Zaineb Istrabadi calls herself “a Baghdadi Hoosier.” Writer Michael G. Glab calls her the apotheosis of a Midwesterner in his profile of the longtime senior lecturer in IU’s Department of Near Eastern Languages & Cultures. He also calls her “a woman of the world” and a member of one of Bloomington’s most storied families. Click here to read the full story.
Grammy-nominated oud player Rahim AlHaj, an Iraqi political refugee since 1991, was invited by the Lotus Education and Arts Foundation to participate in the Lotus Blossoms outreach program in March. He performed at various Bloomington locations and also at Owen Valley High School in Spencer. Filmmaker TJ Jaeger recorded the trip.
