nine months she also served as Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs. Prior to her appointment at the Department of State, she served as the founding Director of the Near East-South Asia Center for Strategic Studies at the National Defense University since December 2000. Ms. Romanowski served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs from August 1997-December 2000. As the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, Ms. Romanowski was the principal advisor to the Secretary of Defense on all matters relating to Near Eastern and South Asian affairs. Prior to assuming the position as Deputy, Ms. Romanowski served as the Office Director from January 1995 to August 1997. Previously she served as the Country Director for Israel from February 1990 through December 1994. She came to the Department of Defense from the Central Intelligence Agency in 1990 after serving 10 years as an intelligence analyst on the Near East and South Asia region. In 1985-86, Ms. Romanowski attended Tel Aviv University in Israel to pursue postgraduate work in Middle East studies and learn Hebrew. Ms. Romanowski has received several awards and citations. She is a 2001 recipient of the Presidential Distinguished Rank Award for Senior Executive Service and a 1999 recipient of the Presidential Meritorious Rank Award for Senior Executive Service. Her other awards include two Secretary of Defense Meritorious Civilian Service Awards for her contributions during Operations DESERT SHIELD and DESERT STORM and again for developing and executing national security goals and force protection initiatives in the post-Gulf War Middle East Region as well as the CIA Exceptional Performance Award. Ms. Romanowski is a graduate of the University of Chicago where she received her Bachelors Degree in History in 1977 and a Masters Degree in International Relations with a concentration in the Middle East in 1980. She speaks French and has studied Arabic and Hebrew.

Lina Attel is the Founder and Director General of The Performing Arts Center (PAC) of The Noor Al Hussein Foundation in Jordan. Recognized for her pioneering role in introducing drama into mainstream education in Jordan, she has trained thousands of school teachers and theatre artists throughout the Arab world. Ms. Attel has published articles and research papers on the methodology and practice of theatre in Education for local, regional and international organizations. She is deeply involved in promoting issues related to democracy and human rights for youth and women through multimedia programs. She was educated in Jordan, Pakistan and later in Britain, where she gained her Masters degree in Theater in Education. Lina Attel has extensive experience in theatre and the arts as a director, actress and educator. In 2000 she received both the international prize “Grozdanin Kikot” for contributions to the development of Drama Education from The Mostar Youth Theater in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the Jordanian “Al Hussein Medal for Distinction of the First Order" for achievement in the field of theatre. Ms. Attel is a Member of The Advisory Committee of the Hague’s Appeal for Peace, the Global Campaign for Peace Education, and The International Association of Theater for Children and Young people (ASSITEJ).

Kim Peter Kovac has worked at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC, for over twenty-two years and is presently Director for Youth and Family Programs, which commissions, produces, tours, and presents performances for young people and families. His work at the Center has included serving as a major architect for two of Kennedy Center Education’s most successful national programs: Imagination Celebration on Tour and New Visions/New Voices, the innovative and award-winning new-play development program, which has assisted in the development of 60 new plays from dozens of theaters across the USA. He has also served as producer, director, or production manager during the development of over sixty new plays, operas and dances for young people produced by the Kennedy Center. He has worked as a producer, director, designer, and playwright for theater, opera, and dance, for organizations including the USIA/State Department International Touring program, the National Archives, Signature Theater, Woolly Mammoth Theater, Round House, and GALA Hispanic Theater. With co-designer Deirdre Kelly Lavrakas, he received the 1994 Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Lighting Design for Kiss of the Spider Woman, at GALA Hispanic Theatre in Washington DC. He has served on panels for the National Endowment for the Arts, the Maryland, New Jersey and Mid-Atlantic Arts Councils, and Theater Communications Group. He has represented the Kennedy Center as part of a US/Dutch Arts Exchange; was US representative to an international directing seminar in East Berlin; and was an State Department/Arts America Fellow to Amman, Jordan, teaching a four week seminar in theatrical design to professional directors and designers. In recent years he has spoken at a number of international symposia: on theater for young audiences and school systems (Vienna), on networking (Amman, Jordan) and on playwriting for young audiences in the USA (Tokyo, Japan). He is currently in his second term representing the United States on the Executive Committee (governing board) of ASSITEJ, the international association of theaters for young people and families, with national centers in over 80 countries. Mr. Kovac has also served for eight years on the board, and is currently President of ASSITEJ/USA, the US chapter, the national association of professional theaters for young audiences. He has a BA in Theater Arts from Whitman College in Walla Walla, WA, and an MFA in directing, with minors in lighting design, scenic design, and theater history/criticism from the University of Texas at Austin.

Mara Rudman serves concurrently as a senior fellow at Center for American Progress and a founding partner at Quorum Strategies, LLC. Previously, she has been vice president, general counsel and counselor to The Cohen Group. From 1997-2001, Ms. Rudman served as Deputy Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs and Chief of Staff for the National Security Council, advising the President and the National Security Advisor. From 1993-1997, Ms. Rudman was chief counsel to the House International Relations Committee, working for Chairman and then Ranking Member Lee Hamilton, and Ranking Member Sam Gejdenson. She supervised procedural and political aspects of committee operations, and managed committee and House floor legislative action. A graduate of Harvard Law School and Dartmouth College, Mara Rudman also is a Henry Crown Fellow of the Aspen Institute, and appears frequently on BBC, CNN, FOX, and other media.